Review: SW-Motech SysBag WP Pro Luggage
For many adventure bikes, soft luggage is the best solution. But, due to the design of the rear, you still need racks. When I recently had to get a Yamaha Ténéré 700 ready for touring duties and needed enough luggage capacity for clothes, layers, and camera equipment, I looked to SW-Motech’s catalog for a semi-customized solution.
Parts
We started with the motorcycle-specific SW-Motech PRO side carrier for the T7, to which we mounted a pair of SysBag WP L adapter plates for the eponymous bags. Let’s have a quick word about those.
“SysBag WP L” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue and it’s akin to an internal naming convention. Being an innovative German company, SW-Motech has a system for everything—in this case, for bags. The SysBag WP (not to be confused with the SysBag line) models come in S (10 liters), M (15 liters), and L (30 liters) sizes and they can be mounted on the left, right, or back. You can mix and match the sizes based on your needs, and you can even mount a third one as a tail bag. If this sounds like too much work, SW-Motech offers bundles tailored for specific motorcycles.
These bags are truly universal and can be used on just about any motorcycle, but I recommend using their carriers. The L size can hold between 27-40 liters. Made from TPU plastic,the exterior features a MOLLE patch to add a small accessory bag. You access the interior through a fold-down lid and then a rolltop bag. The “WP’’ stands for waterproof, and with the aforementioned construction, your belongings will stay nice and dry.
You can shove even more gear between the inner bag and the outer shell, as long as you’re OK with the possibility of it getting wet. The inner part of the system is removable, and two adjustable Velcro dividers keep your belongings neat and organized. For me, this setup secured my camera equipment as perfectly as if it was custom made.
Installation
Once I laid out all of the parts on the garage floor on the sides they’d go onto the T7, I already saw that this was a well-thought-out system, indeed. It took me a leisurely 45 minutes to get everything sorted and to assemble the parts. The installation of the racks took about 20 minutes, and by then the bags were ready to go on as well. The visual and written instructions were crystal clear.
The last time I installed aftermarket luggage, the bags were from the other German company. In the product review, I noted the ridiculous amount of hardware I was left with at the end. Mentally, I prepared for the same with SW-Motech, but it never happened. The end result was a very happy rider with a solid setup of traveling on two wheels.
SysBag WP L
$319.95
PRO Side Carrier for Yamaha Ténéré 700
$356.95
SysBag WP L Adapter Plate Left and Right
$63.95 each