Small and soft saddle bags work great for Trekking. They are light, tough and mount well to dirt bikes. There is good feedback from people who use the tank bags too as a bonus for that bit extra and quicker access. A comfortable, but tough backpack with water bladder is standard issue, but keep it small and light for the body on these endurance test type riding. Make sure your backpack has a hip belt to carry the weight on your hips and not your shoulders unless it is just a bladder pack.  A fanny tool belt or carrying your tools in your backpack is a trade-off, because it will reduce your standing endurance…unless that is a non-issue for you.  But a fender tool bag works well for tools and integrates into these saddle bags. The use of a bike tail duffel bag is helpful enough to replace saddle bag luggage. It can be cheaper, but probably less desirable because it carries the weight higher, can be less secure mounted and you have to karate kick over the seat when you want to mount the bike. To optimize for Trekking, the biggest luggage decision is selecting the right saddle bags, so we will compare the two most popular options..the Wolfman E-12 and the Giant Loop Mojavi.

Size Matters

Any soft saddle bag should be right sized for your packing,  so “big enough” depends on your gear plan.  The horseshoe style fender/saddle bags are usable, but overkill for trekking if you are packing wisely with minimal camping. The Wolfman E-12  at 22 liters is larger than the Giant Loop Mojavi at 12 liters. But the E12 sticks out more when full as a result.  The E-12 allows you to remove more gear weight from your backpack. The Mojavi tucks in better than the E-12 and looks more stream lined. Some people even leave it on the bike all year round while trail riding even though both are easy to remove.  On the E-12, I have scrapped a few trees with the bags full while riding, but never managed to feel an impact. When it is not packed full, the E-12 cinch straps work well to suck it into the bike to minimize the width. When making your selection on size, you might also consider what you want do with these beyond the GRIT rides.

Toughness

The Giant Loop Mojavi is the king of toughness with it’s trucker’s tarp Bombshell™ material and more water resistant. But users have reported water penetration still, probably thru the zipper. So don’t expect it to be fully waterproof with critical items. The E-12 is made with  1680 Denier Ballistic fabric, so water sensitive items are more likely to need to be wrapped in a water proof bag. But water proof bags also aid in organizing your cargo so it is not just one big jumble of parts.  The E-12 targets the “tough enough” category for dirt bikes.  After 4000+ Trek style miles on the Wolfman E-12, the only damage it ever suffered (after probably a hundred biffs), was one mounting strap that was pulled out when I had a head-on encounter with a KTM 990. I had the floss and needle in my packing to just repair it myself later in the journey and it is still rolling today 1000 trek miles later. But if I had  been using the Mojavi, there is a real chance that the more streamlined bags would have had no damage to repair after introducing myself to the 990.

Cost

They are similarly priced when you consider the tool bag in the cost.

• Giant Loops Mojavi MSRP: $225.00 with tool bag
• Wolfman: E-12 MSRP: $165.99 without tool bag (Tool bag MSRP: $55.49)
  

Conclusion

So the bottom line trade-off is that the Mojavi is tougher and sleeker, but the E-12 has almost twice the cargo capacity. Both have the GRIT to do the job.