Strap Yourself In

Adventure Rider Issue #32

• It’s what we do – adventure motorbike magazine
• BMW GS Safari Enduro = adventure motorbikes, news, reviews, publication
• BMW F850GS Rallye X
• Strap Yourself In
• The Dempster
• TomTom Rider 450
• Read Between The Lines
• Locked Gates – motorbike magazine, australian motorcycle publication
• Ural Adventure Ride 2018
• Sri Lanka – adventure motorbike tour, motorcycle magazine
• The Best Job In The World = australian motorbike magazine
• Wet Arses
• Yamaha Tracer 900
• Congregation 2018
• We Didn’t Have PLBs In Those Days
• Sahara To Sunraysia = australian motorbike riding tours news event magazine
• Managing Risk with Miles Davis
• Thinking Big? Start Small with Andy Strapz
• A Precautionary Tale from Karen Ramsay
• Checkout
• Fit out – australian adventure motorbike riding

There’s a couple of new trends in motorcycle luggage and we think we’re going to see more of them in the future.

As we’ve put the Checkout pages together of the past few issues we’ve been scratching our heads at the repeated references to ‘MOLLE’ and ‘CONFIGR8’. We thought we’d better find out what the names mean. Then we thought we’d better share what we learned.

MOLLE

The name ‘MOLLE’ comes from the initials for ‘modular lightweight load-carrying equipment’.

Don’t bother sending us an e-mail.

We don’t care about there being two letters from one word and none from another. Whether or not it’s grammatically correct, that’s how it is.

Anyhoo, the thing about the MOLLE system is it’s an accepted worldwide standard for load-bearing apparel and backpacks. It’s a military term, because MOLLE gear is embraced by a big swag of NATO forces, including the US and British armies.

Basically, webbing – using the term ‘webbing’ in its military context – loops are stitched on to vests, packs, panniers and all manner of things. The size of the strapping and loops is agreed and standardised, so gazillions of companies all over the world can produce clobber that fits straight on, no matter what brand they are. The military loves its acronyms, so PALs (Pouch Attachment Ladder Systems), and All Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE), are integral to most military applications.

The MOLLE system is extremely tough, lightweight and very, very versatile.

Recently we’ve seen quite a bit of motorcycle gear overseas incorporating the MOLLE system, and it means riders can use a huge range of equipment not specific for bikes, but ideally suited to adventurers of all kinds.

The Hardcore soft rack from Green Chile is almost a collection of MOLLE loops joined together. Designed for bikes without a rack, it offers incredible options for securing gear in a huge variety of ways.

Get it right

Lately there’s been some rotomoulded MOLLE-compatible knife and tomahawk holders from people like Gerber, but it’s really the storage and luggage side of the deal which is of most interest to adventure riders. There’s all kinds of MOLLE-compatible packs, pockets and pouches available once you have some-thing to add them to.

The folks at Smart Motorcycle Accessories import Green Chile clobber, and it’s MOLLE-compatible, bike-specific gear. They were good enough to send us a few bits and pieces to fool around with, and you won’t need a lot of imagination to see how a good MOLLE rig can be a huge asset to any adventure rider needing to hump gear. In this case we had a Snake Bag kit – which was a handful of different straps – and the Hardcore soft rack, designed for bikes with no rack installed. The Hardcore includes a couple of tyre levers which slip into the webbing to add strength and hold the shape of the webbing ‘rack’ and all its MOLLE loops. It’s a very clever design. With those two bits of kit we could carry just about anything.

The thing we like most about MOLLE is its versatility. Once a MOLLE-compatible base is in place, securely attaching gear in a stack of different positions is a snap.

We’ve looped on a tent and sleeping bag just to show it in use, but we could’ve strapped on just about anything.

The Green Chile strap kit had cam-lock buckles with elasticised ends, D-loop straps and a couple of longish straight webbing straps, all of which could be fitted to the MOLLE loops on the rack in a squillion different ways.

The possible variations of size and shape seem almost limitless.

We love the way a couple of tyre levers are cunningly included in the Hardcore soft rack. They give the fabric shape, add an enormous amount of strength to the rig, and take up no space at all.
MOLLE is primarily designed for load-bearing apparel and backpacks, so there’s a stack of pockets and holders available to go on jackets and vests. For bikes, a few straps allow an enormous set of possibilities.
A tent and sleeping bag on a bike with no rack. Simple.

CONFIGR8

The next luggage innovation isn’t as universal as the MOLLE gear, but we were fricken impressed when we tried it, and we think it’s worth letting you know about.

