PACKING , CHEAP !
Luggage options for motorcycle travel can be as expensive as the bike itself , it needn ' t be . Jeremy Torr takes us through a few options that are cost effective and yet very practical .
We ’ ve all gagged with jealousy at the bloke down the street with the top-of-the range adventure bike , dripping with swanky alloy panniers . Ordinary , budget-strapped bikers usually scoff about “ all the gear and no idea ” but it doesn ’ t alter the fact – Mr Hard Luggage has travel packing nailed . Those waterproof and dust resistant panniers , top boxes and so on do the job better than almost anything else . But they are pricey , and can lead to muttering mates . Luckily , there is another way .
The cheap and dirty alternative isn ’ t necessarily less effective . Money doesn ’ t make good travel gear , sound thinking does . With luggage , remember that if your gear is available everywhere ( plastic bags , roll-top totes , old milk crates , hardware-shop straps ) it will be cheap . Sure it won ’ t be as tailored or flashy as aluminium boxes but you can replace most of it for peanuts if it does break or get ripped - not the case with hard luggage .
My favourite luggage is a big heavy duty roll-top bag from the local yacht shop . Open-side is better than open top for easy access , but both kinds will keep your stuff secure and dry in a monsoon . A 40-litre can cope with all the travel gear you need ( including a sleeping bag ) and is easy to strap on and off the bike . You can strap it crossways or lengthways on the seat or rack , even the tank . The choice is yours ; just remember to cross AND diagonal strap it . Anything less and it will sag sideways and eventually fall off or catch in the wheel at the worst time .
If you do have problems with your roll-top sagging over the edges of the seat or tank , grab a slice of honeycomb cardboard from the nearest whitegoods retailer skip ( it ’ s used in washing machine packing ) cut it to size and stuff it into the bottom of the bag . This will make the bag rigid without it being hard enough to rub through from the inside lining like plywood would . Extras like tents , water bottles , even small toolkits can be strapped to the outside of a roll bag – but check they don ’ t self-jettisoned because you were stingy with straps .
The other approach is to ask what can be modified or bodged . Auto parts or hardware stores have ribbed plastic toolboxes which make fantastic panniers or topboxes . They are really tough , have mount points , are lockable and pretty waterproof . But because they are made for tools not round-the-world adventurers , they are cheap . The bonus is they are a nice sturdy base for a small roll-top bag .
I often travel with just a tank bag – get a secondhand expandable one off the internet for under $ 100 . I like the MotoDry stuff ; it ’ s sturdy and great value in dollars / litre of storage . A good 30-litre expandable tank bag will swallow all your clothes , sandals , toolkit and phone / charger – plus you can lean on it if there ’ s a strong
TRAVERSE 79