Hard vs soft luggages for long trips

[Fred]

Once again, thanks a lot Marco and others, we have now a good thread going for the luggages.

I'm convinced about the support for the YBR 250 and the trunk. Now 'm waiting for Marco's opinion about the "Givi" windshield, especially if there are some turbulence on the helmet at "cruising speed" (80 to 120 km/h).
About the saddle bags, I know I'll take soft ones, but which ones I do not know yet... Many possibilities in China or in France, but may requirements to fit too, in terms of reliability, volume, clearance with the exhaust, comfort for the pillion's butt, comfort for the pillion's foot rests, etc. .

[marcomagica]

I'm convinced about the support for the YBR 250 and the trunk.

Hi Fred,
You will not regret, quality of support is good (take care of possible EMS damage upon receival of the package), and the ADLO trunk is also good, although I will most defintiely bolt it to the support as suggested from ChinaV and Lao Jia Hou, the look of the fast release system does not inspire me confidence. Consider the model I bought it's the biggest, you may want to consider smaller models by ADLO too.

Now 'm waiting for Marco's opinion about the "Givi" windshield, especially if there are some turbulence on the helmet at "cruising speed" (80 to 120 km/h).

About the "GIVI" windshield I've tried yesterday for a 50 Km ride, the wind deflection doesn't cover the helmet area, but I've the feeling the lower chest is protected. I don't feel any increased turbolence on the helmet.
You have to consider it's fairly small. I'm 2 meters high, but I've tried to bend a little to no shielding effect in the helmet area.

From the shape of it, and the fact that on the YBR you have little choice but to mount it very vertical it should deflect the air more on the two sides than upwards, which makes sense with my sensation of not increased turbolence on the helmet. However the wind "shielding" is negligible if you ask me.

Anyhow I'm happy with it, more for the look then for the air deflection, as it's only 50 quai.

[bikerdoc]

Thanks again for the new info about luggages.

ChinaV or Lao Jia Hou, if you advise not to use the "quick release system" but to mount the trunk permanently on the support, would you care to detail how do you do that ? My meaning is : do you need to drill some holes by yourselves, or weld, or does the trunk include some "built-in" possibilities to attach it directly to the support without the quick-release system ?

Instead of mounting the topbox permanently to the base, why not use a stretchy bungy or two. This has worked 100% for me which allows the box to be removed using the quick release which I consider one of the advantages of the topbox, and it minimises the small vibration sounds that cannot seem to be damped out even with the use of the rubber grommet/plugs. In summary, I have attached the ADLO 981 topbox to three different motorcycles. Each has had the ADLO mounting base attached to the motorcycles permanently, then I attach the ADLO topbox to be base mount and lock it in place using the supplied keys. I have then applied 2 bungy chords per topbox, which are attached underneath the mounting base and threaded up through the handle over the lid and then down over the front and attached to some forward mounting point. Not had any problems using this method, and that includes riding on lots of less than ideal road/track surfaces.

[ChinaV]

Instead of mounting the topbox permanently to the base, why not use a stretchy bungy or two. This has worked 100% for me which allows the box to be removed using the quick release which I consider one of the advantages of the topbox, and it minimises the small vibration sounds that cannot seem to be damped out even with the use of the rubber grommet/plugs.

Although I really like the convenience of popping the box and walking into a hotel, I got sick of the rattling, bungy-ing, and breaking of the quick release mechanisms. Two things I notice about this. #1 The smaller Adlo boxes usually last a lot longer, because you tend to carry less weight in them. #2 Most of the latch failures happened when my wife and I were riding together. I think she would doze off and then hit it with full force from a bump, which would weaken the latch until it eventually broke.

I think if you're riding solo, without a lot of weight in the trunk, the convenience of quick release is worth a go. As bikerdoc points out, a couple of bungee straps only take a minute and give you piece of mind. But two up riding for an extended period of time, with lots of weight in the trunk, is probably going to be a problem, eventually.

One other point about mounting directly to the rack without the plate, it saves another 3-4 cm in height. Top boxes put the weight up high and far back on the bike which is not a good thing. Lower and directly over the rear axle is much better than high and hanging off the back. I usually pack rainsuits and other bulky, light weight, items in mine rather than heavy stuff.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[felix]

Thought it might be relevant to add here that adlo have just come out with these deliciously 80s top boxes which would look right at home on most bikes you get in this country.

[bikerdoc]

Thought it might be relevant to add here that adlo have just come out with these deliciously 80s top boxes which would look right at home on most bikes you get in this country.

These are ADLO 981 or 981a which are slightly smaller dimensions of the 981. I have 4 of the 981's and have used them since puying my first one at a motorcycle shop in Pudong SH some 4+ years ago. While they are a great box, they are not new at all...

[Roadrunner]

Hey Fred, the GDWs did an excellent job for us.

We both crashed a couple of times, Lulu once at about 30-40 km/h and hardly a scratch on hers. I left my bike out in the snow in the middle of nowhere on the Tibetan plateau overnight, and when I came back the next day they had quite a coating of snow on it. I could feel a little bit of dampness on the ziplock bags when I put my hand inside to check my things, but given the sleet and seriously crap weather from the night before, I would forgive them that. I was expecting a pool of water at the bottom


I'm guessing they are made from the same material that the military tents are made of and they are waterproof enough to keep the water out when you're in rain, snow etc, even fording rivers and driving into massive potholes filled with water up to the headlight

I put all my valuable breakables (like camera, hard drive and laptop) in the tank bag because I was concerned about security and about preventing breakages in case I crashed. We very rarely left the bags alone (and I ALWAYS had my tank bag with me) because they couldn't be locked (and could be easily broken or opened with a decent knife if we had found a way to lock them) so they may be less ideal for the solo riders who are carrying expensive stuff.

Either way, for the 90 days or so that we had them (I still have them actually), they did the job and held up excellently. I was told (by the guy that gifted them to us) that they held 30 litres each, which on my bike added to 90 litres (I had three bags), and Lulu had 60 litres (two bags). This meant we had more than enough space than we needed.

And at the end of the day, when we were shattered after another a of hard slog, all I had to do was untie the string that tied them to the back rack, slide them on my shoulders and carry them to my room, with the trusty Bass (not well known for it's adventure riding durability) pack that I brought from the start.



It can be hard work lugging those bags around though (I had taken far more useless stuff than I needed, and none of the most important things, like tools to change a back tyre ), but I felt like it was more convenient to unpack things in the room as I needed them. I could get everything off the bike in one go and plop on the bed for the night.

In terms of pillion passenger comfort, I don't know but I'll say that it will probably get uncomfortable over long distances, given that the canvas isn't the softest material, and the fabric handle straps that sit in the middle of the seat make the surface uneven.

Versatile, waterproof, convienent and cheap, but they don't offer alot in the way of security and are probably not the most comfortable seat for a pillion passenger.

In terms of clearance, that depends on what kind of bike you've got. I had racks put on mine which held the bags up a bit, but the muffler is low enough for that not to have been a problem anyway.

No bags!!



Bags!!

[Fred]

Excellent review !! A massive thanks Jeremy, you finished the job and sold me on those bags !

[Brice]

I did my South West China tour with an ordinary wheeled travel bag carrying more or less 30kg of gear.

It was fixed first by a set of bungees on two shower tubes but they started to bend so in Guizhou I ask a small bike shop to built a custom rack in steel.

The bag was a bit high on the bike but nothing unmanageable and far enough from the mud. I had also a large plastic tarp to protect it from the rain.

Nothing fancy but efficient and cheap.