M/C touring luggage

BMW design and colour/style departments seem to be challenged at times – beauty in the eye of the beholder? I think BMW did a pretty decent job styling the new K1300s, except when it came to the design of their “hatch” saddlebags. Unfortunately, these are the only hard bags offered by BMW Motorrad for the K1300s. Of course, I could go with some after-market option, but there isn’t a lot on offer (hard bag wise) that I think would work with the look of the bike. Then there’s soft luggage. It too has its pros and cons – I think the main con being that you usually can’t lock it – but it’s generally fairly easy to remove and there are some decent looking and functioning soft bag options on the market (many of which will work with most models of bikes rather than being bike specific).

Of course, BMW has a range of soft luggage; tanks and tail bags. After spending some time researching the net, I focused, in particular, on a (BMW Sport 2 soft bag) 52 litre tail bag that seems to be getting good reviews. Not a fan of the space-suite silver finish, but that seems to be typical, strange, BMW styling cues (why can’t they just offer it in plain black…).

BMW Sport 2 Soft Bag

Given that it’s BMW (Broke My Wallet) branded, it was a tad expensive, but it does seem to be a nicely made, well thought out piece of kit.

It includes a nice, clean mounting system – hooking over the rear seat or tail rack if you have one – the bottom is a hard plastic/rubber which helps it maintain its form, it has plenty of pouches and sensible zippered access points as well as an internal waterproof liner, carry handles and a shoulder strap.

I haven’t taken it out yet – weather’s been a bit cold of late – but I’m hoping to plan a get away for sometime in the new year where I can test it out.

So far though, I’m happy with the purchase. As for the silver finish – well, it’s kinda growing on me (although I still wish they’d offer it plain black).

55lt sport 2 bag

Front view

Tags: Bikes, Bmw, Bmw Motorcycle, Bmw Motorrad, Bmw Sport, Bmw Styling, Cues, Decent Job, Hatch, Litre, Luggage, New Year, Pouches, Pros And Cons, Rear Seat, Saddle Bags, Saddlebags, Soft Luggage, Tanks, Wallet, Weather