SW-MOTECH Tank Bag: Review

Check out my quick review of the SW-Motech Micro Tank bag. It's at: http://www.airheadmoto.com/reviews/2017/1/sw-motech-tank-bag

Why did you go from the larger City bag to the smaller bag? I'm seriously considering getting a SW-MOTECH bag for my 2016 RRT, and had been looking at the City bag. What about it caused you to go smaller?

Great review. Thanks for the effort you took to write it up.

I too looked at the SW-Motech bag. I have a F800GT with a plastic "tank" and the new magnetic bag I'd purchased for my previous bike wouldn't work any longer.

In the end, I went with the Givi X308. In the collapsed form, it is about the right size to carry my travel mug and a few other things without being "huge". It has the ability to expand and carry a lot more, if needed. And like the SW-Motech bag, it has a mounting bracket to attach it to the bike with a quick release.

Chris

IMHO tankbags must be designed for a particular bike, as "universal" never is.

I like the fit mine has on my RT. The bigger bag had the old style connector and base ring and I had that bag on my '13RT that got buried in Missouri (accident). The bag survived, but not the tank ring, so I ordered a new tank ring. When it arrived I realized that they had changed designs and no longer mated. I was about to return it for the old style tank ring, but then decided just to downsize on bags. Why? Main reason is that my wife said the big bag doesn't look good on my new bike, needless to say, she's always right; second reason, the bigger the bag the more stuff I put in it. I decided that the important stuff, to me, boils down to wallet, iPhone, insurance card, sunscreen, lip balm, Aleve & Tums, ear plugs and other misc items. It's also more discreet when you take it off the tank and carry it into a restaurant or other watering hole. Much smaller than carrying the 11 liter "City" bag. The 2.5 liter "Micro" is hardly noticeable and I can just drop it into my helmet, leaving me with a free hand. Bottom line is that it's all about personal preference and I wanted to go smaller. Hope not to curse the day when I'm wanting more room!

lkchris said:

IMHO tankbags must be designed for a particular bike, as "universal" never is.

Click to expand...

I don't disagree with you, but with careful shopping, you can find a bag that does work.

My F800GT came with a over-priced and lousy tank bag that was made for it...but was about 10 times more expensive than one from Cycle Gear that had more features. For the price the previous owner paid for it, you'd expect to get at least a waterproof cover, but one isn't even offered. As for functionality, it was about as basic as you can think of. But...it was "made" for BMW.

I did a lot of looking for my tank bag as I'm sure the OP did. Some of those with a locking ring are flat on the bottom. IMHO, they look pretty dorky sitting on a tank that curved away below them, and maybe that's what you're thinking of. The SW-Motech bag has a bottom that curves to match up fairly well with the tank curvature.

Chris

lkchris said:

IMHO tankbags must be designed for a particular bike, as "universal" never is.

Click to expand...

I had the BMW bag for my R1150R and detested it. I got a "universal" magnetic mount bag of a similar size and love it. It is a much better shape (rectangular) and stone simple to lift off and put back when refueling.

rapz said:

Much smaller than carrying the 11 liter "City" bag. The 2.5 liter "Micro" is hardly noticeable and I can just drop it into my helmet, leaving me with a free hand. Bottom line is that it's all about personal preference and I wanted to go smaller. Hope not to curse the day when I'm wanting more room!

Click to expand...

The nice thing about the SW-Motech bags is it's easy to have several size bags that fit the same tank ring.
On day rides I use a older model Trip QL that's probably 3 or 4 liters. On trips both of us use the Engage 7 liter bag.
On Debbie's last bike she used the Daypack 5 liter which looks the same as your Micro but bigger. The Daypack will expand to 7 liters.

I had the City bag on my 2009 RT: had to move the bag mounts forward a bit so it sat further back and cleared the bars. Moved it to my R1200RS (yes, the tank ring fit) but had to move back to the original holes in the bag. With a little work this bag fit both bikes as though it was made for them, and it's the right size for carrying the usual junk:
wet wipes, spare gloves, balaclava, earplugs, toolkit, tire patch kit, tire gauge, water, candy bar. And then you can expand it...