Moto Fizz Rear Seat Bag by Thomas Day I snagged this bag late in 2006, moments after the riding season had ended. On a trip to Duluth and a visit to Aerostitch RiderWearhouse. I had some assistance in picking out a seat bag that I should have listened to more closely. Andy Goldfine, the wizard behind all things Aerostitch, showed me a collection of seat bags and suggested, several times, that I might want to consider a bag that was more waterproof than the MotoFizz bags. I, however, kept bringing him back to the strongest selling point of the MotoFizz bag; “this one has a coffee thermos holder.” After trying to convince me that I didn’t need the large bag, but would find the small or medium MotoFizz bags held more than enough gear, Andy gave up and acknowledged the incredible value (to me) of a cup holder on a motorcycle and let me use my own lame judgment to choose my seat bag.
The major fault in this product is the lack of waterproof-ness and the bag’s rain cover. The rain cover doesn’t work at all. It’s an over-simplified design that is destined to let your gear get drenched from top to bottom. The rain cover is “secured” with a lightweight shock cord, instead of a more rational and traditional drawstring. A little wind, a few miles, and the shock cord stretches, comes apart, the bag flies away like an aimless parachute, and the MotoFizz is converted to a seat-mounted nylon, swimming pool. After seven days of experiencing wet clothes, wet camping gear, and wet everything else, I relegated this bag to the simple task of holding waterproof gear. I made it about 3,000 miles into Canada before I tired of rescuing what was left of the rain cover and decided to try re-engineering it. The shock cord had popped like cotton string; first near the cord clamp and, later, where the cover was held in place by security straps. At a motel, I repaired the cover with a piece of 1/8” nylon cord which worked pretty well, but not well enough to trust the bag to things I wanted kept dry. RiderWearhouse stocks the rain cover, separately, because they are so easily lost.
The bag is edged by heavy duty zippers and made of heavy duty (water-resistant, but not waterproof) Cordura nylon. The bag’s compression system is clever and practical. Once you get your gear into the bag, you can start tightening the straps down until you’ve reduced the size and stabilized your load. The small accessory storage bags (only on the large bag) are useful, but they aren’t water resistant. They are anchored to the main bag with the side cinches, so they don’t flap in the wind or work loose from their buckles. There are at least five different anchor points for tying down external gear (tents, sleeping pad, etc) and MotoFizz has included a lightweight elastic net for securing a towel or wet clothing. Every piece of hardware on the MotoFizz bag is well designed, if not over-designed, for intense touring. There are lots of good things to say about this bag, if only it kept out the rain. I recommend you consider the small or medium sized bags over the large bag. M.M.M. |
*This article was originally published in the August 2008 issue.
After this introduction, I’m sure you can guess what the major fault in the MotoFizz bag turned out to be; it isn’t waterproof. I also found that after cinching the bag down tight, I could have easily made do with the medium bag or, probably, the small bag. Even worse, I couldn’t find a way to mount the bag where the coffee thermos holder didn’t co-function either as a really scary butt-plug or a thermos ejection device. I left the thermos home for the trip. The small or medium bag would have carried the thermos holder in a less exciting position, since it’s mounted on the side of those bags.
The lack of waterproofing was disappointing because, as I might have mentioned, the MotoFizz has a coffee thermos holder. The MotoFizz bag is a well-designed, spacious bag that can be secured to practically any platform. Cinched down, the MotoFizz is incredibly stable wherever you position it on your bike. It is built to outlast you and your motorcycle, comes in three sizes (small, medium, and humongous), and is flexible and expandable to meet a variety of load conditions. My “large” bag is capable of storing most of a deer’s carcass and the tools to butcher the deer, although it would leak blood all over my bike.