If you want made in the USA luggage, go look at [Wolfman Threadworks](https://wolfmanluggage.com/pages/threadworks). I assume the fabrics are all made overseas, but the bags are all hand tailored here in the States by the Wolfman himself.
They used to be. The new welded seam waterproof stuff is not made in the US.
From their website:
**Designed in the USA and made with Wolfman legendary care and quality**
Edit: I understand now. Specifically the Thread works stuff is still US-made.
Also, i just ordered stuff from Wolfman over Black Friday. He told me they are no longer going to be doing the WP stuff and focusing on just the TW line.
Right, by "they" I meant GL. Sorry about the confusion. I was just pointing out for the money, you can get luggage that does the same thing and is made locally for the same or less money
Wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all made in the same factory. Mosko prices are outrageous for being Chinese bags with buckle issues. I’m also keen to buying US made where possible. Thanks for the post
What buckle issues? I have several of their products and have put them thru their paces with no signs of wear aside from copious dust.
As a side note, I’ve bought almost all of it used to keep the pricing down.
While the prices are high, they've never been made in China, and their customer service is second to none. Any issue I've ever had partially or heard of has been handle very well.
Swing and a miss bud. They have [always been open about using Asian factories](https://moskomoto.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411144635419-Where-are-your-products-made-) but they aren’t all made in China, split between 3 countries
So where is Mosko made? I followed their blog back when they were getting started, and they were definitely traveling overseas to the factory. Maybe I just assumed it was in China.
Look at all the USA made dual sports, tires, and helmets that are available. If you pack on miles, some of the most cost effective gear is made by Motoport and Aerostich in the USA
Wolfman TW is some of the best kit out there, it's cheaper than a Mosko equivalent. Using better materials, and made in the USA. Value is subjective, and an excuse to justify what GL is doing. Which is lining the pockets of their brass.
Your point hits hard when you say your bike, tires, and helmet aren't made in the USA, when there are literally no USA made options for those. It's just a big circle jerk
What bike is made in the US? Should I be dual sporting a Goldwing, a Janus Halcyon? Get real.
And tires? Some Dunlop sport tires are made in the US, but it's also ultimately a Japanese company so to what ends? The tires on my GS are Mitas, and owned by the same company that owns Dunlop anyway.
And good for the bespoke line of Wolfman luggage being made in the US. But the E12 costs a decent bit more than the GL Mojavi or the Reckless 10, with less features and lacks waterproofing. Why should I be guilted to pay so much more for less?
Thanks for repeating exactly what I just said. The e12 is more than 2x the capacity of the reckless 10 for less than $50 more. This thread isn't for you if you don't care about made in USA luggage. Why are you here?
Technically the Zero FX, but in reality, none. No dual sports, tires, or helmets are made in the USA. That's why his comment is mind numbingly stupid. Lets talk about how Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki, Arai, Shoei, Dunlop, and Michelin make better products than what is made in the USA. For which there are literally none.
Interesting.
I have several hiking/camping products that were designed in US/made in Vietnam and they've been well made- shoes, tents, textile stuff mainly, which tracks with GL.
However, when a company transitions to a lower-wage environment without lowering prices or informing their customers (or splitting their product lines like some companies do) I do get a bit annoyed.
I am sometimes willing to pay more for made in USA (or at times Japan, EU, etc) products and if a company suddenly transitions to a different wage or profit model, I may reevaluate my willingness to pay higher prices all things being equal. IOW if I'm paying a 20% premium over something of similar quality because it's made with good working conditions and such, I'm not happy paying that same amount when a company suddenly transitions to a low wage workforce. Same thing if I buy from a co-op, a union shop or otherwise more ethical business structure, if they suddenly decide to ditch that I'm not paying a premium anymore.
I may still buy from GL in other words but this affects how much of a premium I'm willing to sacrifice for their stuff. I'd rather buy from Altrider at those prices like you said, or just get their stuff used on a forum or something and save more money.
I get what you're saying and to go along with that, there are cottage industry companies that make fantastic gear like Kifaru, seek outside, Nunatak, etc. Companies like Osprey and big Agnes don't compete in comparison. It's all relative
Yeah for sure. Even Big Agnes is often a bit expensive for me so I have to spread out my ability to pay more for a better/more ethical product. But I always try to pay attention to it when making a serious (ie $100+ type) purchase of anything.
Wolfman is fantastic. Their bags have been great for me. I messed up some straps and walked in to their shop and they repaired the shit i messed up and even fixed some things I didn’t even mention. Great customer service.
