The side-opening luggage on the V85 TT Travel has limitations but there is a way to use them that suits long distance touring – treat them as final-destination cases. Additional soft luggage in this long-distance, 120 liter setup is aimed at getting the best out of them.
I’m heading out on a six-week 10000 km tour across south east Europe. My chosen bike is the Moto Guzzi V85TT Travel and this luggage setup is targeted at long distance road-focused camping touring. If you’re thinking of off road adventuring, this isn’t the setup for you.
I’ve paired the V85TT Travel with a SW Motech Pro Cargo Bag and added a tent bag on top for some flexibility and fallback. There’s 120 litres of space which is more than enough.
The soft cargo bag unstrap in a minute and gives you a hotel overnight bag, while the locked-on and locked-up luggage keeps your camping and tools secure. Importantly, they stay closed until you reach your destination.
My plan is to distribute camping gear, food and tools across the panniers and to put everything else in the SW Motech cargo bag leaving the 18 liter SW Motech tent bag as expansion space.
The soft luggage will contain all my clothes (and dirty clothes), bathroom kit, wet weather gear (easy access side pouches), electrical equipment and day equipment. Money, passports and cards will be on my body.
Total capacity: Over 120 liters.
- Luggage: 66 liters (37 + 29)
- SW Motech Pro Cargo Bag: 50 liters
- SW Motech Pro Tent Bag: 18 liters
Do you really need the additional tent bag? Probably not but it it’s a good place for dirty or wet clothes, rubbish, water and supermarket purchases.
I’ve even put a secret collapsible stool under the cargo bag!
Here are some more images of the setup
Shakedown Tour Test Part 1.
I’ve travelled to the UK, from Germany, with what I thought was a great setup. What happened won’t surprise those of you that have done this before.
I took too much.
Luckily, that’s the whole idea of a shakedown tour so, before I headed out to the campsite I removed about 5KG of equipment including the laptop (it was needed for work) and a bunch of tools that others were already taking.
Is the Guzzi hard luggage good enough? I’m undecided. I’m not confident. Light packing is the key.
It looks good, is waterproof and relatively secure. Pack around the problem that it is side-opening luggage. What happens when the bike falls on it, though?
Based on everything I’ve read there’s a 50% chance that one of the plastic mounting points will break during my six week tour. At that point I’ll need to lash the luggage back on or throw it away. If it can’t refit the luggage I’ll be redistributing the camping gear. This is where it’s important to remember that I will be light packing across 120 litrres with what could, if needed, pack down into 90 liters.
If I had €1000 available I would change to something that won’t break. The Lone Rider Advbags 70 liter system looks great but I already have 70 liters in my SW Motech setup. Maybe there’s an additional SW Motech item I can add? I’ll investigate.
Shakedown tour final report
The hard luggage on the V85TT Travel is….a worry. I’m confident of my choices though.
1 – Use the luggage as removable suitcases by packing them only with things you need at your final destination. Camping gear, for example. That way, you won’t have the frustration of the side opening design while they are mounted.
2. Pack light in the panniers. The three-point mount isn’t the most rugged in my opinion so reducing load will reduce risk of fatigue.
The SW Motech 50 liter cargo bag and 18 liter tent bag work very well together. The cargo bag has slightly awkward dimensions for packing but it works well if you pack well.
Finally, after fully packing, I still have space left on the bike for a small tank bag and something on the rear rack. My plan, however, is to leave that space free for the possibility that one of the panniers breaks. Like I said, I’m not too confident about them.
Luggage optimisation notes.
Tent, cot bed, chair, pillow, sleeping bag and liner in one 37l pannier. Total contents weight: 6.7kg. Total weight 11.8 KG. (Yes, that pannier weighs over 5 KG.)
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