This is my review of the new traveling tool bag from Stealth Workshop called the Powersports Utility Bag:
A few YEARS ago, I met a guy named Alan Bell who was working on a portable tool carrying bag made specifically for or even on motorcycles. My interest was obviously piqued and I signed up on his email list to be notified of the product when it was available. So a few YEARS went by as he and his team worked on more than a DOZEN prototypes and perfected their design, but I never heard a peep. Frankly, I had all but forgotten about this bag, when--almost out of the blue--I get an email saying that the PowerSports Utility Bag was ready for distribution and was I still interested. I contacted him ASAP to get a hold of one and check it out. I usually travel with at least a FEW tools beyond the stock toolkit (especially for the longer trips to UnRallies, etc.) and I have traveled to many a Tech Daze carrying a whole bunch of tools just thrown in a duffel bag strapped down to the seat or luggage rack, but it was always some sort of compromise. But this bag is definitely the ideal solution. I am COMPLETELY sold and VERY IMPRESSED!!!!
As I unpacked the bag I was surprised right away by the quality of the bag. There was obviously years worth of careful thought invested into how this bag was designed and assembled. Yeah, I was impressed, but I really had no idea HOW MUCH thought and care had gone into the perfection of this bag. In subsequent discussions with Alan since I've received my Utility Bag he is obviously a stickler for quality--he even sent me a series of pictures of the more than a dozen different prototypes and gave me an understanding of the long history of the bag's genesis. He is clearly an enthusiastic entrepreneur who genuinely believes in his product and you can see a LOT more videos and other information on their website:
http://www.stealthworkshop.comAnd some videos on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/stealthworkshopHere is mine installed on the stock luggage rack longitudinally:
Here it is mounted laterally:
And here mounted on my laptop carrier in lieu of the cooler:
The bag folds out kind of like a flower with four petals and the two main top/side compartments are pretty spacious for large or oddly dimensional items. You can see in the following pic how just one of the top/side compartments swallows a Mini-Stan, syringe, tubing and a good assortment of wooden shims with room still for the crows-foot wrenches and/or other brake-bleeding tools:
When placed on the pillion seat or luggage rack, the two top/side compartments fold all the way down and their bottoms unzip to access their contents. These two compartments are attached with an extra length of nylon to allow them to hang out and down so that you can then unfold the inner flaps/pouches and access everything without anything else being too much in the way--SWEET! . Inside the main compartment are four more tool organizers: two neoprene two-sided flaps with slots for wrenches, etc. and two clear plastic zippered pouches of slightly different sizes to hold sockets, or other oddly shaped items not long and skinny enough to go in the flaps. Two of either the flaps or the pouches can also optionally zip into the sides of the main compartment and also flip out to access both sides of the flaps or the zippered opening to the pouches--VERY ingenious! You can see I've got a few items stowed in one of the two flaps here in this pic:
Oh wait--as a good BMW owner--I almost forgot the most important tool--the CORKSCREW!!
You can also see the opening to the top/side compartment with the brake bleeding tools showing through the open zipper:
Here I am holding the other zippered flap and the smaller of the clear plastic pouches. The larger clear plastic pouch is zipped into the side zipper and flipped out with the opening unzipped visible right above my hand. The other flap is the same one shown in the previous pic--zipped onto the other side of the main compartment and flipped over on the opposite side. You can choose to zip in any combination of two of the flaps or pouches and the other two just nest in the plastic tray in the bottom of the main compartment or you can leave them at home if you've got enough storage already for what you're carrying. I have to say I like the flexibility this gives you to customize it to your specific needs.
The plastic parts tray is just over an inch deep and is also removable--but it's held in with velcro along the sides so it stays put until you want to remove it. It also has three little pre-formed "wells" on one end to hold small screws from rolling around or getting mixed with other smaller parts if you find yourself disassembling something on the side of the road. As I said, it is VERY well thought out and there are a LOT of really nice touches. Here's the same view of the other side:
Those of you who know me might agree that I'm a bit . . . detail oriented (to put it kindly, but hey--this is MY review!) so you know why I really appreciated the attention to detail in this bag. For instance I could find absolutely no stitching flaws or other manufacturing defects and believe me--I LOOKED! Also the zippers of the top/side compartments have a rubber seal on the backside so that when they are closed they are almost sealed up to keep road grime out--SWEET!
The flap that becomes the lid of the top/side compartment is similar in size to the flip-out tool flaps and as such can be folded under the flap to keep the top/side compartment lid open.
The main compartment is even big enough to hold my 1/2" drive Craftsman breaker bar as well as a few alternator belts . . . 'cause you never know when you might be passing through Amarillo, TX!
The other two flaps that are not zipped in to the bag can still be carried in the main compartment as well, which makes it easy to keep a lot of small tools organized and easy to find as well as keeping the fragile ones a bit more protected.
Here are the other two flaps/pouches folded in on top of the first two--as long as they each are not stuffed to the gills all four pouches/flaps fit with no problems.
Then the two top/side compartments are folded up and as shown are partially secured with velcro. The other thing I really like, besides how the bag keeps everything not only organized and easy to find, is also how it keeps all my tools tightly secured in one neat, clean and easily portable package. The handles are nylon straps rolled over and stitched to make it comfortable to carry with a good amount of weight inside. The bottom and part of the sides are covered with a non-slip material so the bag stays put when folded out and the bottom of the bag even has little feet that hold it up slightly off the ground.
The velcroed flaps fully secure under the handles with a nylon quick-release clip and the whole thing stows in a matter of seconds!
Maynard's poor battery is getting a bit tired and I haven't been all that nice to it (having killed it a few times in the last three years), so I was contemplating giving up side-bag space to carry my old BMW battery charger just in case, but I found after filling up the Powersports Bag that I still had oodles of space left over. So I moved a bunch of the stuff from one top/side compartment to the other (and STILL had room left over in that one!) and the now empty one swallowed the bigger, old-style BMW battery charger with lots of room still to spare. Unbelievable.
Here it is fully loaded with all the stuff you saw before (as well as room for much more) and ready for departure to the UnRally in John Day. For those of you going, you can get a much better look at it there! WooHoo!!
Oh yeah, the price is $129.00 and there is also a "travel kit" coming out in a few months which will give you access to two pouches for a few smaller things on the outside of the bag without having to open or remove the bag. I have not seen this part yet and have no idea what it costs, but I just saw it demonstrated on their YouTube videos and it looks like a neat addition for longer trips.
Standard Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in this company, but I was given the bag to trial. I have spoken at length with the designer (Alan) on the phone about what I thought about the bag. He is still working on refining a few other details based on feedback and I have no doubt that the bag will only get better. I was very impressed by his desire to create something really useful for the rider who travels with tools and the bag just has SportTouring rider written all over it!
In fact, the longer I've worked with this bag, the more uses I'm finding!
Oooooooh . . . I think I'm in LOVE!!
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