While trying to be neutral minded I DON'T recommend top boxes on dirt-road capable bikes and while not trying to be neutral I hate top boxes!
It shakes-vibrates as hell when riding gravel or trail roads. I do it even two up.
Top-box will kill your bike's rear subframe sooner or later with such loaded mass un-elastically vibrating on the longest torque-arm of the motorcycles frame (the easiest to break position!). People say top box supports rear pillon's back while riding - yeah, on smooooth roads only, but instead of supporting your better half's back it'll kick it on dirt roads.
The only pro for top-box is city-communiting riding, to put your helmet inside or to go to shopping. So it's secured away.
But on travel - you rarely can leave your bike alone with all the tankbags, riding gear etc you have it with you and nowhere to put! Especially 2 up travelling, the top box'es security advantage becomes a minor factor.
Soft waterproof luggageroll is the way to go if you plan to ride dirt roads or just bad potholed roads. Roll is cheap as chips and 10X more waterproof than any topbox - I've completely drowned my roll under water - not a drop came through!
- It's elastic - the stuff sits low thanks to it's lenght and strapped close to the frame = much better maneuverability of the bike compared to a high and loaded solid topbox that has direct contact with rear subframe with no natural "suspension".
- Times of less weight compared to any topbox while MUCH more room and much more effectevly used compared to any topbox. I mostly put soft and light while awful lot of room taking stuff into the luggage roll - tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, jackets etc clothes. While light also keeps the center of gravity low and close to the mass centre of the bike compared to a top box.
- Better safety - when loaded with soft stuff instead of braking someone's back it'll work as an "airbag" if your bike does a salto and decides to land on your own back on some nasty crash scenareo.
- To go to hotel - with 10 seconds two quickstraps are open and most of rolls have handles to carry it (that's why I put soft and light stuff in it). And in the morning it's 30 seconds to put it back on and tighten the straps.
We used 100 and 70 litre rolls on Islamic republic of Syria and Jordan expedition:
Those are WMB OEM panniers.
With Verns my big roll has a slight support from the panniers too - even better.
And to open the lids I just have to loosen one strap from the roll with one quick movement, to move the roll just A BIT away. And with the same quick movement I tighten the roll again after closing the lid. Pretty convenient for me, while I know my bike has the best possible maneuverability, better safety and minimal risk of braking the rear subrframe per such amount of carring luggage.
I try to make a pic of Worldbeater+luggage roll setup when I have the chance.
But after long term experiences with both solid top boxes and soft luggage rolls my opinion remains this:
Western European "beer-fart" travels on smooth roads or city communiting - top box is an acceptable choice, can have it's advantages.
Third world, potholes, dirt roads and real adventure travels - decent luggage roll, by far!
Cheers, Margus
