Giant Loop Fandango Tank Bag on my KLR650…
It’s a bit sad, but I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was 17yrs old and never owned a nice tank bag. I couldn’t afford it as a student and I think my bargain hunting mentality stuck with me through the years. I guess I am older and wiser now because I when I looked at what I had for old tank bags I cringed at the junk I saw. So I poked around online and decided to try out a Giant Loop Fandango tank bag which I bought from Moto Overland. Dave at Moto Overland was very helpful getting me the colour I wanted and making me aware of some changes to this tank bag’s harness that was important for a KLR owner. I will definitely be buying future gear from Moto Overland.
Product info stolen from Moto Overland – click on image to see larger…
I’ll let you read all the product details for yourself. You can click on the image above to see them or jump to the Giant Loop product page or the Moto Overland product page.
What did I like about it?:
- decent size at 10L without being goofy large
- robust construction can take some abuse
- water resistant [can be waterproofed with seam sealer on stitching]
- harness fits KLR650’s tank well
- looks nice on the bike
Harness on my KLR…
The Fandango now sports a new style of harness that can be seen in my photo above. For the KLR the new version of harness is important as it allows easy access to the gas cap. If you look at the older harness shown in the product image one down from the top of the post you’ll see a much smaller cut out for the gas cap which required KLR owners to hack away some of the harness to position the tank bag properly.
Tank bag partially unzipped to allow access to gas cap…
Installing the Fandango is a 2 min exercise. All you have to do is attach one strap under the front part of the KLR’s frame and 2 side straps around the frame below the gas tank. You can leave the harness on 24/7 so you can simply zip on the tank bag and ride. When you want to add some gas you unzip the Fandango part way and flip it to the side for access to the gas cap.
My beast with the Fandango installed…
The Fandango sits up high out of the way when you are sitting or standing on the KLR. The harness holds it securely even on rough terrain and the modest size helps prevent you from overloading the bag.
Fandango unzipped….
The beefy zippers on the bag and harness work well and can take a beating. I would recommend occasionally lubricating them with some paraffin wax to keep them trucking for the long haul.
Old style map case…
You’ll notice in these pictures that my Fandango has a map case on top with a zipper you access from the top right of the bag. This is in fact the older style Fandango and the newer version has a map case you access from inside the bag. The reason for the change is to make the map case more waterproof. I preferred easier access so I grabbed one of the older style bags.
Cockpit view…
Speaking of waterproofness the material this bag is made from is waterproof, but the seams where it is stitched are not. Giant Loop provides a tube of Seam Seal to allow you to waterproof the bag if desired. I haven’t bothered with that yet as I don’t ride in the pouring rain much, but I may get around to it prior to leaving for a potentially wet road trip. As is the bag is water resistant enough to deal with some rain without letting in a bunch of wetness. I would also recommend not putting your cellphone at the very bottom of the bag where water would collect if it does get inside. I had a look at the Ortlieb tank bag that is waterproof from the factory, but I found the access was poor and didn’t want to deal with a PITA bag every time I needed something just to get the waterproof feature.
Side view…
Since the Fandango tank bag is a robust piece of adventure gear I’ll need more than a few months to test how durable it really is. I’ll be reporting back every year or so and letting you know what’s happening with it. So far so good though and if you need a nice tank bag for your KLR650 I’d recommend taking a look at this one.
The KLR650 Blog 