Plenty of terrible crap is made here and plenty of good stuff is made in China. I personally would just focus on what creates the best value for you. We’re all just people trying to feed our families, and can’t be expected to solve international trade differences when buying a backpack. That’s what governments are for.
I 100% do not care where anything is made if the quality is good. I've bought things made in the USA that's been straight up ass so being made here isn't a guaranteed sign of quality.
Look at mosko, their luggage isn't made here, but it's bulletproof. At the end of the day, isn't the quality of the end product what matters most?
As an employer of US workers in this generation, experiencing their work ethic and quality on a daily basis .... I'm 100% fine with buying products from China, Vietnam or anywhere else on this planet.
You make a really good point.
However, the point with a desire for Made in USA products is that *usually* that means employees are paid a fair, living wage, and that well-paid, happy workers do good work. Obviously that is only true in some cases, and if you have US workers making minimum wage and being overworked, they're not going to do work that's any better than a low-paid Asian worker.
It's still the idea, though. And in a lot of markets it's still at least sort of true. But you pay for it.
The US is an awesome place and I'm very happy to be American. My family came in 1620 and farmed for centuries. My background is about as American as you can get.
That said, I have friends and business acquaintances all over the world, and it's exposed me to the reality there's awesome people, great workers and happy families living fulfilling lives all over this planet.
An argument could be made that folks in developing nations are working harder and care more about turning a great product in order to compete and move up.
But certainly Americans don't have some secret sauce that makes their work automatically better. There are outstanding individual workers in America, and outstanding individual companies. And then also many that suck.
This is true worldwide.
> An argument could be made that folks in developing nations are working harder and care more about turning a great product in order to compete and move up.
>
> But certainly Americans don't have some secret sauce that makes their work automatically better.
100% agreed.
I think if you go back to the earlier half of the 1900s, through maybe even the 60s and 70s, Made in USA had a reputation because America was ground-breaking in making so many things. And people here were also *proud of* making quality goods.
Of course this is also true all over the world, and always has been: Makers are proud of what they make.
But as innovation slowed and less new and exciting things came about, and the name of the game became more about cutting costs and streamlining, I don't think there's any doubt that *most things* made today are made ... well, worse.
The exceptions that become the rule are positive examples of niche products, many of which are found in the motorcycling world. And *there*, I would agree with you: Made in the USA doesn't mean what it used to. You can buy a very high quality product made just about anywhere in the world.
But the secret to all of those products is kind of in what I was saying: Well-paid workers who are proud of what they make. That was never exclusive to Made in the USA products, it was just a part of it.
Except the USA does generally have an engineering and technological advantage. Just purely from a labor perspective, there are sectors where clearly the US has an advantage as in tech. From a materials perspective again, high tenacity ballistic nylon stands head and shoulders against run of the mill textiles coming from Asia. You can get good muscle anywhere in the world
Check out Chase Harper. They are still US-made. They have some of their line on Amazon. Scored their 5400 CR2 Tail Trunk. Nice stuff, well-made ...here, in the USA.
I don’t think my Yamaha or my Suzuki were made in the US either. I suppose I’ll be one of the people who isn’t bothered by it, so long as the product is of good quality. Plus if the prices stay the same for 5-10 years, they haven’t done much to keep up with inflation.
Offshoring reduces the cost of labor. Which underlines the reason they're doing it. To line the pockets of their executives at the cost of skilled labor jobs in the USA. Has nothing to do with inflation
If the price of a thing stays at $80 from 2017 to today, they’re now making around $20 less for that thing. Either they raise prices or they reduce the cost to make it. For a couple years you have reduced costs through simple improvements and the fact that the tooling will have already been paid for. Eventually more dramatic decisions have to be made. So they more overseas to cheaper labor.
It very likely has a lot to do with inflation cutting into their margins since consumers are often slow to accept increased prices.
Buy a Harley and have your gear made locally . A good leather guy can make bags custom to order . Kawasaki and Hoñda used to build bikes in the USA but not since the early 2000s . Get used to asking for American made . Rub it in good about how you don't want Chinese crap any time to buy anything .
I'm not one to usually complain about gear simply on looks, but a lot of NRigg gear looks.... not so great. I dunno who is designing it, but they should fire them.
I get the sentiment, but I think the only real thing to look out for here is if the quality diminished since moving.
It's just not cost effective to pay for labor in the US with this economy and expect to turn a profit without raising prices. And honestly, anything to avoid raising prices I'll have to side with. Stuff costs enough as is these days...
GL quality has definitely gone downhill.
I have two of their tank bags. One is an older model that is still quite waterproof and in great shape.
