Voge DS625X Luggage Upgrade: Fixing My LEJOG Mistake Before ACT Portugal

LEJOG taught me a lot about the Voge DS625X.

Some of it was good. Some of it was reassuring. And some of it made me realise very quickly that if I was going to take this bike to Portugal for the ACT, a few things needed to change.

One of the biggest weaknesses was luggage.

The setup I used from Land’s End to John O’Groats worked, in the sense that it got me to the end of the trip, but it was never ideal. It felt like a compromise from the start, and by the time I reached John O’Groats, I knew it was not a setup I wanted to rely on for a multi-day trail ride through Portugal.

ACT Portugal is going to be a different challenge. There will still be plenty of road miles, but there will also be trails, dust, rougher terrain, ferry crossings, hotels, daily packing, and everything else that comes with a proper adventure ride.

So before Portugal, the Voge needed a better luggage setup.

Why the LEJOG luggage setup had to change

The luggage I used for LEJOG was very much a “make it work” solution.

It did the job, but only just.

For a road-heavy charity ride through the UK, I could live with that. But for ACT Portugal, I need something more secure, more practical, and better suited to off-road riding.

The last thing I want is to be halfway down a Portuguese trail worrying about straps coming loose, bags moving around, or luggage sitting where it should not be.

When you are riding off-road, especially on a loaded adventure bike, luggage is not just about storage. It affects confidence, weight distribution, safety, and how much you can actually enjoy the ride.

Portugal is not the place to find out that the setup still is not good enough.

Why I chose soft luggage over hard panniers

I did consider the wider luggage options, including hard panniers, but for this trip soft luggage made far more sense.

Hard panniers are brilliant for certain types of touring. They are secure, convenient, easy to pack, and useful if most of your riding is on the road. But for off-road and trail riding, I have always been more cautious about them.

If the bike goes down, I would much rather have a soft bag flex, move, or absorb some of the impact than have a hard metal box sticking out from the side of the bike.

There is also the safety side of it. I do not want my leg caught under a hard pannier in a low-speed drop, and I do not want luggage making a simple off-road mistake worse than it needs to be.

The Voge DS625X is already a decent-sized bike once it is loaded. Keeping the luggage softer, narrower, and less bulky feels like the better approach for the kind of riding I am planning in Portugal.

Mosko Moto was tempting, but budget matters

The luggage setup I really liked was from Mosko Moto.

There is no denying that their kit looks excellent. It has a strong reputation, it seems very well thought out, and if budget was not a consideration, it would probably have been very high on my list.

But budget is a consideration.

Portugal is not just one purchase. It is ferry costs, fuel, accommodation, tyres, bike prep, riding gear, tools, security, and all the little things that add up before a trip like this. As much as I would love to simply buy the premium option every time, that is not the reality of this channel or this build.

I needed something that looked practical, usable, and tough enough, without costing more than I could justify.

That is where Rhinowalk came in.

Why Rhinowalk?

Rhinowalk is a brand I kept seeing again and again.

It appeared in Instagram posts, YouTube videos, and adventure motorcycle setups from riders who seemed to be using the kit in the real world. It looked like a sensible middle ground: not the cheapest possible option, but still far more affordable than some of the premium adventure luggage systems.

The setup seemed to fit what I needed for the Voge DS625X:

• soft luggage for trail riding

• enough space for a multi-day trip

• waterproof-style roll-top design

• sensible size for the bike

• budget-friendly compared with premium systems

• flexible enough to adjust and test before Portugal

This is not a full long-term review yet. The real test will be ACT Portugal. But this video was the first step: unboxing the Rhinowalk luggage, fitting it to the Voge DS625X, checking the clearances, and taking it out for an initial test ride.

First impressions fitting it to the Voge DS625X

Universal luggage is always slightly awkward at first.

The real question is not whether it looks good on the floor or in the box. It is whether it actually fits the bike properly.

With the Rhinowalk setup, I wanted to check a few key things straight away:

• how securely the bags sat on the bike

• whether the straps could be routed safely

• whether anything was too close to the exhaust

• whether the bags interfered with the rear wheel or bodywork

• whether the setup felt balanced

• whether it moved around once fitted

The initial fit was promising.

It took a bit of adjusting, as expected, but once fitted the bags looked like they sat reasonably well on the Voge. I will still refine the setup before Portugal, but as a starting point it already felt much more considered than what I used on LEJOG.

First test ride

The first test ride was not about giving the luggage a final verdict.

It was about finding out whether anything immediately moved, sagged, rattled, slipped, or annoyed me.

The good news is that nothing fell off, which is always a decent start!

The bags seemed to stay in place, and from the saddle the bike did not feel like it had suddenly become awkward or unbalanced. That matters, because loaded luggage can change the feel of an adventure bike quite quickly.

There is still more testing to do. I want to load the bags properly, ride rougher ground, check how they deal with bad weather, and see whether any weak points appear over time.

But compared with the luggage setup I used on LEJOG, this already feels like a step in the right direction.

Is it ready for Portugal?

Not yet.

And that is the point.

This is not the final Portugal setup. This is the start of the testing process.

The Rhinowalk luggage now needs to prove itself over more rides, with more realistic packing, and ideally in worse conditions than a sunny first test. I would much rather find any problems now, close to home, than discover them halfway through ACT Portugal.

But first impressions are positive.

LEJOG showed me that “good enough” luggage can get you through a trip, but that does not mean it is the right setup for the next one.

Portugal needs something better.

This is hopefully the beginning of that.