Author Jess Stone wrote us with a fun story about how the Zigzag Handlebar Bag is perfect for dog food and treats…
“During a North to South America motorcycle trip a few years back when I was a brand-new and impressionable rider, Greg and I were waiting at the La Paz-to-Mazatlán ferry terminal when a bright yellow Vespa pulled up and parked next to our bikes. It was swollen to nearly double its proper size and there was hardly a yellow panel that wasn’t covered with canvas bags stacked upon rucksacks hanging from duffle bags.
The rider, who could barely be seen as he pulled up, was German and a ship upholsterer by trade and, as he explained, was traveling around the world and stopping at ports along the way when we he needed money to find jobs refurbishing yachts. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he excused himself to retrieve the gear off his scooter that he would need for the overnight ferry ride.
In a mind-bogglingly complex and yet seemingly well practiced and methodical process, he retrieved three bags, exchanged their contents, returned two of them and retrieved two more, and then exchange the contents again. This continued for a solid twenty minutes during which the rider must have cycled through his dozen or so bags at least twice while Greg and I sat transfixed.
‘I’m never carrying more than a tank bag, two panniers, and a duffle,’ I said in a whispered oath to Greg who, mouth agape, only nodded in reply. Fast forward several years and 50,000 miles on the odometer, and now our German Shepherd Moxie rides with me on my same 2013 G650GS. Initially, I was excited to pass my share of the camping gear over to Greg’s F700 but then the reality set in of having to carrying Moxie’s kibble, treats, raincoat, a few toys, a travel bedroll, and other almost-necessities.
More gear to carry without an available rear luggage rack, meant that I had to make sacrifices: ‘You could go without shampoo, a razor, and things like that,’ Greg suggested. Or else I’d have to break the tank bag-panniers-and-duffle-only oath that I’d made years before. ‘Ok, we’ll try some new luggage options,’ I conceded. ‘But I’ll die before my bike looks like that f-ing yellow Vespa!’
Soon, reluctantly, I allowed a tank pannier bag to be hung from either side of my front plastics. But, the real coup de grace are the Zigzag Handlebar Bags, which we’ve rechristened as Moxie’s Pockets, that fasten to either side of Moxie’s K9 Moto Cockpit motorcycle dog carrier.
You might use yours for carrying sunglasses, Chapstick, and a few other useful sundries, but our Moxie’s Pockets are strictly for carrying dog treats, kibble, and a fetch stick – the essentials for a moto dog’s life on the road.” — Jess Stone
Author Jess Stone, her husband Greg, and their German Shepherd Moxie travel throughout Mexico and Central America from their home in Lake Atitlan Guatemala. Follow their travel adventures on 2 Wheels + 4 Paws on YouTube or at ruffontheroad.com…
Thanks Jess!