Have Bag Will Travel…Viking Bag Luggage Review

Note: This is a sponsored review; however, the opinions I’ve expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by Viking Bags or its representatives. I hope you find the review informative and entertaining.   ~Curt

When you ride a motorcycle, especially a Sportster, travelling can be a challenge because of limited luggage space. Selecting the right luggage is important because it can mean the difference between a great travel experience and a poor one.   When picking out motorcycle luggage you have to walk a fine line between having something that’s too small to accommodate everything you want to take and something that’s too big to fit safely on your bike. In the end, the size of your bike and your personal preference will largely determine what works best.

In 2012, I made my first multi-day, multi-state ride and needed some luggage.  At that time, I chose a tunnel style bag that fit across the passenger pillion.  It was roomy enough at 3200 cubic inches and straddled the pillion without removing the passenger backrest.  Overall, I liked the bag and it served its purpose well. However, after making several trips with it I grew very frustrated with not being able to access items in my saddlebags without removing it.

 

Fast forward to three weeks ago.  You can imagine my delight when I was contacted by a representative from Viking Bags about doing a product review.  Talk about timely.  I was in the process of planning a trip to Garner State Park with the Gruene HOG Chapter, so I wasted no time and told them, “Yes, I’d be very interested.”  I visited the Viking Bag website at www.vikingbags.com and perused their large selection of motorcycle luggage.  I placed an order for their LargeBackseat Luggage with Backrest ($129.00) on Wednesday, 8 January 2014.   Their customer service was great.  I received a UPS tracking number within 24 hours of placing my order and the bag arrived on Tuesday, 14 January just as promised…in plenty of time for my weekend trip.

 

 Out of the box, the bag was impressive.  It was solidly constructed, looked like it could take a beating, and it was ginormous.  The two main compartments have 3400 cubic inches of space and the three expandable side pockets add another 680 cubic inches for a total of 4080 cubic inches of storage.  This bag should definitely meet the needs of even the most serious road warrior.  After seeing just how large the bag was, I was a little nervous about how it would fit on my Sportster.  I carried the bag to my bike for a test fitting.  It definitely wasn’t going to work with my passenger backrest.  I removed the backrest and found that the bag would overhang the pillion a few inches but would work.  Crisis averted.

I packed everything I needed for a weekend trip including a cold weather sleeping bag.  It was tight, but it all
fit.  I could have packed much, much more if I had bungeed the sleeping bag on the outside.  It took about 20 minutes to secure the bag to my bike…not because it was difficult, but because I wasn’t sure of the best way to do it.  The bag came with two methods of mounting.  The first being via a yoke/harness placed under the seat with four connecting straps and the second with two tie-down straps with buckles.  I didn’t want to remove my seat so I positioned the bag on the seat, connected the clip hooks on the bag, and ran the straps around my shock struts and fastened the buckles.  I tightened the straps and quickly realized the bag wasn’t stable.  I used two bungee cords to attach the back end of the bag around my rear saddlebag mounts.   This seemed to do the trick.  I placed the backrest pad on the bag and was ready to roll.

The bag sat quite a bit taller than my old tunnel bag and because of that, I was a little uncomfortable with just how stable and secure it was.  After about 20 minutes of riding, I pulled over to check the bag.  It was solid.  I checked the bag one additional time before reaching the Park with the same results.  At the end of the day, I was very pleased with the bag’s performance and while it felt “different” while riding from what I was used to, it did allow me easy access to my saddlebags…which was my main reason for wanting it. I’m sure after using it a few more times, I’ll be just as comfortable with it as my old tunnel bag.

So, would I recommend this bag? Absolutely!  Is it the perfect bag?  Probably not.  I wasn’t overly impressed with the buckles as they could be much sturdier and I really wish it had come with two additional tie-down straps…I don’t think you could secure the bag with what was provided unless you opted for using the under seat yoke/harness.  With that said, it is a very nice piece of luggage and for $129.00 you get a lot of bag for your buck (similar bags are easily $50+ more). This bag should definitely make your short list.

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Resources

Learn How To Attach The Bag With The Under Seat Yoke/Harness

Viking Bags has Tunnel Bags Too – Here’sOne Similar to My Old One