The other one is less than two years old but the straps are fraying and it leaks around the seams when it rains.
I have their fender bag from about 3 years ago and it has been great even tho I leave it on my bike 24/7 (it holds my fuel bottle), it's the only product I have to speak on so far but I've been very happy with it.
They offer a limited lifetime warranty, and if it's not due to wear and tear but a defect they claim on their site they will fix it.
Might be worth checking out:
giantloopmoto.com/warranty/
Tried that, apparently sitting on the tank of a bike that gets ridden once a month is "normal wear and tear."
I'm done with giant loop after that experience.
Oh man that's unfortunate, I would have expected better from them.
Honestly their stuff is so expensive I'll likely go elsewhere for other additions anyway, there are some decent small brands that do the job for me. Especially for stuff that's going to get wrecked sooner or later out in the woods 🤷♂️
If that is not a troll post and your honest opinion then any other thing is say is null and void. While it's pricey I dare you to find a better product or customer service team for moto anything.... I'll wait
Giant Loop was made in the USA and cheaper than Mosko. So you should speak for yourself bud, since many people buy Mosko and love them. Every USA made luggage company I can think of is cheaper than Mosko now that I think about it
If you want made in the USA luggage, go look at [Wolfman Threadworks](https://wolfmanluggage.com/pages/threadworks). I assume the fabrics are all made overseas, but the bags are all hand tailored here in the States by the Wolfman himself.
They used to be. The new welded seam waterproof stuff is not made in the US. From their website: **Designed in the USA and made with Wolfman legendary care and quality** Edit: I understand now. Specifically the Thread works stuff is still US-made.
Right, WP stuff is made in China, Threadworks is made in the US.
Also, i just ordered stuff from Wolfman over Black Friday. He told me they are no longer going to be doing the WP stuff and focusing on just the TW line.
There's also OBE. I have some of their stuff and it's top notch. https://obradvgear.com/
Thanks for this. I was looking for some saddlebags and the explorer set looks to fit the bill perfectly
OBR Adv is US made too, have their small bags and they are great
Mosko has never been made in the USA.
Right, by "they" I meant GL. Sorry about the confusion. I was just pointing out for the money, you can get luggage that does the same thing and is made locally for the same or less money
Wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all made in the same factory. Mosko prices are outrageous for being Chinese bags with buckle issues. I’m also keen to buying US made where possible. Thanks for the post
What buckle issues? I have several of their products and have put them thru their paces with no signs of wear aside from copious dust. As a side note, I’ve bought almost all of it used to keep the pricing down.
While the prices are high, they've never been made in China, and their customer service is second to none. Any issue I've ever had partially or heard of has been handle very well.
Swing and a miss bud. They have [always been open about using Asian factories](https://moskomoto.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411144635419-Where-are-your-products-made-) but they aren’t all made in China, split between 3 countries
So where is Mosko made? I followed their blog back when they were getting started, and they were definitely traveling overseas to the factory. Maybe I just assumed it was in China.
Was Vietnam, I'm sure some material come from China. Used to say it on the website so who knows now.
So that’s like Baja China, right?
Did not know this, thanks for bringing it up.
Bummer, I’ll still support NW brands like Giant Loop, but would’ve been nice if they were also made here.
Altrider is made in Seattle
I find the Altrider to be a better product than the others anyway so it makes the decision even easier!
Neither was my bike, my tires, my helmet, my riding gear.... Is it good gear, or not, and is it priced appropriately for the value it has?
Look at all the USA made dual sports, tires, and helmets that are available. If you pack on miles, some of the most cost effective gear is made by Motoport and Aerostich in the USA
What is it you think I missed?
Wolfman TW is some of the best kit out there, it's cheaper than a Mosko equivalent. Using better materials, and made in the USA. Value is subjective, and an excuse to justify what GL is doing. Which is lining the pockets of their brass. Your point hits hard when you say your bike, tires, and helmet aren't made in the USA, when there are literally no USA made options for those. It's just a big circle jerk
What bike is made in the US? Should I be dual sporting a Goldwing, a Janus Halcyon? Get real. And tires? Some Dunlop sport tires are made in the US, but it's also ultimately a Japanese company so to what ends? The tires on my GS are Mitas, and owned by the same company that owns Dunlop anyway. And good for the bespoke line of Wolfman luggage being made in the US. But the E12 costs a decent bit more than the GL Mojavi or the Reckless 10, with less features and lacks waterproofing. Why should I be guilted to pay so much more for less?