CONFIGR8 is the name given to Zac Speed’s adjustable and ‘re-configurable’ backpacks system. Using what the company calls a ‘ladder lock’, harness options can be changed and adjusted really fast and really easily.

On the gear Zac Speed sent us – the Dakar backpack, the Octane tech vest and the Matrix toolpack – the ladder lock straps have a stack of different size settings.

You’re probably thinking, “So what? All my gear is adjustable too. I pull on the straps and tighten things up.”

That’s true, and the Zac Speed gear is the same. But the CONFIGR8 system means some basic parameters can be set before fine adjustment. We hate backpacks that hang down around our bumcracks for example, and it seems with most gear we have to run the shoulder straps so tight to stop that happening that our eyes go slitty and everyone thinks we’re smiling at them. The Zac Speed pack allowed us to move the padded, load-bearing section of the shoulder straps to a position where the pack then sat naturally at the height we liked, and we only cinched up the adjusters to stop it flopping around.Aside from sheer comfort, the system also allows several Zac Speed components to be integrated. They’re not just clipped together.

CONFIGR8 allows the components to be built into a single unit. There’s no tools needed and nothing tricky to master.

Just open the zippered flaps, pop off one set of straps and put them in the shed,attach the alternative gear with the push-on buttons, close the flap and off you go.

Our Dakar backpack can be just a backpack, and it’s an excellent bit of kit. It has tons of pockets, good solid construction and it’s very comfortable. But thanks to the CONFIGR8 system, in about two minutes the shoulder straps of the back-pack can be replaced with the Octane vest, and the vest and backpack become a single unit which can be shrugged on and off like a jacket.

Storage space is huge and the outfit is as comfortable as a good vest or jacket should be.

The quick-release buckles on the Zac Speed gear are a common size throughout the range, so there’s the opportunity to customise the final set-up for individuals or even for the upcoming ride. Things can be clipped all over the place, and in the rig sent to us, the Matrix tool bag clips straight on the front and becomes part of the vest.

With a little imagination it can be clipped on the back or in lots of different places, but the front was were we felt it worked best. There’s a few mix’n’match options available in the Zac Speed range, and it makes for plenty of carrying capacity and versatility.

Being able to choose a backpack, backpack/bumbag or backpack/bumbag/ vest combo for each ride or each day is the value of the CONFIGR8 rig.
The Octane vest ladder locks in place of the pack shoulder straps and has a heap of pockets and some MOLLE loops. It helps balance the weight of the backpack when the rider has to carry a big load.

Suit yourself

We’re not saying these systems will suit everyone, but we thought they were both new and offered very interesting possibilities. Have a look at the gear at your bike dealer and see if it fits your needs. It seems to us both systems have a great deal to offer.

The bumbag can be worn on its own or used as part of a bigger luggage-carrying rig. It only takes a minute or two to change.
Zac Speed’s ladder-lock system is the heart of the CONFIGR8 set-up.

Nut job

Our mate Matthew ‘Pottsy’ Potts – aka ‘Secret Squirrel’ – has an engineering kind of mind, and he carries a huge stack of spares, tools and luggage in a very compact set up on every ride. We handed him the Zac Speed gear and asked him to give it a run. After some savage flogging, here’s what he told us…

“For a guy who normally runs a $30 backpack from a camping store, the CONFIGR8 system has been a revelation. I thought a backpack was just a backpack. How much different can they be?

“The biggest thing about the Zac Speed gear is the versatility. It’s amazing. How they make one system that covers everything from enduro and trailriding one day to an adventure tour across Australia the next is unique. The way you can add or subtract parts of the system to suit every type of ride is the key. It’s obvious the system was designed and built by someone who rides.

“I started by transferring everything from my old bumbag and backpack to the Zac Speed rig. My normal outfit had all the gear wedged in and was bulging at the seams. The Dakar backpack had swallowed it all and still only seemed a quarter-full.

Everything was easy to access, and everything had a place.

“Even better, when wearing the Zac Speed gear, the weight disappeared as the load was close to the body and supported by nice, wide, soft straps. The editor had been using it before I got to try it, and he’s a lot shorter than me. I’m a bit more…umm…

let’s call it ‘well-fed’ too, and it was easily adjustable to fit me in only a few minutes.

“Build quality is also on a whole new level compared to my budget backpack. All the materials seem twice as thick, zippers more sturdy and waterproof, stitching far neater and the pack holds the best hydration bladder I’ve ever seen.

“All up it’s a great-value backpack, bumbag and everything-in-one system that I can see lasting for many years of hard abuse. Squirrel is sold on it. It gets a five-nut star rating from me.”