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Earlier this summer I wrote my first impressions of the new SW-Motech PRO City tankbag on my ST1300.
Longtime viewers may recall my only misgiving was that I really wanted a larger bag - the PRO Trial - but I was steered toward the PRO City by the SW-Motech staff at their showroom in Portland, Oregon.
Yesterday I received the PRO Trial bag and compared the two of them on my ST1300 equipped with MCL bar risers.
Note in the photos with both bags the smaller PRO City is on the left and the larger PRO Trial on the right.
Outwardly the two bags are virtually identical in their design and construction, differing only in overall dimensions and as I'll show, the curvature of the underside as is conforms to that of the tank. See particularly the photo of the bags side-by side with the lid up. The size difference is quite apparent there.
Both bags are constructed of high quality 1680D ballistic nylon in black and grey. The top and base are made of a laminated EVA material that gives the bag a firm shape. The top supports MOLLE accessories. Designed in Germany, produced in Vietnam. (I feel like I'm channeling Todd Osgood from Project Farm here).
Both bags have an expansion panel which increases their volume from 11 to 14l and 13 to 18l respectively.
The zippers are sturdy and there are elastic straps to keep the tabs on the side pockets and expansion panel from flapping. Both the City and Trial have what appear to be identically sized side pockets. The interior is a plush brushed fabric marred only by the heads of the screws which hold the mounting plate to the underside of the bag. These heads are contained within a plastic collar that minimizes any potential for damaging items carried in the bag. Inside there are two small mesh pockets, one on each side with a wide elastic retaining strap at each end. The red webbing strap which releases the bag threads through an opening in the front and is retained with a small releasable buckle on the interior. The lid of the bag has zippered storage for flat items or perhaps the rain cover.
The rain cover has a clear lid that's handy in the event you attach one of the cell phone/tablet/map pouch accessories using the MOLLE system. It's generous in size with two drawstrings to work with either the standard or expanded configuration. It fits on easily and securely since the drawstrings can pull around the underside of the bag because of the tankring attachment method. This is very different than tankbags I've use which attach with straps and the bottom edge can only get as tight as the strap attachment points.
Their new PRO attachment system is pretty slick. It uses supermagnets in the mount on the tank. When the top ring on the bag is reasonably close to the tank ring it just snaps into place! No fumbling for alignment or pressing into place to latch. It just does it. Would I worry about those magnets affecting mag stripes on credit cards or other devices? Probably not. Credit cards rely on an encryption chip these days that aren't affected by magnets, and unless you place your wallet ON THE TANK RING your sensitive devices will be separated by 2-3cm from the magnets if they're inside the tankbag and directly over the magnets. And your magnetically sensitive items really need to be virtually in physical contact with these magnets to cause any damage or data loss. I'm not worried.
UPDATE 8/30/21:
The bag interior before and after drilling hole for the locking pin. Plus the TSA quality combination lock made immensely more valuable with the SW-Motech logo silk screened on it.
The bag can be locked to the bike using the combination of the pin and a lock on the zipper. It's unlike the Givi TankLOCKED system which uses a keyed lock to prevent the removal of the bag from the bike. Givi's system only prevents the removal of the tankbag from the bike without a key. It doesn't secure the bag's contents, you do that by passing a lock through the sliders of the zippers.
SW-Motech uses a somewhat different approach. To release the bag from the tank you pull on the strap at the front of the bag which retracts the latches. Every top ring has a hole in its main body and the moving plate which releases it. If you place a pin through that hole from the interior of the bag the release can't move and the bag remains attached to the tank ring. To equip the bag for locking the owner passes a drill through that hole in top ring making a hole the base of the bag accessible from its interior. The reason the owner has to drill the hole is that its location depends on where you positioned the the top ring on the bottom of the bag to fit to your bike, so every bag and bike combo could require a different location for that hole. And there's no sense in making a hole unless you plan to use it.
For the average rider this may be enough to prevent the loss of the bag in a parking lot at a convenience store should a would-be thief know enough to find and pull the release strap. To get away with the bag they'd also have to know enough to open it, find and pull the pin. If that's not enough, you can lock the interior of the bag closed with a small lock through the zipper pulls in the same way the Givi TankLOCKED bag owner would secure its contents.
