Adventure riders need to carry stuff. It’s as simple as that. Camping and cooking gear, tools, camera equipment, clothing, supplies… if you’re out for more than a day ride, you need to bring it along.

But it’s easy to go wrong buying adventure motorcycle luggage for the first time. The temptation is often to get the biggest bags that will fit and stuff them to bursting capacity, without realizing the negative effect too much weight, or too much weight in the wrong places, has on off-road handling.

To help avoid that mistake, we’ll walk you through a basic adventure motorcycle luggage setup, then discuss some finer details such as hard vs. soft luggage, securing loads and packing tips. As you think about luggage, always keep the mantra in mind: light is right.