Giant Loop MotoTrekk Panniers Review [Project Yamaha Ténéré]

Giant Loop Founder Harold Olaf Cecil saw the need for motorcycle adventure luggage in 2000 and started selling adventure saddlebags in 2008 out of Bend, Oregon. Since then, Giant Loop has expanded its product line to six styles of saddlebags and pannier luggage, tank bags, fender bags, dry bags, fluid bags, and hydration packs. Unless you are on a motocross track with access to the pits with food, water, tools, and the like, you will need a way to carry some or all of it—sometimes or all the time.

You finally take delivery of the adventure bike you have been pining over, and now you are ready to purchase your luggage. Deciding on what size, shape, capacity, and construction of your on-bike storage is an important consideration, unless you ride with a chase truck. Giant Loop luggage is rugged, lightweight, and durable. Firsthand experience had me accidentally slide-testing Giant Loop’s waterproof “Bomb Shell coated fabric” on a gravel road at about 30 mph. My flexible side bag took the force of the grounding and probably protected my frame from damage.

Giant Loop only makes soft bags. The bags can be under-stuffed and cinched up smaller, or over-filled and allowing for expansion. In an accident, a hard case pannier has an entirely different effect on your trapped leg than a soft pannier, which will flex and mold to what it is on top of.

Hard cases do have the advantage of securing your valuables under lock and key. If you are concerned about theft, soft cases should be emptied or removed if they will be out of your view. Because the MotoTrekk Panniers are waterproof, any sturdy bag can be used as a liner to carry your contents into a hotel room or tent.

At $455 MSRP for the pair, Giant Loop MotoTrekk panniers are just the right size for the adventure ride I am enjoying on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike now. I do have to keep reminding myself of the Giant Loop motto: “Go Light. Go Fast. Go Far.” If I have the space, I will fill it, so I have to remind myself to think about the difference between what I need and what I want.

If you just can’t pare down your must-haves, then the 90-liter Giant Loop Round the World panniers are for you. Each MotoTrekk bag has a waterproof packable volume of 25 liters. If you don’t anticipate submerging the bags in a river crossing, then you can increase the usable capacity from 50 liters total by not folding the top down a full three rolls.

The MotoTrekk panniers are an open-hole design. If you want to keep your stove separate from your underwear, use individual gear bags. As they don’t weigh much, I keep all my clothes and toiletries in the right pannier. I put heavier items, such as camping gear, in the left pannier. I work to balance and offset the weight of the right-side exhaust system.

At just three pounds each when empty, they can handle most anything you can fit in them that a motorcycle adventurer requires when away from home, thanks to reinforced seams and extra thick, waterproof material. The MotoTrekk bags are narrower at the bottom and wider at the top, so if you use inner liners, they will slide out easily. You will be surprised at how much gear fits inside a combined 1.76 cubic feet.

The MotoTrekk panniers can be part of a modular luggage system, utilizing the 3.5L Possibles Pouch we tested or the 17L Rogue Dry Bag to add occasional extra capacity. I keep all my roadside tools in my Possibles Pouch.

The MotoTrekk panniers’ integrated mounting strap system will directly attach to virtually any motorcycle side luggage rack. For ease of installation, especially with the pannier full, they have a center strap that loops over the top bar of the rack and clicks in with a magnetic latch. This strap supports the weight of the pannier while you secure the four corners with stout metal clips that loop through the webbing. Be careful to secure the extra length of the center strap away from the muffler—it will melt.

The panniers are held in place with a strong front-buckle tensioning system. However, don’t expect to unhook them in a hurry. They are on there tight. The metal clips require a good amount of pressure to insert, so taking the clips out of their loops requires equal effort.

If you want to take your MotoTrekk panniers into your hotel room at the end of a great adventure day the quick way, then purchase the GL Pannier Mounts ($365). The mounts are all metal, lockable, are easy on and off. The extra four pounds are worth it. They fit racks with 16-18 mm diameter round tubing, and integral mini barrel locks secure the mounts and the attached panniers to your luggage racks. Being quick detach mounts, you will never be too tired to take them into your hotel room. If you purchase the panniers and the mounts from the Giant Loop website at the same time, you save 10 percent on the bundle.

If you prefer, you can permanently attach the MotoTrekk panniers so they cannot be manually separated from the mounts. However, you won’t be able to keep a thief from opening your bag or taking a sharp knife to the side.

For testing, I mounted the right-side Giant Loop MotoTrekk pannier directly to the OEM rack and the left side using the quick-release GL Pannier Mount that then attaches to the OEM rack. The only difference when they are in place is that the one attached to the GL Pannier Mount sits about 3.5 inches lower than the pannier directly mounted to the rack.

Taking the GL Pannier Mount off, even when secured with the barrel lock, is 10 seconds per side versus about 90 seconds to undo the four corners and the center strap on the other side—in my garage. I expect that process to extend to about as much as four minutes per side, in the rain, in the dark, with cold fingers. I could not secure or remove the clips with summer gloves on.

The Giant Loop Pannier Mount key is small and difficult to maneuver with winter gloves, but not too bad with my summer gloves. The Pannier Mount securing mechanism is spring-loaded and does not come loose, even in rough terrain. The lock is there, so use it to ensure the Mounts are correctly positioned. The barrel lock will not push in if the spring lock mechanism is not fully seated. The MotoTrekk pannier can fall off the bike if it isn’t seated properly. You can use the included shoulder strap as a cross-seat support if you have loaded them down or are a belt-and-suspenders type of person.

The Giant Loop MotoTrekk panniers are an outstanding way to carry cargo for those who prefer soft bags, and the optional locking mounts increase their versatility. Giant Loop has earned a reputation for high-quality gear, and the MotoTrekk panniers continue that tradition.

Giant Loop MotoTrekk Panniers Review Photo Gallery