So with the Givi you need two locks - one to hold the bag to the tankring and the other to prevent unzipping the bag to access its contents. With the SW-Motech the one lock which secures the contents also prevents the removal of the bag. Both are compromises and not the greatest security. In both cases your valuables depend on a lock small enough to hold two zipper sliders together. Even a dollar store pair of pliers could defeat either the lock or the rings on the zipper sliders themselves. Should a thief do that and clean out the contents it would be easier to make off with the SW-Motech bag in addition compared to the Givi TankLOCKED system.
Now the comparison.
The SW-Motech site offers a fitment guide. Ignore it. The only bags deemed compatible with the ST1300 are small 3 to 8 liter bags.
I started with the PRO City, but while comparing the size of its front end to that of the PRO Trial I wasn't ready to commit to it without sampling the PRO Trial on my bike.
Bottom line... For my needs the PRO Trial fits fine with the exception that it will actuate the windshield down button at bars full lock left. The control pods on both sides will press into the bag at full lock, but it doesn't actuate the starter or the kill switch or horn. My gloved hands have plenty of room on the grips on both sides at full lock.
The PRO City does contact the control pods on both sides, but because it's slightly narrower at the front it doesn't even actuate the down windshield at full lock left.
I don't see this as a problem for me because every tankbag I've owned - BagMan and Eclipse - have interfered with the bars at full lock to some degree or another, so I'm okay with that. As for the down windshield issue, well I ride over 90% of the time in that position anyway. And when I have been riding with it up, I will generally lower it to the bottom while executing full lock maneuvers in a parking lot anyway. And I mean it must be full lock, to the stop, and pressing into the bag. Less than that does nothing. In fact I might consider it a feature - like sports cars that raise a spoiler at speed and then lower it when they return to earth.
One big difference I hadn't anticipated was that the PRO City contacts the tank at its rear edge. This had me concerned about the paint and needing to put a protective film over it in that location (I have the film, just have yet to install it). The PRO Trial on the other hand contacts the bike only at the tank ring. The entire base is suspended above the tank. It takes a surprising amount of downward effort to press it into the tank. Probably more force than than the weight of anything I might be inclined to carry in it. I expect to use this mostly for those thing I currently carry in my tailtrunk -- change of gloves, light pullover shirt, hat, camera and its accessories.
I haven't spent any time on the road with either of the bags - I promised Christian at SW-Motech that the bag I returned would be showroom perfect, so I couldn't risk any road grime. But I've got enough miles under my belt and experience with other accessories to extrapolate to a high level of satisfaction in my future with the PRO Trial bag. I'll post a follow up as I rack up the miles.
Since my original post I've been commuting daily with the PRO Trial bag and have made a few short trips around the area. It's the perfect size for my daily needs. I throw my work badge, sunglasses, face mask, STOC cap
and lunch in there with plenty of room to spare. It's completely out of the way while on the road and only interferes with the bars at full lock, which I do every day as I arrive in the motorcycle parking at work. Other than the minor resistance as the bars contacts the side of the bag, it's a complete non-issue for me. I just got around to drilling the hole for the locking pin a couple of days ago. I think I'll leave the pin in place except when I load it for work since I bring it inside with me. The strap that releases the bag is made of narrow red webbing which looks very similar to the red accents on the bag. I think this acts as a theft deterrent as anyone other than another motorcyclist familiar with SW-Motech's products, or a really experienced thief would know to pull that strap to release the bag. It blends in that well.
The bag is rock solid on the tank while underway - zero movement or shifting. The stiff base and lid along with the firm side panels make for a drama free experience - other tankbags I've owned had a tendency to shift off center unless the straps were maintained exceptionally taut, which seemed to be a check or adjustment at nearly every stop. It's really easy to release the bag to access the filler cap for refueling. I like that I have a convenient place to put my wallet and gloves while at the pump. I usually forget to pull my wallet from my hip pocket and that makes for some Aerostich contortions to retrieve it. Not so bad with jeans, but my synthetic travel pants with the zippered pocket can be a pain. Now it goes in the PRO Trial.
The single design aspect I dislike is the location of the built in carrying strap. It's at the front of the bag and is rather stiff. For many users this in itself probably means nothing. For me, well I use the RAM ball mount on the cover of my MCL bar risers and it interferes with my cell phone holder. It doesn't present a safety problem, but it does make inserting and removing my phone and connecting it to USB power more difficult than I'd like.
I haven't ridden with it in the rain - though I sure would like to! Boy does the West Coast desperately need it!!
I'm thinking that I'd like to add a MOLLE sleeve to use for a map pouch, but the SW-Motech product - a drybag for a tablet like an iPad - is an eyewatering $40. It's a well built item and should I ever travel with an iPad on my bike it's probably worth the expense, but not for a AAA roadmap.
