2009 KLR 650 Luggage Review

I recently returned from a 3 night 4 day trip on my KLR 650. I have the factory tank bag, tail bag, and saddle bags. I got to test them out in a variety of conditions, and thought I would post a short review.

In short, I would summarize by saying if you are looking for a "light duty" set of bags that look great, are easy to use, and are inexpenive, then these are perfect. However, if you are looking for all weather gear that's lockable, look elsewhere!

STYLE AND FIT

The bags fit on the bike very easily and look great. They are easy to install and remove and definitely have the appearance that they are "meant for" this bike.  You can have any of the 3 on and off very quickly.  Also, they stay put too.  In other words, they don't flop around at highway speeds.

CAPACITY

The Tank bag expands and holds a large amount. However, the map pocket could be bigger - you have to be pretty good at properly folding a map to the area of your route to fit in the clear plastic pocket. The tank bag also droops towards the seat so reading it requires you to look down pretty far.  The saddle bags need to be expandable - they are just a bit too small. The tail bag is my favorite overall in terms of capacity. It expands and can hold a good amount of gear.  On my recent trip, I used a backpacking compression stuff sack for all my clothes which included extra pants, sweatshirts, etc.  Jammed it all right in there!

WATERPROOFING
OK - so most of what I have written so far sounds pretty good right?  Well hang on.  Let's talk about keeping your stuff dry.  Not so much.  I knew these bags would probably let some moisture in so I packed everything in zip lock bags.  Good thing.  There was a puddle of water in the bottom of the tank bag, and everything in the saddle bags was soaked (my tools, first aid kit, and extra shoes).  The tail bag didn't do too bad.  It did let some moisture in but there wasn't a puddle of water. 

DURABILITY
I have owned the bike for 3 months now.  I have used the bags in a variety of conditions.  So far, they have held up fairly well.  They don't feel like the kind of bags that will last long if not cared for.  I can already tell that the first thing to go will be the attachment point where the tie down straps are sewn to the bags - it's a weak point on the tailbag and side bags.

CONCLUSION
That old saying "you get what you pay for" comes to mind.  These bags work fairly well for the roughly $250 bucks that the dealership sold them to me for.  I know how to pack for rainy weather so I can live with some water leaks.  If one of the lightweight straps rips, I will repair it.  Between the 3 bags, there is enough capacity to handle my typical trips.  My biggest issue/complaint that I haven't raised so far is lockability.  I have never had an issue with theft of items left on my motorcycles.  I never really worry about it at biker events - bikers just don't seem to mess with each others stuff - I guess it's that mutual respect thing we all have for each other and our hobby.  It would be nice though to have at least one bag on the bike that locked for "piece of mind".