A gear bag is a gear bag, right? Well, not always. When it comes to moto bags, one company is renowned for being the best. From their flag ship moto roller, all the way down to the fanny pack. I finally upgraded my decades old OGIO RIG 9800 and here is what I discovered.

If you love Dirt bikes as much as I do, you probably also love all the gear and accessories that goes with it. Looking good is arguably just as important as new tyres (now I’m retired) and keeping all those threads stored correctly is a high priority. I have trusted the OGIO RIG 9800 for decades and I finally upgraded to a new one after putting it off for a long time. My original 9800 still worked. The wheels still rolled, the zips still worked mint and I could throw it around the back of the van with no worries.

Sure, the wheels had all the rubber tread missing, some of the straps were broken, and it definitely looked a little old, but I thought of that as more character than deterioration. The final straw was when the pull-up handle started getting jammed after one flight to Christchurch, and I decided that it was time to retire this old girl after 13 years of service.

My old steed ready for retirement from full time racing.

The replacement was a no-brainer – another 9800 - this time the PRO version, which is ever so slightly different. No other piece of kit I have used has lasted as long as this bag. This bag has been all over the world, including, South Africa, Spain, Finland, Mexico, Thailand, Canada, Dubai, America a few times and Australia many times over for racing. As airlines are notorious for not being gentle with luggage, the majority of damage to this bag has come from traveling. And considering it came to every single ride I went on in NZ too, to last that long is impressive.

I was interested to know what the differences were between the original and this new model. From the outside, it looked nearly identical, besides an extra pocket on the top. Same wheels, same skid plate, same straps, same handle, and overall look. But considering the 13-year service life, I was not at all deterred. But there are some subtle and small changes that have slightly refined this bag a little more, while keeping all the factors that make it last well past its warranty. So, let’s break those down.

What’s New

Again, the 9800 PRO gets more of a facelift rather than a full update, which makes sense, when you think of the old, not broke, don’t fix adage. It has a new changeable wheelset that you can customise to whatever look you desire. Just buy some replacement wheels and swap em’ around to suit. The grab handles have been upgraded to a more heavy-duty construction for added longevity. There is an additional top stash storage compartment and an ID window on the top of the bag. Inside the bag, you go from 3 small compartments to 1 small and 1 large. Other than that, it’s basically the same bag.

Stand Out Features

There are plenty of features to the 9800 range, but I will just touch on a few that I believe make this gear bag stand out – firstly being the SLED (Structural Load Equalizing Deck) It’s like a plastic boot shank for your gear bag, and helps protect your luggage from being thrown around on the ground, through the airport, or yanked out of the van onto the track. It really helps keep the structure of the bag, while providing that protection.

The telescopic pull handle makes this easy to travel with and is well-balanced for quick direction changes, dealing with elevators, escalators, and that tricky switchback of the customs line.

I really like how the whole bag has a flip-top lid, where you can open it all the way up for maximum access. This makes it easy to find things and also fill the bag up to the brim if you are heading overseas. There is not a lot to like about this bag, But I have found a few tiny things that are worth mentioning.

The weight of the bag itself is about 5kgs, meaning if you are heading overseas and you have a limit of 23kgs, you can really only take 18kgs. This is potentially less worrying for the lads out there in comparison to the gals, but should you need to pack heavy, just take that into consideration is all. The only other aspect is the hard divider in the main compartment. It is great if you are running a helmet in the front section of the bag. It helps keep the helmet from the boots and braces and other gear that might not be good to bang up against. But when you are not stowing a helmet in there it kind of tends to fold down a bit. I just lay it flat when I’m not and put it back up when I do - simple fix.

The tool gutter is no more for the new 9800.

And the tool compartment is now missing too - which I never actually used but was great for hiding things.

Other features include internal tie-down straps to hold down boots, your clean clothes or other gear, several multi-use under LID compartments for apparel and smaller gear, and a strong overall construction, including very long-lasting zips from my experience. I also opted for the PRO, which came with a boot bag, which I have never had before. And I love it.

The SLED on the new bag is near on identical to its predecessor, which even though scratched up, never blew a bottom end out.

Yes, it is a pricey gear bag indeed, but one that should last you 10 years. Broken down into weekly payments, you are dropping about 95c a week for your new kit holder. The base model 9800 without the boot bag is $495. Also yes, I tried to lighten the blow a little with the weekly payments jargon, but another adage comes to mind here – sometimes you get what you pay for.

I won’t be throwing away my old bag either. She’s turned into a storage unit for excess gear that I can pull out at any time should anyone need to borrow some. Plus, I have had it for such a long time it feels like part of the family. This is a gear bag that is hard to go past, even with the price tag. This one will probably last me the rest of my riding days, considering I am doing infinitely less riding than I used to. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Visit www.forbesanddavies.co.nz to check out the OGIO luggage range. Visit your local dealer and ask for OGIO by name.