Stansport Saddle Bag

I've had these saddlebags in one of my Amazon lists for a while. I found them while looking for relatively inexpensive panniers for my motorcycles and thought they looked promising, but I wasn't convinced.I have two different bikes. One is a small, light bike that I jump on for shorter trips and around town stuff. The other is a sport-touring liter bike that's more of a handful, but really comfortable on the highway and still a lot of fun for short blasts. I ride whichever one I feel like wrestling on any particular day.One thing I've missed having is some sort of luggage for impromptu errands. I ride with a backpack, but that already holds my tool kit, water bottle, etc. I sometimes also throw a thin jacket or spare pair of gloves in it in case the weather changes. In other words, the backpack doesn't always have room in it if I decide to stop at the store.The goal was always to get some inexpensive universal bags. Both of my bikes are old and not super-popular so luggage that is application-specific for either bike are no longer sold new. Used examples are difficult to find and costly since there's not a lot of them floating around. I didn't want a tail bag because I sometimes ride with a passenger and there just isn't enough room on either bike for a bag and another person.I briefly thought about adapting universal hard panniers to the bikes, but they tend to be more expensive and require a fairly rigid mounting system. Neither of my bikes has any convenient points to bolt a framework onto, I probably would've ended up moving turn signals, and the whole thing would have turned into a bit of an engineering project. Not undoable, but I don't need another construction project. I just want to ride.What finally prompted me to buy these bags is seeing them used on a cross country motorcycle trip by the YouTube channel Jake Rides away. He rode from Brooklyn to LA with a pair of these bags on his Triumph Bonneville and the bags held up fine. Until then I doubted the durability of a pair of inexpensive bags like this. Seriously, how can they make and ship these things for less than $30?I figured that for the price, I'd roll the dice. My biggest concern was how well the bags would fit on my bikes. I bought one pair of bags and installed them on my small bike for now. I simply removed my bike's seat, draped the saddle on the back of the bike, then reinstalled the seat. The seat pan traps the bags in place. I then used the included cords to tie the bags together from side to side. This tucks them fairly close to the bodywork of the bike and keeps them from swaying side to side.I took them out for their first ride yesterday. I ran a couple of errands and put some weight in the bags, then spent some time riding around to make sure that nothing would shift or rub. This included some turns where I leaned the bike fairly far over. At the end of the ride, the bags were still firmly in place, and nothing had rubbed or come in contact with the rear brake rotor or tire. I should probably buy or build a set of support bars to keep the bottoms of the bags from moving around.These bags are a nice size for tool kits, a few small errands, maybe some riding gear. You won't fit the contents of a Costco run in them, but a few groceries are not out of the question. It's untreated canvas so be sure to take a couple of trash bags with you in case you get caught in the rain. You can also waterproof canvas using something like beeswax (there are several excellent YouTube tutorials on this) but trash bags are a lot quicker and easier.A few people have complained about the D-rings used to secure the top flaps in place. They're a bit cumbersome to use but once you're used to them it's not too bad. I considered switching them out to Fastex-style quick release plastic buckles. It would require some sewing (which I'm not afraid to do) but the D-rings are really secure and not enough of an inconvenience to be worth the trouble of modifying the bags.I'll put another few trips on this pair and then probably purchase another pair for my other bike. Ideally I'd like to keep bags on each bike permanently rather than having to switch them back and forth all the time. If everything works out, these will be a permanent part of each bike.

Images are when it rains, and when it is dry. Also with passenger seat removed and attached.I like how it looks. It is also an inexpensive way to have decent looking bags for your bike. They are cool, look nice, and hold almost enough for me. I use a bike as my daily vehicle so I probably should invest in something larger and higher quality.CONVENIENCESo the straps are a pain. I can do it pretty quickly now but they are annoying to open/close after getting groceries or whatever you need. I wish I had something with buttons, velcro, or a lide that snaps shut. It is not a deal breaker but the straps are a bit annoying.SIZESo I take a backpack with me if I am going grocery shopping. When I have a backpack and these saddle bags I can carry a lot of groceries. To give an idea of the size I took a photo with a large container of oatmeal, and a 48oz bag of frozen chicken. With those both in the bag I could have easily closed it enough to cover the contents and be secure. This helps if you are wearing a backpack and dont want giant items on your back while you are driving.WATERPROOFSimply it is not. You may be able to see in the photo where it rained the bag is soaked all the way through. That being said if you are briefly in the rain, driving home it would take a lot to get through and damage whatever you have in the bag. If you need to carry a laptop or electronic, use your backpack as I would not put anything expensive in these bags even when it is dry.EASE TO PUT ONIt depends on your bike. After I put the passenger seat on it helped a lot but even without it, it seemed secure enough even without attaching screws. I draped it over, and tied it where I could (with attached strings) and it seemed secure enough. Now I have the passenger seat over and it is even more secure. If the holes line up with fixture screws on your bike then thats even better but it didnt line up with anything on my bike.OVERALLIt looks cool - it does offer more convenience at a lower price point. I think I spent less than 30 dollars for this. But spending 100+ would be worth it to me to get a higher quality bag/case that attaches more securely, is waterproof, and has more space. Leather saddlebags would be better than these so if you have the money to spend I suggest doing that - otherwise these will do the job.

You can find these sold under lots of brand names but I decided to go with Stansport to possibly avoid issues. It arrived in excellent condition. Some complain about having to thread the webbing through the D-rings to secure the bag closed because of the double overed and sewn ends. I severed the stitches with a seam ripper, unraveled the folds until flat, cut the frayed end square with a sharp knife and then attached metal webbing tips I got on ebay. Get 1inch ones which some sell as 25mm. Insert the webbing fully into the open toothed jaws of the metal tip, squeeze together some more with finger pressure and then hammer together the rest of the way with a rubber mallet. The material between the two bags was way too much for using it as a throw over on my Revv1 so I cut to fit over my seat with the top of each bag hanging down about an each from the top of the seat so as to not hang so low as to get caught in anything. Then I sewed the two back together. And, lastly, I didn’t need or want the four rivet attached d-rings on the bags intended as tie down points so I drilled the side opposite of the rivet head until they came off and threw a stitch line over the minor hole that was left. I probably could have just left it but I had the machine out anyway. Now I just load it up and throw it over the seat and sit on the span between the bags. Works like a charm and looks cool too. I’m counting on the fading of the fabric a lot of people complain about to match the color of my bike soon. I love dressing up good serviceable things like this that are inexpensive.

Not holding up well and small but hey15 bucks? I'm happy