Lockdown. Day, who knows anymore. What I do know is that it has been far too long, with nothing to review or write about.
But there is a silver lining to the cloud hanging over our nation as online stores begin to open up again, and delivery services start up fully again. Once again we can order items for our motorcycles and get them fitted before we can do some serious riding once more.
So online we went and searched for gear that we’ve been looking at to kit a BMW GS 1200 Adventure with. It is truly remarkable how many aftermarket items are available for the GS in South Africa. Nevertheless however, the items I was looking for are universal, as long as you can either find or get brackets fabricated/machined specifically for your own motorcycle.
Online I hunted, until I found a brand that caught my attention. In this case, I was looking for something specifically South African. Not just designed here, but fully manufactured here as well.
A few simple clicks later, and my order was in process for delivery. Online shopping is soooo much easier than going from store to store looking for things. Other than my jacket, helmet and gloves, I’ll choose online shopping any day of the week.
The next morning, the dogs are charging the main gate and my phone rings.
“I’m on my way”
Damn that was fast! The courier van is standing outside with a masked delivery guy standing with a big box in arms. There’s a nice big label on my box, ATG.
Now the first question is obvious, what is ATG. I’m not just going to tell you what it stands for, but also a little bit of the info I’ve managed to get about them.
So ATG stands for All Terrain Gear. The locally designed and manufactured range of saddle bags, tool pouches, motorcycle camping equipment, back packs etc. Turns out that there are actually quite a few brands under this one banner, and I got a little something from the top ones to check out and share a soft review on, seeing that I can’t actually go riding properly as yet with lockdown.
What has been ordered for the GS, as rides are planned all over the nation when lockdown finally allows us to hit the road?
Well let’s start on the left of the pic and work through.
Item 1 is a OSAH DryPak 60l duffel bag that’s going to get strapped onto the top box while riding.
Item 2 is a ATG Tool Roll, for carrying all my emergency tools while on the road.
Under the Tool Roll, is an extra 30lt Liner Bag with IP66 dust and waterproof ratings too insert into the existing top box.
And lastly, the crown jewels of the box, the ATG Overlander Motorcycle Saddlebags in 30lt + 30lt configuration and also kitted with the interior IP66 Liner bag as just mentioned for the top box.
In a state of sheer excitement however, I couldn’t wait to see what this amazingly solid gear would look like on the bike, and so I just had to test fit it in place.
This however might have been a slightly bad idea, considering that it just makes a person more depressed at the fact that hardcore riding is still currently off the cards, but damn it looks good on the bike!
Back to the topic on hand however, when you start looking at the finer details of these bags, you notice that they are built African tough and ruggered. You can feel that this is not some cheap knockoff that is going to tear or wear out easily. These bags are made to outlast a rider!
HUGE thumbs up to ATG for the quality control and design on these bags.
Additionally, also supplied by ATG, I got a set of Alpine Earplugs. Another useful product from them as the distributor for Alpine here in the RSA.
A few of you may be wondering why you would want earplugs while riding your motorcycle, and there are a ton of reasons why you should actually own a set. I won’t spoil that surprise as yet for you, but if you are someone that uses earplugs, these are top class!
Special note on the earplugs: although I haven’t had a chance to test them while riding as yet, they work wonderfully for when the wife nags you during lockdown 🤣
So as I sign off on this review, I seriously encourage you to check www.atgear.co.za or www.osah.co.za to order some epic items for your motorcycle ride as soon as lockdown ends!
P.s. Keep an eye out for the next podcast episide when we get into more details about ATG!
