10/07/2026
This photo pretty much sums up fifteen years of making motorcycle luggage.
The Yamaha T7 on the left is carrying our original ATG - All Terrain Gear saddlebags that we started building back in 2009. The Honda Africa Twin on the right is running the latest generation of Turkana luggage.
15 years separate them, and the modern bags are undoubtedly tougher. The fabrics are better, the construction is stronger and we’ve learnt a lot over the years, but the DNA is unmistakably the same.
The reason this photo means something to me is because over the last month or two I’ve had several conversations with riders who bought one-season budget soft luggage based on a good photo and an attractive price tag from online brands only to discover that adventure riding is a remarkably efficient bu****it detector.😁
Adventure riders are, in many ways, a bit like a bear’s arse. Rough, unforgiving and not particularly interested in excuses when gear gives up halfway through a trip. Rain, rocks, mud, corrugations, crashes, rain and UV eventually expose everything.
What strikes me is that you still see these old ATG bags out there doing duty. 15 years later they’re still carrying camping gear, still getting covered in dust and still disappearing down dirt roads somewhere.
What you don’t see much anymore are many of the other soft luggage systems from that same era still being used and abused. Yet every now and then an old set of ATGs pops up somewhere and quietly gets on with the job.
The modern Turkana luggage is tougher than the original ATG ever was, with better fabrics and stronger construction, but the goal never changed. We’d rather build something that costs a bit more on day one and a lot less over the next 15 years than the other way around.
There’s an old saying that if you deal with the lowest bidder, it’s wise to add something for the risk you run. If you do that, you’ll often find you had enough to buy something better in the first place.
Looking at this photo, and seeing old ATGs still out there quietly getting on with the job fifteen years later, I’d say the old bags answered that question for us a long time ago. 🤟😁
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🎯Go be a pioneer.
📌Bloody tough adventure motorcycle gear crafted through experience.
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