Re: New Mosko Moto bags
imcja said:
jdk2man...anyway I could get a close-up look of those Mosko panniers? I'm leaning hard in that direction...but 6 Benjies is holding me back.
Chuck B...have you had a chance to real-world your panniers? Would love to get your impression too.
Anyone else sporting Mosko Moto products?
Thx!!
I've had them for a few weeks now. Final product is better than the demonstration models I viewed/played with back in May. Mosko upped the materials to thicker and should be more durable materials, however, in some ways it may be a bit too much. Outer materials were certainly beefed up and while Mosko does not claim them to be water proof (some seams not bonded/taped) my experiments showed otherwise. The waterproofness, according to Mosko, comes from using the inner liners. The inner liners are completely removable. A quick observations of the liners shows they are certainly waterproof...seams are completely bonded and taped. With the now beefier outer materials along with the inserted inner liner the bags seem a bit too 'thick'. Granted my previous soft bags were wider at the opening but no where near as deep as the Mosko's but using the inner liners seems to eat up space in the pannier. Also, the added thickness of outer materials has rendered the pull string for the attached outer compartment pretty much useless. Its not that big a deal as you can simply roll the top (like on the pannier) and then bring down/clip the cover. Water intrusion should not be an issue.
Overall, the bag/system is well thought out and well executed in materials and build quality. My two previous favorite soft bags were basic Ortliebs and Wolfmans. I've also owned used Giant loop. Orliebs are easiest to use on daily basis but lack in attachment for offroading. Wolfman's make up for attachment over orliebs, better materials but far far worse for packing/unpacking on a daily basis...PIA in my opinion. Mosko's take the beefiness/durability of the Giant loop a step or two further. Mosko plate attachment system is simple but brilliant. I like the mount system so much I ordered two additional mounting plate packages to add to my KLR and GSF1250. That leads to previously mentioned high cost of Mosko's system.
Additional mounting plate kits run $160 per set. I spoke with Mosko directly after receiving the invoice. They are aware that $160 is out of line, however, that is what it currently costs them to produce the backing plates and mounting pucks. I think with some more time, researching company's who can produce them on a larger scale they can significantly cut their costs for both the kits and pannier sets. Time will tell...
Other observations since receiving the additional mounting kits. There have been a couple folks who have snapped the mounting plates during installation. While I believe its due mostly to needlessly over torquing the puck bolts it should be noted that the plates do need a fairly flat surface (racks) to mount to. My OSR racks on my KLR are not flat and I was able to position them in a way that worked for mounting/using the panniers the plastic backing plate was bent a bit. If bent too much the panniers will not slide on properly but go too far and you chance snapping the mount plates. I've since gone back and used nylon spacers between the pucks and mounting plate to relieve the stress. It also allowed me to better position the bags on the OSR racks. I know Mosko is currently working on stress testing the mounting plates to come up with some recommended torque figures for owners to use when mounting. Just the very nature of the materials used very little torque to those mounting bolts are needed. I've been torquing mine to barely more than finger tight and none have come loose. I've currently got about 1000 miles of usage with probably 300 miles of offroad.
I should also point out the plastic material used in the mounting plates is HDPE. One that I use extensively in my woodworking and found to be very durable over the years.
