MC Tested: Motochic Lauren Convertible Backpack

As a female motorcyclist, I am often caught between the need to be practical, and the need to be stylish. When it comes to carrying stuff on a motorcycle, a backpack is the most convenient and practical solution. But when I get to my destination, I don't always want to look like I'm wearing a backpack, particularly if I'm attending an event that requires me to be even slightly dressy. Yes, there is the ever popular convertible backpack, but Motochic has created a bag designed specifically for ladies on bikes. Enter the Lauren bag.

The Lauren (named after model, actress, and motorcyclist Lauren Hutton) is a shoulderbag that converts to a backpack, or vice versa. The exterior design is sleek and stylish enough for a business meeting, featuring a black quilted leather inset down the center face. Reflective material flanks the quilted inset, and comes in either gray, white, or red, depending on your color preference. This definitely added to the feeling of visibility and safety, while wearing the backpack at night.

Converting the Lauren from a backpack to a shoulderbag takes less than a minute. The shoulder straps are tucked away in a zippered pouch and clip to metal rings at the bottom of the bag. The padded shoulder straps are also fitted with an adjustable chest strap, which can slide up or down, depending where you want the strap to cross your chest. The adjustment range felt much too high at first, but once I really cinched down the shoulder straps on either side, it felt secure and comfortable. With the chest strap situated right across my sternum, in the lowest placement setting, it felt like this particular feature was designed for very petite women. There is also a hidden waist strap made of 1 inch webbing that clips together from either side at the base of the backpack, which helped secure the bag to my back while riding.

The main compartment of the bag holds a small shopping bag worth of items. I took it to the grocery store and was able to take home about a dozen items of varying size. The top of the bag zips closed to secure contents in the main compartment, using a heavy duty metal YKK zipper. The front and back panels of the backpack clip together to pinch the top corners of the bag into a more streamlined shape from top to bottom.

The numerous pockets found in the main compartment of the bag came in handy to hold cell phone, wallet, and business cards. The soft padded pouch was too small for my 15-inch MacBook Pro, though I'm sure it would make a nice spot for smaller or slimmer laptops, notebooks, or tablets. The outer zippered pocket also features card slots, an inner zipper pocket, and a red tether with a clip for keys, which came in very handy. There's nothing worse than having to dig for keys at the bottom of a purse or backpack. The water bottle pouches on either side of the bag fit my narrow water bottle snuggly, holding it in place very securely. Bonus points for a fun motorcycle patterned water-resistant liner fabric throughout the interior.

What to do if it rains? Thankfully, the Lauren bag comes with a rain fly discreetly packed away in a hook-and-loop-secured pocket at the base of the bag. The rainfly covers the entire bag and has a reflective Moto chic logo on the exterior. Unfortunately, stuffing the rainfly in a pocket that’s essentially on the bottom of the bag means the bag itself doesn’t have a flat base to let it sit squarely. I kept finding the bag leaning over toward the front or back when I would set it down, until I realized it was because the base of the bag was essentially rounded by the bulk of the stored rain fly. Moving the rain fly to the hidden pocket with the backpack straps was an easy fix.

All in all, this backpack has been very well thought out and engineered. I kept discovering features that were pleasant surprises, clearly designed with a female rider in mind. I don't know if any other backpack out there can say that. As mentioned before, MotoChic's Lauren bag comes in Black/Grey, Black/Red, and Black/White. It retails for $325, and can be purchased at MotoChicGear.com .

MotoChic Lauren Bag
PRICE: $325
CONTACT: motochicgear.com
MC GRADE: A-
The quality and style of a high-end backpack/shoulderbag, made functional enough for a motorcyclist.