In our now 2 years on the road, we have met many other travelers on motorcycles and would like to give you an overview of the most frequently encountered luggage systems and their manufacturers. However, we don't want to get into the discussion about which of these systems is "better".
At the beginning of our trip, we were also traveling with aluminum cases from the Romanian manufacturer "Heavy Duties", but switched to soft luggage after about 8 months. For us, the reason for the switch was the higher proportion of off-road riding and the associated fact that the motorcycle is often turned over or "parked sideways".
What luggage systems are there - and what do they include? It can be roughly divided into two types: "hard luggage" and "soft luggage".
Hard Luggage This term basically covers all cases and top cases made of aluminum, plastic or other solid composite materials. A luggage carrier or corresponding plate is always required for mounting.
Soft-Luggage This includes all systems that are made of "softer" and textile-like materials and can therefore be easily deformed. In addition to systems that require a luggage carrier, there are also systems that do not. There are also so-called hybrid systems ("semi-rigid", where one or more sides are usually made of firmer, non-deformable material). The term "soft luggage" also includes luggage rolls ("duffel bags") and tank bags.
The following table shows the variety of systems that we saw other travelers using on our trip.
Panniers | Duffle Bags | Tank Bags | |||
Hard Luggage | Soft Luggage | Enduristan | Mosko Moto | ||
Touratech | Mosko Moto | Mosko Moto | Enduristan | ||
SW-Motech | Kriega | Others* | Givi | ||
Givi | Adventure Spec | Others* | |||
Shad | Giant Loop | ||||
Others* | Wolfman | ||||
Nelson Rigg | |||||
Others* | |||||
*Others: Brands that we have only seen once. |
However, all travelers - apart from those sponsored by some manufacturers - were traveling with a mix of different brands.
On our trip, we did not see any luggage systems from well-known names such as LoneRider (unfortunately we did not receive an answer to our request for a reason) or Altrider.
Also, many manufacturers are strong in one segment, but not at all or hardly represented in other areas. Touratech, for example, dominates the "hard panniers" segment, but is represented virtually nowhere else. In contrast, we have not seen any Enduristan panniers, but Enduristan is very strongly represented in duffel bags and tank bags.
Which luggage system are you traveling with?
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