Firstgear Torrent Waterproof Duffel Bag
First up is the one I actually want to buy for the upcoming riding season: Firstgear’s 100-dollar Torrent Waterproof Duffel. This is the second piece of luggage I’ve reviewed from the Torrent lineup, and I love it for the exact same reasons.
It’s just a simple, PVC tarpaulin sack. I can carry it as a duffel or strap it to the tail of my motorcycle – those are the primary uses. But I love durable and simple pieces of equipment because the possibilities are endless. I could tie it to my crash bars, or throw it on the front of my kayak and do a couple barrel rolls. It just works, and that’s what I want from my adventure kit.
I’ve got a main carry handle on top, and then there’s two cargo handles on each side in case I fill the duffel with rocks and need to use both hands. Firstgear also included a clip-on shoulder strap, which I was pleasantly surprised to find. And on the front of the bag, there’s one external zipper pocket.
Opening up the bag, I undo the compression buckles over the top, and then unroll the mouth. I have 40 litres of space in this thing, but there are 25 and 70 litre options as well. I could definitely stuff a little more in here, but if there isn’t room to do three roll-overs the bag might not be totally waterproof.
Attachment to the bike was easy enough. The bottom of this bag has four D-rings [3] , and it comes with four multipurpose double D-ring straps like this. So I sat the duffel on here, and tied it to the luggage rack in a cross-wise pattern using two of these straps. It took me about 3 minutes to get it right. My main complaint is that there are no quick-release buckles, so I’ll have to redo the strapping every time I take it off. And I also need the luggage rack to make this work.
So, the Firstgear is my favorite adventure and touring option. For sport riding, I tend to stay away from tail bags entirely; they tend to mess with my dynamics by holding the weight so high and to the rear. But what about cruising?
Saddlemen Large Cruis'n Sissy Bar Bag
Tail bags actually go great on cruisers. And – with some of them – you can actually use the sissy bar as an anchor point. This is the Saddlemen Large Cruis’n Sissy Bar Bag and rather ironically, I chose it because it’s small.
I love little motorcycle luggage. I think it adds a lot of style to a bike and it definitely adds a bit of storage. What really appeals to me, though, is that with such a small piece of luggage, I’m not going to be bothered about taking it on and off all the time. I can just mount it once and leave it there.
Speaking of which, this guy installs as easy as it gets. One big Velcro strap, which will fit around 95% of sissy bars. And just in case I have a telephone pole on the back of my bike, Saddlemen included this Velcro extender strap. And that’s it! I might run another line as well – through this top strap to the cross beam of my sissy bar – just to make sure the bag doesn’t slide down and rub against my fender.
Opening it up, we undo this toy padlock, which is totally useless so I’m never putting that back on. Then I twist the tab and pull open the Velcro … and there’s the inside. A nice little bit of storage room with two mesh pouches on either side. I measured it about 11 inches wide, 9.5 high and 4.5 deep.
Saddlemen BR3400 Sissy Bar Bag
Now, if I’m hitting the open road for a month at a time… obviously that little sissy bar bag isn’t going to cut it. I need something bigger.
And here’s bigger: Saddlemen’s BR3400 Sissy Bar Bag. Loads of features on this thing, and if you’re not a cruiser it’s going to bore the hell out of you, so I’ll go fast.
Up front: utility pocket – mesh panels, pens, cell phones, whatever. Round each side, these are neat. If I open the zipper, there’s an expansion gusset. Open the next zipper and there’s the pocket itself. Déjà vu on the mesh divider in there. Zip it back up and – if I haven’t packed too heavy – I can close the expansion gusset again too.
Up top – there’s your rain shell for the bag. It’s hard tethered to the pocket so if the rain shell blows off in the wind, I won’t actually lose it. Beneath that, another small pocket with a mesh cargo pouch in front. Unbuckle the upper section, and there’s your first major cargo area. It’s actually the exact size of the entire Cruis’n sissy bar bag we just saw. [6] What I can also do – which I love – is throw my jacket or bedroll across this top section, and then buckle it down again.
Now the grand finale is the main compartment. BR3400 stands for 3400 cubic inches, which is over 55 litres, Canada. It fits my full face helmet, no problem. [8] A couple of half helmets would be child’s play. It’s not the most technical interior – just mesh dividers up top, on either side and a laptop sleeve at the back. But I like the simple cargo bay because it maximizes usable space.
Installation is really simple. Saddlemen gives me two options here. If I have a sissy bar, I just slide it right through this flap. I can adjust the width of this guy by opening this Velcro, sliding out the rod, and placing it in one of these two channels instead. I could also remove this panel entirely if I wasn’t mounting on a sissy bar. But I’d probably keep it, because the back rest pillow sticks right there.
This is the other mounting system. I take my seat off, put these two panels together depending how wide my seat is, cinch up this double D-ring just to make sure the panels don’t pull apart, and then put the seat back on on top of this. Then it’s just a matter of clipping the quick-release straps from these anchors to the ones on the bag.
Both mounting options work great. But even if I use the sissy bar mount, I’ll still let this guy sit on my rear seat. The BR3400 is heavy when it’s full, and the only place on my bike that’s meant to take that kind of weight … is the seat itself.
Saddlemen threw in two more goodies to close us off. I love the detachable backpack straps. Would I want to carry this thing as a backpack? Hell no. But if I have to lug it 100 metres from my bike to the motel room, the straps are useful.
The second thing I was really hoping not to see. With a big, heavy-duty, 300-dollar tail bag, you’d think that Saddlemen wouldn’t bother with the My Little Pony padlock. But nope – that’s exactly what I got. Serious bag, toy lock.
Emgo Travel Trunk
Now, for a hard top case I’d take Emgo’s Travel Trunk.
The Emgo brand doesn’t scream quality. And neither does the Travel Trunk, to be honest. But it’s sturdy enough to get the job done. If I were trying to break into it, the locking mechanism would keep me frustrated for a few minutes. And at 120 bucks, the price is right.
Of course you get a bit more durability from Givi. But if I drop my bike the right way, I know that a premium case can crack open all the same. Might as well go cheap and replace it if I have to.
To me, the style actually looks really nice. It’s somewhere between a spam can and a typical commuter case, so it looks good on anything from an ADV bike to a scooter. This little reflector is a nice touch, but the yellow Emgo stickers are tacky as hell. Fortunately I can peel ‘em off.
You can mount this guy on most luggage racks and the thing that really sealed the deal for me: mounting hardware is included. I’ll secure this plastic base plate to my luggage rack, being really careful that it’s totally flat or else the plastic risks cracking. If I do it right though, it’s plenty strong. My only complaint is that the base plate looks ugly if I’m riding without the Travel Trunk on top.
Opening it up, I have a 16 x 12 x 11-inch space. It’s more than enough to throw a full face helmet inside. And when I close it, I won’t forget to lock it. Because if I try to take the key out in the open position, the lever just lifts on me. So that’s a clever little reminder.
So far as I can tell, the Travel Trunk is waterproof. But Emgo won’t call it that, so that scares me a little. It’s also not the biggest top case out there. But honestly, I don’t want that much weight up high anyway.