Early March has been busy, as I arranged, prepared for and made three separate snowmobile trips to far-northern Minnesota to ride and, presumably, close out testing of our 2015 Snow Goer demo sleds and aftermarket products. It seems like the season just started … 🙁
Last year I was able to ride in Minnesota until April 18, but a recent (persistent) warm spell in the Midwest has zapped what little snow cover we had. At least I can say that I made the best of the situation, and I’m certainly looking forward to giving winter a chance at making a triumphant return in about eight months.
One of my recent tests was of a tunnel bag from Giant Loop, an Oregon-based company that’s familiar to the two-wheel crowd, but it recently entered the snowmobile market. Here are some notes about the Giant Loop Revelstoke Tunnel Bag that I tested on our 2015 Yamaha SR Viper S-TX DX:
- I removed the stock Yamaha metal rack from the tunnel and then laid the Revelstoke bag on the tunnel to size it up and determing where, specifically, it should be positioned, and then installed the brackets so their tips would be flush with the top of the tunnel surface. To make sure the brackets would be even, I laid a 2-by-4 on the tunnel and positioned the brackets so they would touch the bottom of the lumber. After drilling four holes in the side of the tunnel, installation was easy with only four bolts required for this application.
- The Giant Loop Revelstoke tunnel bag really seems like a really high-quality piece. Material is rugged and flexible, but it was about 40 degrees F, so I can’t comment about how flexible it will be in extreme cold. The bag’s straps and buckles seem rugged and durable – there’s no fear to give the straps a good yank. I like the gray color and blue logo.
- This is an unconventional bag without zippers or hook-and-loop material to close it. Instead, you just roll it up and clip the two buckles. Giant Loop says the bag is waterproof as long as the open end is rolled at least three times.
- Using the bag can be a head-scratcher for how, specifically, the two straps that secure it to the mounting brackets and the two straps that keep the bag closed should interact. Should the horizontal straps be routed inside of the straps that go over the top, or outside? When we had the bag filled to near its capacity with gloves, goggles and a mid-layer jacket, the bag was easier to use because the cargo kept the side straps from scrunching the bag. With the straps pulled tightly, the bag was secure so it didn’t move. As with most accessories and features, more use would help me to figure a “system” about how to most effectively and efficiently use the bag.