So for now, I'm extremely happy with my SW-Motech PRO Trial tankbag on my ST1300. Should there be anything significant to report I'll add it to this thread.
Longtime viewers may recall my only misgiving was that I really wanted a larger bag - the PRO Trial - but I was steered toward the PRO City by the SW-Motech staff at their showroom in Portland, Oregon.
Yesterday I received the PRO Trial bag and compared the two of them on my ST1300 equipped with MCL bar risers.
Note in the photos with both bags the smaller PRO City is on the left and the larger PRO Trial on the right.
Outwardly the two bags are virtually identical in their design and construction, differing only in overall dimensions and as I'll show, the curvature of the underside as is conforms to that of the tank. See particularly the photo of the bags side-by side with the lid up. The size difference is quite apparent there.
Both bags are constructed of high quality 1680D ballistic nylon in black and grey. The top and base are made of a laminated EVA material that gives the bag a firm shape. The top supports MOLLE accessories. Designed in Germany, produced in Vietnam. (I feel like I'm channeling Todd Osgood from Project Farm here).
Both bags have an expansion panel which increases their volume from 11 to 14l and 13 to 18l respectively.
The zippers are sturdy and there are elastic straps to keep the tabs on the side pockets and expansion panel from flapping. Both the City and Trial have what appear to be identically sized side pockets. The interior is a plush brushed fabric marred only by the heads of the screws which hold the mounting plate to the underside of the bag. These heads are contained within a plastic collar that minimizes any potential for damaging items carried in the bag. Inside there are two small mesh pockets, one on each side with a wide elastic retaining strap at each end. The red webbing strap which releases the bag threads through an opening in the front and is retained with a small releasable buckle on the interior. The lid of the bag has zippered storage for flat items or perhaps the rain cover.
The rain cover has a clear lid that's handy in the event you attach one of the cell phone/tablet/map pouch accessories using the MOLLE system. It's generous in size with two drawstrings to work with either the standard or expanded configuration. It fits on easily and securely since the drawstrings can pull around the underside of the bag because of the tankring attachment method. This is very different than tankbags I've use which attach with straps and the bottom edge can only get as tight as the strap attachment points.
Their new PRO attachment system is pretty slick. It uses supermagnets in the mount on the tank. When the top ring on the bag is reasonably close to the tank ring it just snaps into place! No fumbling for alignment or pressing into place to latch. It just does it. Would I worry about those magnets affecting mag stripes on credit cards or other devices? Probably not. Credit cards rely on an encryption chip these days that aren't affected by magnets, and unless you place your wallet ON THE TANK RING your sensitive devices will be separated by 2-3cm from the magnets if they're inside the tankbag and directly over the magnets. And your magnetically sensitive items really need to be virtually in physical contact with these magnets to cause any damage or data loss. I'm not worried.
UPDATE 8/30/21:
The bag interior before and after drilling hole for the locking pin. Plus the TSA quality combination lock made immensely more valuable with the SW-Motech logo silk screened on it.
The bag can be locked to the bike using the combination of the pin and a lock on the zipper. It's unlike the Givi TankLOCKED system which uses a keyed lock to prevent the removal of the bag from the bike. Givi's system only prevents the removal of the tankbag from the bike without a key. It doesn't secure the bag's contents, you do that by passing a lock through the sliders of the zippers.
SW-Motech uses a somewhat different approach. To release the bag from the tank you pull on the strap at the front of the bag which retracts the latches. Every top ring has a hole in its main body and the moving plate which releases it. If you place a pin through that hole from the interior of the bag the release can't move and the bag remains attached to the tank ring. To equip the bag for locking the owner passes a drill through that hole in top ring making a hole the base of the bag accessible from its interior. The reason the owner has to drill the hole is that its location depends on where you positioned the the top ring on the bottom of the bag to fit to your bike, so every bag and bike combo could require a different location for that hole. And there's no sense in making a hole unless you plan to use it.
For the average rider this may be enough to prevent the loss of the bag in a parking lot at a convenience store should a would-be thief know enough to find and pull the release strap. To get away with the bag they'd also have to know enough to open it, find and pull the pin. If that's not enough, you can lock the interior of the bag closed with a small lock through the zipper pulls in the same way the Givi TankLOCKED bag owner would secure its contents.
