Though their motorcycles are built tough as ever, BMW is going soft. Soft luggage, that is. In the quest for lightweight, durable gear designed to stand up to the rigors of long distance touring and off-road travel, BMW is rolling out a new collection of soft luggage solutions.
The Black Collection includes tank, tail, and side bags, as well as backpacks and a hip bag, because who doesn’t love a good fanny pack? With a focus on water-resistance and functional design, the Black Collection is made of durable TPU coated polyester and certainly seems suited to whatever sort of wet weather conditions you throw at it. The collection has a clean look and clever design features, though I’m not sure it’s all cut out for off-road use.
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One piece that is GS-specific is the tank bag, which has a lockable, rubberized 2-way zipper to keep out the rain and any sticky-palmed passers by. The main compartment zips to expand the volume from 13 to 18 liters and contains a removable inner bag with a roll closure for further waterproofing. The Black tank bag has compartments on the interior to organize your gently used earplug collection and external pockets that provide additional storage space. Anti-slip foam pads on the underside help keep the bag in place on the steeply sloped GS tank.
The Black Collection also includes backpacks and rear bags that each come in two different sizes. The tail bags expand, thanks to zippers that circumnavigate the main compartment, and have an additional set of inner dry bags. Like the rest of the collection, the bags are lined in blue, making it easy to find your gear inside and fasten to the tail rack with a simple strapping system. The adjustable backpack shoulder straps on the rear bags tuck away when not in use and, when deployed, they make it easy to haul your gear into a hotel room… not that you’d ever stay in a hotel room if you’re truly an adventure rider, of course.
READ MORE: HOW TO PACK FOR ADVENTURE MOTORCYCLING
The Black Collection side bags have a clean, minimalistic vibe that I really like the look of. However, the BMW press release doesn’t mention anything about off-road durability, so I’m not sure if they’re designed to be as tough as Mosko or Wolfman luggage. Of course, the true test will be how they would fare with 500 pounds of GS crashing down on them in the dirt a few times.
Photo Credit: BMW
Motorcycle Industry News by Eva Rupert. Follow Eva @augusteva.
