Vetter 24-Litre Tank Bag
Vetter 24-Litre Tank Bag
EVALUATION
Creative new ideas are valuable, no question about that. The inventor who comes up with something the world can use and didn’t have before is entitled to his rewards. But sometimes we also benefit from the development, in slightly different ways, of ideas that have entered the public domain.
Today’s exhibit, the Vetter 24-Litre tank bag. The name of the first person to adapt luggage to a motorcycle’s fuel tank is lost to us. Now that more riders are using their bikes for more of the time and in more ways, as in work, sport, touring, etc., there are more choices of tank bags on the market. They all do pretty much the same thing, but they also offer a choice of size, material, various features and— most important here—mounting systems.
The bag shown here is something new for Vetter. Previous bags from the company, best known for fairings, were on the bulky side and were designed to be used only with a touring fairing. The bag mounted on the fairing, an attempt to keep the bags off bare bikes.
The 24-litre bag is a system in itself. The name comes from the capacity, 24-litres (Vetter spells it that way, not us) being the displacement in cubic centimeters. For those of us who don’t think in liters, that’s 24 times lOOOcc. Or it’s approximately 11 in. high, 10 in. wide and 12 in. long. But another way, the bag will hold a rain suit, two pairs slacks, shirts, socks, shorts and shaving kit, or a rain suit with sweater, gloves and the usual things needed on a weekend ride. There’s a pocket on each side, roughly 2 x 20 x 6 in., for spare parts or tire patching kits or whatever, and an accessory bag with room for wallet, change, smokes, etc., snaps to the main bag’s rear wall. The main bag has sort of a plastic framework around the edges and there are plastic strips, like collar stays but bigger, that slip into each corner and give the bag its mostly-square shape, even when empty. But because the material is flexible, you can keep pushing stuff into the bag until it’s really full. In short, it’s on the larger side of the middle capacity for tank bags, and if you don’t need a suit, it will do for overnight or weekend trips. (It will also fit beneath an airplane seat so you can ride to the airport, carry the bag with you and it looks so good nobody makes jokes.)
Vetter’s mounting system is different. The bag has a tab on each corner, with a lift-a-dot snap in each tab. These snap onto straps. The bottom of the bag itself and the lower sides of the straps have artificial fleece padding.
The straps fasten with a slide arrangement, that is, you slip the strap through a double-back pair of slots and pull and the strap holds itself in tension. This is good, for several reasons. First, the tension can always be correct, while a buckle system is sometimes too loose and sometimes too tight. Next, the straps can be adjusted when in place. Other bags require them to be the right length before they can be closed and that means threading the straps back and forth under the tank and around the frame or airbox.
The lift-a-dot snaps let you remove the bag for commuting or fuel stops, with no adjustment needed. Our Vetter bag has been in daily service for about eight months, long enough for us to know that if road grime dims the looks of the tan Cordura, a trip through the washing machine will make it look nice again. The zippers are sturdy, the bag has been waterproofed to date, the seams are intact and the map window, with access via a Velcro-closed flap, is still clear.
There are plenty of tank bags on the market. The Vetter is well made, roomy and holds up well and has enough useful differences to make it more than just another of its type. In black or tan, $79.95 from Vetter dealers.
