How Do You Carry Your Stuff? – Question of the Day
It’s easy if you ride a bagger, but what do you do if your bike doesn’t come with luggage?
One of the most frequent questions I hear from non-riding friends – well, at least one that doesn’t involve the inherent risks of riding – is about how you carry stuff on a motorcycle. Most of them are drivers, so naturally, they typically just toss their things in the trunk, or on the back seat.
In this regard, motorcycles are less practical than cars. But motorcyclists can be pretty practical, and we typically find a way to make it work. My answer, when asked this question, is that it depends.
If your motorcycle comes with luggage, or in the case of scooters, an underseat storage area, your solution is obvious. But if your bike isn’t equipped as such, you have to find options that work for you.
Naturally, there will be some who don’t ever ride with anything more than a phone and a wallet, so a jacket with pockets is all they need. But if you’d like to pack a lunch you don’t want to smell like 600D Cordura, a change of clothes for work, or just to be able to pick up some groceries on your way home, there are solutions. Panniers, topcase, tankbag, backpack, or even just some mesh netting and bungee cord to tie things down, we figure out a way.
So, for our Question of the Day, we want to hear how you do it: how do you carry your things when you ride?
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Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
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1st trip around the country (suzi gs650) straped a backpack to the back of the bike, Not pretty but it worked
I keep a tank bag on the bike but it will only hold small stuff. If I want to carry a bit close to home I have an old school courier bag I used as a bicycle courier that works a treat. For trips I have panniers and a duffel. And a top box on one bike for loose odds and ends.