Reviews

Summary:  The Viking Odyssey 30L Adventure Tail Bag is another quality product from Viking Bags at an affordable price.  The 30 Liter size is a nice size for a tail bag.  It’s small enough to not be overly cumbersome, but it’s big enough to hold everything you need for a short trip.  While there are a few small issues that keep this from being a perfect 10 for us, overall it’s a great product.

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This is the description that Viking offers on it’s website:  

The Viking Odyssey 30L BMW motorcycle Adventure Touring Duffel Bag is a versatile and durable bag that is perfect for any adventure ride. It is made from 100% waterproof TPU fabric and features a distinctive roll-top enclosure. The ADV duffel bag can be easily converted into a backpack or an over-the-shoulder carry-on, making it perfect for any situation. It also has a detachable top and the MOLLE webbing for attaching additional gear.

 

Specs:

• 100% Waterproof TPU Fabric

• 18” x 10” x 12” - 1830 Cubic Inches

• Roll Top Opening

• MOLLE Panel

• Mounting Straps, Shoulder Strap, Backpack Straps all included.

 

List Price:  $179.99 (143.99 with coupon)

 

The Odyssey 30L Tail Bag is a quality product with a lot of great features.  It uses the classic roll-top design for a secure, watertight seal.  In addition to mounting straps, this product comes with a detachable shoulder strap as well as integrated backpack straps.  In addition to the detachable straps, there are 2 attached carrying handles to help move and position the bag.

 

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Another feature we like is the detachable MOLLE panel.  This provides additional flexibility for customizing by adding your MOLLE components to this kit.  The backside of the MOLLE panel contains a zippered clear plastic panel to hold your maps or other papers for quick, easy access.

 

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The Odyssey 30L Tail Bag is attached to the bike with adjustable straps.  The straps come with loop ends and a metal friction clamp to help cinch the bag down tight.  Although 2 straps are probably adequate, my pack came with 4 straps.  

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There are a lot of neat features that ‘go the extra mile’ on this bag.  For example, the metal buckles are all mounted on a section of strap webbing to protect your bike from the metal friction clamps.  Also, all of the straps include velcro loops to help tie up the strap tail.

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While the straps do an excellent job of keeping the tail bag secured, they are also one of the items that I didn’t like about this bag.  Since Viking recommends threading the straps through loops attached to the bag, and they use a friction clamp to lock the strap in place, you need to thread the entire strap through the loops and the buckle every time you fasten and unfasten the bag from the bike.  It is a tradeoff with a plastic snap-buckle, so while it’s probably more secure, it takes more time loading and unloading the bike.  This feature was a little annoying to me, but others might not mind the extra time and will appreciate the extra security of the metal friction clamps.

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The only other gripe I have with the Viking 30L Adventure Bag is the assembly and installation instructions.  The instructions are available as a PDF file on the Viking website, but they are confusing and incomplete.  The main issue I had was with the orientation and attachment of the MOLLE panel.  What could have been a 5-10 minute job became a 30-45 minute job.  But once this puzzle was solved, the issue went away.  The rest of the installation was a snap.  This issue is certainly not a show stopper by any means.

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In conclusion, the Viking Odyssey 30L Adventure Tail Bag is a great product at an amazing price point.  It has a ton of built in features that give this bag flexibility to fit most bikes and situations.  If you are looking for a new tail bag, check out the Viking Odyssey 30L Adventure Tail Bag.

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