Giant Loop Mojavi Saddlebag Review
‘Go light, go fast, go far.’ I like that ethos. Giant Loop certainly seem to be one of the go-to brands when it comes to soft luggage options.
Particularly so for enduro and small-to-mid capacity adventure bikes, but they make great quality gear for bigger bikes too. When I asked around for opinions and options for some small rackless saddlebags for my 350, the Giant Loop Mojavi came up again and again.
The need was pretty simple for me, but it could vary from rider to rider. I had some ‘longer than my fuel tank range will get me’ stages coming up in a planned ride, so I needed to carry some fuel. Only a few litres, but I didn’t want to throw it in a bigger backpack.
I looked at the option of a fuel bladder (Giant Loop make some good options there too). But in the end decided that I may as well get a set of saddle bags, throw some more kit in there to lighten up my backpack and reduce fatigue. Seemed like a no brainer.
Fitment was a piece of cake, even for someone who has been lovingly described as having feet for hands when it comes to spannering. One of the beauties about the Mojavi setup is that there is no need to have any mount or rack of any kind for the majority of bikes.
You can get a small platform to secure to your rear fender if you want, but it will clip on to the sides easily using the included fender hooks and ‘pronghorn strap’, so that’s what I went for.
That means that when I’m not using the saddlebags, my bike retains the clean lines of a weekend enduro bike and I can pretend I am Toby or Mani or whoever I’ve watched in awe of most recently.
It comes with a nifty heatshield that simply gets attached around your muffler to put an air gap in between the muffler and your bags, to avoid meltage. That heatshield clamps on in minutes, you trim the excess off the clamp strap, place a neat little rubber slip over the end to help remove sharp edges and bingo bango bongo, you’re ready to roll.
Then its only a matter of throwing the saddle bags over, clipping the fender hooks to your mudguard, and running the forward straps down and around your frame to snug them in place. Simples.
So how does it go in terms of use? Pretty damn good actually. Here’s a few observations I’ve made after giving it a thorough test run:
- While its labelled as holding 12 litres, I reckon you’ll lose a small amount of usable space to that slim shape, depending on what you intend to pack. For instance, I’m running:
- A full Toolroll and medical kit in the right side.
- 2L of fuel in used 1L oil containers, a fold out saw for fallen limbs, bike pump, puncture repair kit and canisters, spare gloves, a goggles cloth and a bag of snakes (my trail fuel of choice) in the left side, furthest away from the exhaust. Just in case.
- It’s made of a material that Giant Loop call ‘Bombshell’ which looks pretty similar to the material used in truck tarpaulin. I don’t see water getting through that anytime soon. Despite that, it’s not labelled as water proof, but water resistant. No doubt some water can get through the zips even though they are covered. For what it’s worth, mine were bone dry after copping a flogging in terms of water and mud splashes. They only let a tiny amount of water through after I hit them with with the pressure washer to see how that would go.
- On my Husky 350 I ended up trimming a small amount off the top edge of the heatshield to have it fit more snugly. And then I threw some duct tape on the surface change from the heat shield to the side plastics to make sure that edge wasn’t going to rub through as it moved around. I threw some tape on the inner edge of the saddle bags as well just in case.
- My side plastics were already well used, but if yours are new and shiny and you wanna keep them that way, it might pay to run some clear protective vinyl over your plastics if you want to avoid scratches. I found that when I had caked my bike in mud and it got underneath the bags, it would rub a little and will then scratch. No more than normal wear and tear from boots etc, but a bit of vinyl wouldn’t take much effort and would prolong the look of any nice new plastics.
- I also run Steg Pegz on my bike which seemed to be pretty much right on the path of where the straps wanted to go on the right hand side, so I ended up getting the Giant Loop optional mounts that bolt onto your frame that offer a better fit clear of the Steg Pegz.
- The middle section at the back have a bunch of molle style lash points for you to attach more bags if required (or a number plate via cable ties – tried it, it fits perfectly).
- Moving all of that into saddle bags allows me to run a smaller backpack with just water, keys, phone, wallet, a spare goggle lens and any GoPro or camera gear I want to take. All the light stuff. On shorter rides where I don’t need to carry fuel, I end up throwing some extra water bottles in instead and go even lighter on the backpack front. Noice.
After a couple of rides with this, I’m sold. Good quality bag. Nice and slim line and it doesn’t get in the way when mounting the bike or riding in any way, even in tight single track. It’s not as wide as your legs.
The lads were keen at each rest stop to come and have a look at them and see how they were going. Or was it just an excuse to grab some of my snakes. Lucky there is enough room for a jumbo bag…
Get yours now (and any of the rest of the Giant Loop range) at Whites Moto https://www.whitesmoto.com.au/collections/giant-loop – Thanks chaps.
