Oxford Humpback / X30 tank / tail bag review

Many riders that own a Super Sport or Sport Touring motorcycle hesitate loading their bikes with soft luggage. Being a sport bike enthusiast, means more than just hitting the track. Many times short trips are always welcome but our motorcycle limit us when it comes to transport needed stuff like waterproof gear, extra gloves, mobile etc.

For the above given reasons I ended up searching on the web for an ideal luggage option that would fit my motorcycle style (a Honda CBR600) and would not get along my way to the handle bars. So my choice was a tail bag. I finally ended up in the British Oxford company and its Humpback tail/tank bag luggage.

Design

The package I received contained the tail/tank bag, waterproof cover and the tail base. The bag comes in different color variations like black, blue, red, silver. Its material is made from a pretty thick of 1500 denier polyester which seems to be pretty strong after my two years of experience on it. The product is well designed and it is really worth its money. Three zip pockets are available, two on the sides and one on the top. The middle pocket has an extra small hole that can be really handy when wanting to use headphones that are plugged on a device which lays inside the pocket. On the top side of the bag extra storage is provided under a transparent membrane where you can store maps or even a GPS device. Furthermore the bag can be fully expanded for extra capacity just by opening one zip. Another advantage of this bag are the shoulder straps for backpack option. Furthermore extra reflective stripes are located on the top but also on the side of the bag.

Dimensions

The bag has a total capacity of 28 liters when expanded and about 20 liters when collapsed. Its dimensions are: Length : 32cm - 12.65, Width : 35cm - 13.78", Height Unexpanded : 22cm - 8.66", Height Expanded : 32cm - 12.65". When expanded two inner panels can be flipped up to ensure extra stability and to hold the bag in a total vertical position. Its capacity is pretty enough for storing waterproof gear, pocket camera, a pair of gloves and a bottle of water.

Fitting

The Humpback can come with three different bases, a magnetic base, strap on base and a last one with flexible straps that end in hooks. The bag can be zipped on each of the bases giving a bigger usage variation since with the appropriate base it can be used either as a tail bag or a tank bag. When used as tank bag the magnet base can be used but also for those that do not own a metallic tank, the strap on base can be really helpful. The strap on base can holds onto position with two clips which can be easily opened when needed to fuel. When used as a tail bag, the elastic straps can be attached on the motorcycles pegs or any available place where the hooks can hold. The tail base provides a really stable feeling of the bag and it seems to hold on really well even with speeds over 100 mph.

Water resistance

The polyester which the bag is made of does provide some water resistance. If this is still not enough, an extra waterproof cover is also included in the package. Also the cover itself has a transparent membrane to have a view of the map holder of the bag. Riding for over an hour in heavy rain the results were just a few drops inside the rain cover which did not get inside the bag at all keeping everything dry.

After all

I used this bag for over 15.000km now. I cannot say anything else than “Congratulation Oxford”. I would not think that a bag can fit so nice on a SS bike and give multi-usage options and especially come with a lifetime guaranty! So what are the cons and pros?

Pros

• Competitive price compared to other big companies
• Well designed, providing a decent space and different usage variations
• Good materials used that will hold well for a long time

Cons

• When used as a tail bag, the elastic straps might do some color damage on the tail if not fitted well.
• The magnetic base is not that flexible and does not hold always that well on high speed, as most of the magnetic tank bags.
• Rain cover is not really that water resistance. The idea of the transparent membrane is a neat feature, but from my experience after a heavy rain I saw a few drops leaking inside.