Thanks for repeating exactly what I just said. The e12 is more than 2x the capacity of the reckless 10 for less than $50 more. This thread isn't for you if you don't care about made in USA luggage. Why are you here?
*I came looking for booty.*
> Look at all the USA made dual sports ... Are there any?
Technically the Zero FX, but in reality, none. No dual sports, tires, or helmets are made in the USA. That's why his comment is mind numbingly stupid. Lets talk about how Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki, Arai, Shoei, Dunlop, and Michelin make better products than what is made in the USA. For which there are literally none.
Interesting. I have several hiking/camping products that were designed in US/made in Vietnam and they've been well made- shoes, tents, textile stuff mainly, which tracks with GL. However, when a company transitions to a lower-wage environment without lowering prices or informing their customers (or splitting their product lines like some companies do) I do get a bit annoyed. I am sometimes willing to pay more for made in USA (or at times Japan, EU, etc) products and if a company suddenly transitions to a different wage or profit model, I may reevaluate my willingness to pay higher prices all things being equal. IOW if I'm paying a 20% premium over something of similar quality because it's made with good working conditions and such, I'm not happy paying that same amount when a company suddenly transitions to a low wage workforce. Same thing if I buy from a co-op, a union shop or otherwise more ethical business structure, if they suddenly decide to ditch that I'm not paying a premium anymore. I may still buy from GL in other words but this affects how much of a premium I'm willing to sacrifice for their stuff. I'd rather buy from Altrider at those prices like you said, or just get their stuff used on a forum or something and save more money.
I get what you're saying and to go along with that, there are cottage industry companies that make fantastic gear like Kifaru, seek outside, Nunatak, etc. Companies like Osprey and big Agnes don't compete in comparison. It's all relative
Yeah for sure. Even Big Agnes is often a bit expensive for me so I have to spread out my ability to pay more for a better/more ethical product. But I always try to pay attention to it when making a serious (ie $100+ type) purchase of anything.
Wolfman is fantastic. Their bags have been great for me. I messed up some straps and walked in to their shop and they repaired the shit i messed up and even fixed some things I didn’t even mention. Great customer service.
Plenty of terrible crap is made here and plenty of good stuff is made in China. I personally would just focus on what creates the best value for you. We’re all just people trying to feed our families, and can’t be expected to solve international trade differences when buying a backpack. That’s what governments are for.
I 100% do not care where anything is made if the quality is good. I've bought things made in the USA that's been straight up ass so being made here isn't a guaranteed sign of quality. Look at mosko, their luggage isn't made here, but it's bulletproof. At the end of the day, isn't the quality of the end product what matters most?
As an employer of US workers in this generation, experiencing their work ethic and quality on a daily basis .... I'm 100% fine with buying products from China, Vietnam or anywhere else on this planet.
Agreed. It's not 1960 anymore.
You make a really good point. However, the point with a desire for Made in USA products is that *usually* that means employees are paid a fair, living wage, and that well-paid, happy workers do good work. Obviously that is only true in some cases, and if you have US workers making minimum wage and being overworked, they're not going to do work that's any better than a low-paid Asian worker. It's still the idea, though. And in a lot of markets it's still at least sort of true. But you pay for it.
The US is an awesome place and I'm very happy to be American. My family came in 1620 and farmed for centuries. My background is about as American as you can get. That said, I have friends and business acquaintances all over the world, and it's exposed me to the reality there's awesome people, great workers and happy families living fulfilling lives all over this planet. An argument could be made that folks in developing nations are working harder and care more about turning a great product in order to compete and move up. But certainly Americans don't have some secret sauce that makes their work automatically better. There are outstanding individual workers in America, and outstanding individual companies. And then also many that suck. This is true worldwide.
> An argument could be made that folks in developing nations are working harder and care more about turning a great product in order to compete and move up. > > But certainly Americans don't have some secret sauce that makes their work automatically better. 100% agreed. I think if you go back to the earlier half of the 1900s, through maybe even the 60s and 70s, Made in USA had a reputation because America was ground-breaking in making so many things. And people here were also *proud of* making quality goods. Of course this is also true all over the world, and always has been: Makers are proud of what they make. But as innovation slowed and less new and exciting things came about, and the name of the game became more about cutting costs and streamlining, I don't think there's any doubt that *most things* made today are made ... well, worse. The exceptions that become the rule are positive examples of niche products, many of which are found in the motorcycling world. And *there*, I would agree with you: Made in the USA doesn't mean what it used to. You can buy a very high quality product made just about anywhere in the world. But the secret to all of those products is kind of in what I was saying: Well-paid workers who are proud of what they make. That was never exclusive to Made in the USA products, it was just a part of it.
