Lou Girardin
21st February 2006, 14:41
After the Sth Is trip last year I figured I'd need a bigger tank bag than my Givi 10 litre jobby to fit a bigger camera, sunny's, visor cleaning gear and all the other crap you need within reach.
I didn't want to spend too much on something that I wouldn't use much so I first tried the 1st Time range. But the tank bag was too long and pushed into my gut.
Next step was the Humpback. This was perfect, it sat nicely between me and the bars and didn't interfere with movement. It tapers towards the rear to give a little more room for more radical riding positions too.
It has the usual fine Oxford quality, they say they're designed by bikers and it's believable. There's two side pockets, one at the front and it expands to 28 liters.
It's about 20 litres normally. Like most Oxford kit, it comes with 4 bungy's, tie down straps and a headstock strap, so it should fit most bikes OK, even plastic tank models. Or you can buy the specific non-steel tank mount.
It's easily unzipped from it's mount and makes refuelling easy. Shoulder straps are fitted to convert it to a packpack.
It did the job well on tour, swallowed all our odds and sods and remained stable. I used an under tank strap, but probably could have done without. All the zips have large rings on them to enable you to open it with gloves on.
All told it was a good buy, retail is $285.00 for black, red, blue, yellow. Platinum is a little more. They come with a lifetime warranty.
I didn't want to spend too much on something that I wouldn't use much so I first tried the 1st Time range. But the tank bag was too long and pushed into my gut.
Next step was the Humpback. This was perfect, it sat nicely between me and the bars and didn't interfere with movement. It tapers towards the rear to give a little more room for more radical riding positions too.
It has the usual fine Oxford quality, they say they're designed by bikers and it's believable. There's two side pockets, one at the front and it expands to 28 liters.
It's about 20 litres normally. Like most Oxford kit, it comes with 4 bungy's, tie down straps and a headstock strap, so it should fit most bikes OK, even plastic tank models. Or you can buy the specific non-steel tank mount.
It's easily unzipped from it's mount and makes refuelling easy. Shoulder straps are fitted to convert it to a packpack.
It did the job well on tour, swallowed all our odds and sods and remained stable. I used an under tank strap, but probably could have done without. All the zips have large rings on them to enable you to open it with gloves on.
All told it was a good buy, retail is $285.00 for black, red, blue, yellow. Platinum is a little more. They come with a lifetime warranty.