I prefer a textile tailbag for everyday trips over larger side bags or tank bags. I’ve owned several brands and seen mixed results in quality. Recently, I replaced my sun-faded, but still fully functional, Viking tailbag with one of the company’s newer offerings.
I found the quality to be just as good, if not better, from Viking Bags and their sister brands Elite Sports and Born Tough. The new bag, the Viking Axwell Small Motorcycle Roll Bag, is a bit smaller than my old Viking bag, which I wanted since I traded bikes and my new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT has a higher tail section, making it a stretch for a 56-year-old to swing a leg over the back. (I’ve never liked the step-through method of getting on a bike, but age is catching up with me).
This new roll-style tail bag is lower in profile, but still holds a good amount of gear, from jacket liners, gloves, tools, first-aid kit and even a stack of Blue Ridge Motorcycling Magazines to give out to fellow riders! My bike comes with hard panniers, but I don’t like riding with them for short trips. A small tailbag like this one keeps the bike from looking to bulky and can carry most things I need.
For the last three or four years, I had the Viking Classic Large Tailbag, which replaced a Nelson-Rigg that starting coming apart at the seams and delaminating on the side pockets. I found the Viking to be much more durable. I still have it, and plan to put it in service on occasions when I need a bit more capacity without having to mount the side panniers.
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