Cramster Saddle Bag review

I recently bought the Cramster Saddle Bag for my motorcycle and during the recent trip to Khajuraho, got to put them to test. Here is my review and experience of the Cramster Colt Saddle bag.

Before I bought Cramster Saddle Bag, I was using a custom made saddle bag, which although slightly bigger in size and cheaper, caused some if not lot of trouble.

First off it was long enough to warrant a wooden plank on the exhaust side, without which it got burnt and also burnt one of my trousers and couple of hundred bucks inside it, which basically brought the price of the custom saddle bag, closer to if not higher than the Cramster one.

So when it finally got ruined, I decided to shell out money for Cramster Saddle bag, rather than getting the custom one made for almost half the amount.

For starters, it is well made and fabric used in the construction is of good quality and looks quite good as well. Space although slightly less than what I had in earlier saddle bag, is sufficient for a 4-5 day trip, though for a longer duration one, one would have to carry tank bag and/or a backpack. According to Cramster, space in the Colt Saddle bags is 37 liters.

There are two external pockets, one for documents and other small things and the other for water bottle. Personally I would have liked to see both the pockets for water bottle, since usually one needs lots of it while touring in remote areas. While one can mount 2 liter water bottles on top of the bags, like I am carrying my tripod in the below photograph (click to enlarge), I prefer to keep them in a place which is easily accessible.

Apart from that, there is not much to complain about. As mounting the saddle bag is quite easy and once fixed, it stays firmly in place. It also has enough distance from the exhaust to not get burnt by heat.

Although Cramster does claim it to be weather resistant and I didn’t get a chance to test them in rain. I do normally pack my luggage inside plastic bags, before putting them inside the saddle bag. So as to ensure, even if water gets inside the saddle bag, cloths and other items stay relatively dry.

So far I am glad that I didn’t bother with another custom made saddle bag or bought a local one and decided to go with Cramster and I am planning to go for the Cramster Tank Bag as well.

I will try to post a long term review of it after a few more rides and possibly after testing it in rain as well.

You can buy the Cramster Saddle Bags from www.cramster.in and also from Adventure 18 in Delhi (Ph: +91-11-32970400).