In an earlier post, I wrote about my first impressions of the Giant Loop Moto Great Basin Saddle Bag, most notably how easy it was to install on my BMW F800 GS. After a 999 mile long weekend dualsport ride through Southeastern Utah and into the high mountains of Colorado, I have been able to gather my thoughts on this product and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a solution to carry a weekend’s worth of gear on a mid-sized enduro or dualsport bike. The bottom line is, at $400 retail (they do offer free shipping), it costs quite a bit more than your standard dry bag that you lash onto your luggage rack, and yet that’s about $1,000 plus less than throwing down for BMW adventure racks & cases, or even the less expensive ubiquitous Touratech aluminum panniers. Is it as easy and convenient as boxes when you are packing or want to fish a piece of gear out? No, but nothing is. But it’s a vastly superior choice to strapping on a $50 duffle bag from REI.

Key Reasons why I like this bag:

• The quality of the Great Basin bag is heavy duty through and through.
• The zippers are tough and weather-proof, the outer material is waterproof and abrasion resistant, and the lashing straps and aluminum buckles are nothing but the best.
• The bag itself has a modular “cube” shaped inner bag, about the size of a standalone tail bag, lined with nylon and a zippered closure.
• There are 2 sleeves, one on each side of the inner cube, for water or fuel bottles (like a 1 liter Sigg bottle).
• There are two zippered bags that fit down inside the “legs” of the inner bag.
• There are 2 drawstring closure heavy duty stuff sacks designed to fit inside.
• The semi-rigid and padded “sub-frame” keeps the whole thing in place and prevents it from flopping around.
• The “U” shape of the bag literally wraps around your bike. More like an upside-down “U”.
• The three main lashing straps are plenty long. Long enough that I lashed my tent to the outside without needing and extra straps.

Things that could be improved:

• The straps that tie down the “legs” of the bag to the passenger footpegs were a little short for my BMW F800 GS. I was wanting them to be about 4″ longer, so I could have mounted the bag a little further back on my luggage rack.
• I would have liked the inner “cube” bag to be a little bit bigger.

On this trip, I brought a lot of gear I ended up not needing. But we were going through Utah desert, and into the high mountains of Colorado. We rode through 90 degree weather in Moab, Utah, and camped on a mountain pass above Rico, Colorado, where the temperatures dipped below freezing at night. For a typical summer desert trip, I could have easily stuffed my lightweight summer camping gear into this thing (lashing my tent to the outside, regardless). But on this trip, and in the spirit of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, I found it was a challenge to fit all the gear I needed, and it was a good thing the zippers on the Great Basin are so burly. After a hastened breaking-of-camp and somewhat haphazard packing job, it was a two man job to cram everything in and get the bag closed. For example, the Giant Loop guys recommend using the cube as an inner stuffsack for a sleeping bag, but I wasn’t able to take my North Face Cat’s Meow because it wouldn’t fit in there. Instead I took a superlight 50 degree Mountain Hardware bag. Let’s just say that one night camping near Rico, it was a cold one, and I was wearing everything I had to stay warm. Would’ve been nice to have had a warmer bag.

I wish I could say this bag does everything for the dualsport rider, eliminating the need for racks and boxes, but I found myself envious at times of the other riders in our group, like when I was wishing I had a box to sit on around the campfire. Sure, boxes are expensive, but they do offer some advantages for the sort of riding we were doing that no bag is going to provide. The Giant Loop guys offer a lot of tips and experience on their blog for how to optimize packing with the Great Basin bag and not take more than you need, in which case, with a little experience, I am sure I could get the routine dialed.

One footnote to this review: after I got back from the trip and went through the process of cleaning all the mud and dirt that accumulated on my bike, I had to do the same with the Great Basin bag. I hosed the thing down in my driveway, scrubbed it with a soapy brush, hosed it off again, then unzipped it to dry it out. Not needed. It took all that water, and was bone dry inside. This alone in my mind makes it superior to many bags out there.

Giant Loop Great Basin Saddlebag on Engineer Pass. Photo by Darth.

A crisp morning in the Colorado Rockies. More tea, Vicar. Photo by Darth.