So with the Givi you need two locks - one to hold the bag to the tankring and the other to prevent unzipping the bag to access its contents. With the SW-Motech the one lock which secures the contents also prevents the removal of the bag. Both are compromises and not the greatest security. In both cases your valuables depend on a lock small enough to hold two zipper sliders together. Even a dollar store pair of pliers could defeat either the lock or the rings on the zipper sliders themselves. Should a thief do that and clean out the contents it would be easier to make off with the SW-Motech bag in addition compared to the Givi TankLOCKED system.
Now the comparison.
The SW-Motech site offers a fitment guide. Ignore it. The only bags deemed compatible with the ST1300 are small 3 to 8 liter bags.
I started with the PRO City, but while comparing the size of its front end to that of the PRO Trial I wasn't ready to commit to it without sampling the PRO Trial on my bike.
Bottom line... For my needs the PRO Trial fits fine with the exception that it will actuate the windshield down button at bars full lock left. The control pods on both sides will press into the bag at full lock, but it doesn't actuate the starter or the kill switch or horn. My gloved hands have plenty of room on the grips on both sides at full lock.
The PRO City does contact the control pods on both sides, but because it's slightly narrower at the front it doesn't even actuate the down windshield at full lock left.
I don't see this as a problem for me because every tankbag I've owned - BagMan and Eclipse - have interfered with the bars at full lock to some degree or another, so I'm okay with that. As for the down windshield issue, well I ride over 90% of the time in that position anyway. And when I have been riding with it up, I will generally lower it to the bottom while executing full lock maneuvers in a parking lot anyway. And I mean it must be full lock, to the stop, and pressing into the bag. Less than that does nothing. In fact I might consider it a feature - like sports cars that raise a spoiler at speed and then lower it when they return to earth.
One big difference I hadn't anticipated was that the PRO City contacts the tank at its rear edge. This had me concerned about the paint and needing to put a protective film over it in that location (I have the film, just have yet to install it). The PRO Trial on the other hand contacts the bike only at the tank ring. The entire base is suspended above the tank. It takes a surprising amount of downward effort to press it into the tank. Probably more force than than the weight of anything I might be inclined to carry in it. I expect to use this mostly for those thing I currently carry in my tailtrunk -- change of gloves, light pullover shirt, hat, camera and its accessories.
Since my original post I've been commuting daily with the PRO Trial bag and have made a few short trips around the area. It's the perfect size for my daily needs. I throw my work badge, sunglasses, face mask, STOC cap
and lunch in there with plenty of room to spare. It's completely out of the way while on the road and only interferes with the bars at full lock, which I do every day as I arrive in the motorcycle parking at work. Other than the minor resistance as the bars contacts the side of the bag, it's a complete non-issue for me. I just got around to drilling the hole for the locking pin a couple of days ago. I think I'll leave the pin in place except when I load it for work since I bring it inside with me. The strap that releases the bag is made of narrow red webbing which looks very similar to the red accents on the bag. I think this acts as a theft deterrent as anyone other than another motorcyclist familiar with SW-Motech's products, or a really experienced thief would know to pull that strap to release the bag. It blends in that well.The bag is rock solid on the tank while underway - zero movement or shifting. The stiff base and lid along with the firm side panels make for a drama free experience - other tankbags I've owned had a tendency to shift off center unless the straps were maintained exceptionally taut, which seemed to be a check or adjustment at nearly every stop. It's really easy to release the bag to access the filler cap for refueling. I like that I have a convenient place to put my wallet and gloves while at the pump. I usually forget to pull my wallet from my hip pocket and that makes for some Aerostich contortions to retrieve it. Not so bad with jeans, but my synthetic travel pants with the zippered pocket can be a pain. Now it goes in the PRO Trial.
The single design aspect I dislike is the location of the built in carrying strap. It's at the front of the bag and is rather stiff. For many users this in itself probably means nothing. For me, well I use the RAM ball mount on the cover of my MCL bar risers and it interferes with my cell phone holder. It doesn't present a safety problem, but it does make inserting and removing my phone and connecting it to USB power more difficult than I'd like.
I haven't ridden with it in the rain - though I sure would like to! Boy does the West Coast desperately need it!!
I'm thinking that I'd like to add a MOLLE sleeve to use for a map pouch, but the SW-Motech product - a drybag for a tablet like an iPad - is an eyewatering $40. It's a well built item and should I ever travel with an iPad on my bike it's probably worth the expense, but not for a AAA roadmap.
So for now, I'm extremely happy with my SW-Motech PRO Trial tankbag on my ST1300. Should there be anything significant to report I'll add it to this thread.
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