The Little Kriega Bags That Could

Though I’ve written about them in the past, I just have to give another shout out to these Kriega bags – a Drypack US-20 and US-30 . Year after year they continue to make travel on all types of motorcycles so easy. They’ve proven to be waterproof and sturdy, holding strong for 10’s of thousands of miles now. They are easy to use and attach both to each other and to all types of motorcycles including those with a small footprint in the rear.

With the two bags that I have, I’m treated to 50 liters of storage. When road tripping, I often opt for the wash and wear method of packing clothing. If I follow this process strictly, I can usually get away with just the 30 liter bag. Having space to stuff a fleece or an extra pair of sneakers is nice, though.

As with any soft luggage, one of the inherent issues you face is that they aren’t lockable. My personal feelings on the matter are that I don’t put anything in them that I’m not willing to lose. Some goon wants a zip lock bag full of yesterday’s socks? All yours, shitbird.

To my surprise the FZ/MT07’s come with strap loops affixed under the rear seat. That makes the Kriega attachment even easier. No messing around with trying to figure out how to hook the bags. They kind of just ride along as your pillion:

Wash and Wear

The wash and wear routine that I use is dressing in fast drying fabric base layers and undergarments. They go in to the shower with me at night and are dry by morning. Throughout the trip I just keep rotating the same few sets of base layers over and over. This reduces the amount of “stuff” I need. Then I just supplement with whatever else I might need beyond the clothes I’m riding in all day.

When packing for a trip, it’s important to know yourself. Are you the type of person who wants to go out to a nice restaurant after riding 10 hours a day? Or, are you the type who typically needs to decompress at night after long days of stuffing your eyeholes? Either of those scenarios likely impacts some of the stuff you might pack. I’m firmly in the latter group. After long days of riding, I am typically on sensory overload and have little interest in going to a noisy restaurant which would require me to look anything but casual. If I’m honest, it isn’t uncommon for me to be eating something like a Subway sandwich in a gas station parking lot. Suffice it to say, I typically don’t need a lot of extra clothes when traveling, particularly if I am by myself.

All that is to say that having 50 liters of space for me, a hotel-dweller who needs the post ride time to decompress, is typically more than enough. In fact, because I have the space, I might end up shoving a few extra things in the pack that I just never use. It’s a habit I have a hard time shaking.

The universality of the Kriegas makes things quick and easy. If I fly and ride, I just pack them as ready to attach to the bike and when I land and pick up my ride, its really just a couple minutes of work to get going.

Side Notes

During my most recent excursion through the Southwest, I also opted to take a piece of gear from my bicycle. For this trip, I did not bring a tank bag. I did however attach my bicycle’s Revelate Feedbag to the D-rings on the back of the Kriega as a bottle and snack holder. That worked out rather nicely.

Happy travels!