I want to hear a debate, Soft bags vs. Hard box/cases...

[offcamber]

Holy cow, what's left to say?
Excellent post, by the way Krussel.

FYI....
Hard cases for travel. Awesome in the road. But never have them mounted when at home or after camp is setup.
Aerostich Motofizz bag for top shelf. Amazing piece of kit.

So I use both kinds of luggage.

Snake what size motofizz bag you using been looking at those....

 

[Langolier]

Very good thread with excellent input. Just went thru this decision myself. With all this info it comes down to how much are you going to use them and what for. Myself I like to travel light so daily I use a tank bag and a 40 liter dry bag mounted length wise behind me (passenger seat is always removed) and rack in its lowered position. Dry bag being use for rain gear/jacket/short weekends or picking up milk for mama on the way home from work or it’s just flattened out when not in use. For long weekends or weeks I use the GL Basin bag I have not seen a review yet were somebody did not like them. Everything has always stayed dry (using GL dry bag inserts). Only drawback I have found comparing to hard bags (had a Goldwing for 10 years) is somewhat better access but you learn to pack accordingly, and being able to lock items better. I carry a small thin “coated cable” and helmet lock in the tank bag. If I feel the need I loop the cable thru the bag loops zippers helmet and jacket or whatever else to lock as a deterrent (takes about 1 min) never had an issue yet. Not as good as a Hard bag but If they want it that bad not much will stop them. Hoteling it they come in with me only takes a min or two to put on or remove. I just mainly like the bags cause 80% of the time I’m commuting or on a daily ride and don’t want the extra weight or bulk of the hard bag setup and soft bags are easily stowed when not in use. Good luck on your decision, A lot of good info here.

 

[greg the pole]

Hard bags.

As others have mentioned (security, water proofing etc etc..)
price is not really a factor as I use the now discontinued givi EN45, with removable racks.
About $700 for both bags, and removable racks.

They are sturdy, cheap, rounded, so when your foot does get picked up, it does not jam into the bag.
The racks also fit other givi monokey models, so if some come up cheap on kijiji I can snap a set up for less than $300 for the set.

Oh, and my givi rack has a rotopax attached to it, and is a great fit.

work for me.

 

[krussell]

I use the now discontinued givi EN45

A classic, and a very good value. They probably discontinued it because the wanted to sell more aluminum clad 'adventure' stuff at much higher margins.

 

[greg the pole]

A classic, and a very good value. They probably discontinued it because the wanted to sell more aluminum clad 'adventure' stuff at much higher margins.

when I heard that they were going to shit can that model I bought a spare bag, to use on my other bikes, and or in case I screwed this set up.
That said, the only way you will break them is by
a: melting them (go on and ask me ::010:
b: a hard crash/get off

Even in light get offs, they do well.

 

[Curt]

Pelican cases (Caribou) are the softest of the hard bags. Since they're thick, tough plastic, they have the advantage of not denting. Once they get scraped up, they still look fine. In fact, I consider them sufficient low-speed drop protection that, in conjunction with the Yamaha plastic crash guards, I don't need to bother with other crash bars.

Moveover, they're lockable, quick to mount/unmount, waterproof. One ends up with a 24x40" flat space on top of the bike which can be used for a huge dry bag or fully loaded backpack. Since they're side-opening, the contents can be accessed at any time. The liners prevent the contents from spilling out, so they're similar to top-loading, but much better. Helmet won't fit, so I lock it to the grab rail with a small cable lock I carry in the side case.

 

[ADVFireFighter]

Thank you very much all of you...
MUCH appreciated.
Since I have a Jesse top box, I think sides will just be a nice touch. I Can add on the rotopax to the back/bottom of those.
REALLY helped a ton.

Jesse boxes and I think a Giant Loop as well...

 

[Philistine]

hard cases if your going to fall off the bike, hard cases if your not going to fall off ::025::

 

[Didg]

Got my Monsoon 3 panniers delivered today. They seem to be very well made and look like they could take some punishment.
Front straps go around the rear footpeg brackets but I'm not sure how this is going to work on the exhaust side. I'll have a play with them tomorrow and take some pics.