A little while back, the folks over at Viking Bags
reached out and asked if I’d be interested in putting one of their products through its paces. That collaboration produced my review of the Viking Momentum Tail Bag – a product I was impressed with, despite a few gripes about the attachment system.
Well, Viking Bags is back. And this time they’re sending me something a little different.
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The Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack Is Coming to WaltInPA
I’m happy to announce that Viking Bags will be supplying me with the Viking Bags Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack for review. It’s part of their Adventure Touring lineup – and honestly, it caught my eye for a specific reason.
Neither my 2022 Yamaha MT-09 SP or my 2023 Kawasaki Ninja 400 have any onboard storage. Every ride I take, I’m wearing a backpack. So when Viking Bags suggested the Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack, it felt like a natural fit – even if my bikes are anything but adventure touring machines.
What Makes the Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack Different
The Explorer is built from Ballistic Nylon and comes in at 12 liters of storage capacity. It includes a 2L hydration pack right out of the box, which is a feature I probably won’t use very often but is nice to have. It also comes with a chest harness system, a MOLLE panel for expansion, and a dedicated phone holder on the shoulder straps.
On paper, this is a backpack built for riders tackling rugged terrain on ADV bikes. I’ll be testing it on two street bikes on Pennsylvania back roads. That mismatch is exactly what makes this review worth doing – because if the Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack works well for a street rider, that’s genuinely useful information for a lot of people who aren’t in the market for a dedicated ADV machine but still want a quality riding backpack.
What to Expect From the Full Review
I’ll be using the Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack on both the MT-09 SP and the Ninja 400 before putting together a full review. I want to give it enough real-world miles to form an honest opinion and not just an out-of-the-box first impression.
The full review will cover build quality, comfort over longer rides, how the chest harness performs at speed on a street bike, and whether the ADV-focused features translate to everyday street riding. It will be published here on the blog and on the WaltInPA YouTube Channel.
In the meantime, feel free to check out the Viking Explorer Adventure Touring Backpack on the Viking Bags website and browse their full lineup while you’re there.
More from Viking Bags
If you’re building out your full adventure setup, check out these options from Viking Bags:
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