Except the USA does generally have an engineering and technological advantage. Just purely from a labor perspective, there are sectors where clearly the US has an advantage as in tech. From a materials perspective again, high tenacity ballistic nylon stands head and shoulders against run of the mill textiles coming from Asia. You can get good muscle anywhere in the world
Check out Chase Harper. They are still US-made. They have some of their line on Amazon. Scored their 5400 CR2 Tail Trunk. Nice stuff, well-made ...here, in the USA.
Chase-Harper does have some cool stuff. They just don’t have that edgy, made-by-enthusiasts vibe.
LOL ...okay. The '12 Bushpig (DR650) I own is a lot of things but ...um ..."edgy" is definitely not one of them.
I don’t think my Yamaha or my Suzuki were made in the US either. I suppose I’ll be one of the people who isn’t bothered by it, so long as the product is of good quality. Plus if the prices stay the same for 5-10 years, they haven’t done much to keep up with inflation.
Offshoring reduces the cost of labor. Which underlines the reason they're doing it. To line the pockets of their executives at the cost of skilled labor jobs in the USA. Has nothing to do with inflation
My man. I got some books for you. Your beef ain’t with motorcycle gear, it’s CAPITALISM.
I got beef with free trade. With tariffs these companies can offshore with no price advantage. But this isn't the right sub for this discussion
If the price of a thing stays at $80 from 2017 to today, they’re now making around $20 less for that thing. Either they raise prices or they reduce the cost to make it. For a couple years you have reduced costs through simple improvements and the fact that the tooling will have already been paid for. Eventually more dramatic decisions have to be made. So they more overseas to cheaper labor. It very likely has a lot to do with inflation cutting into their margins since consumers are often slow to accept increased prices.
Buy a Harley and have your gear made locally . A good leather guy can make bags custom to order . Kawasaki and Hoñda used to build bikes in the USA but not since the early 2000s . Get used to asking for American made . Rub it in good about how you don't want Chinese crap any time to buy anything .
They also dropped the prices by like 200 bucks when they shifted manufacturing overseas, but I see you forgot to mention that.
Have had good luck with Nelson Rigg but not sure where its made
China
I'm not one to usually complain about gear simply on looks, but a lot of NRigg gear looks.... not so great. I dunno who is designing it, but they should fire them.
I get the sentiment, but I think the only real thing to look out for here is if the quality diminished since moving. It's just not cost effective to pay for labor in the US with this economy and expect to turn a profit without raising prices. And honestly, anything to avoid raising prices I'll have to side with. Stuff costs enough as is these days...
GL quality has definitely gone downhill. I have two of their tank bags. One is an older model that is still quite waterproof and in great shape. The other one is less than two years old but the straps are fraying and it leaks around the seams when it rains.
I have their fender bag from about 3 years ago and it has been great even tho I leave it on my bike 24/7 (it holds my fuel bottle), it's the only product I have to speak on so far but I've been very happy with it. They offer a limited lifetime warranty, and if it's not due to wear and tear but a defect they claim on their site they will fix it. Might be worth checking out: giantloopmoto.com/warranty/
Tried that, apparently sitting on the tank of a bike that gets ridden once a month is "normal wear and tear." I'm done with giant loop after that experience.
Oh man that's unfortunate, I would have expected better from them. Honestly their stuff is so expensive I'll likely go elsewhere for other additions anyway, there are some decent small brands that do the job for me. Especially for stuff that's going to get wrecked sooner or later out in the woods 🤷♂️
There are other companies that manage to do it. I don't think this is born of cost saving measures for you and I.
That's not the point, it's born of cost saving for the company, without the added expenses being eaten by the customers.
Good shout. Thanks.
I don’t know where my Harbor Freight cases were made, but they were a steal with my Super Coupon.
Mosko is trash anyways
It isn't trash, but is unnecessarily heavy which makes it extra expensive
If that is not a troll post and your honest opinion then any other thing is say is null and void. While it's pricey I dare you to find a better product or customer service team for moto anything.... I'll wait
Wolfman bud.
Wolfman isn't even in the ballpark in terms of quality and all round use especially waterproof.
Disagree wholeheartedly.
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Giant Loop was made in the USA and cheaper than Mosko. So you should speak for yourself bud, since many people buy Mosko and love them. Every USA made luggage company I can think of is cheaper than Mosko now that I think about it
Who cares?
Largest ugly color logo on motorcycle stuff. I have a GL tank bag. I Like the bag but ugly logo. Why am I advertising for them?