Back in 2022, Mosko Moto showed off a new tankbag. The 5-liter Gnome came with a unique shape, and a somewhat unusual shape and features. They sent me one for testing in 2023; here’s how it’s been working out for me.

Tinkering with the tankbag formula

Mosko’s website describes the new tankbag this way: “Designed for unrestricted movement, the Gnome features a unique mounting orientation in a landscape position on top of your tank and includes a 1.5-liter hydration reservoir, so you can quench your thirst while riding.” In other words, where most tankbags have a boxy front-to-back shape that runs fore-to-aft on a motorcycle gas tank, the Gnome runs side-to-side.

Mosko Moto’s useful internal organizers, not to mention the hydration bladder, mean you can pack a lot of utility into this small bag. Photo: Mosko Moto

The mounting system is basically what you get with dual sport tankbags from other manufacturers. A strap runs from the front of the tankbag and wraps around your bike’s headstock. Two more straps run from the left and right corners of the tankbag in the back; these straps run down to your bike’s frame. Unlike some competitors’ bags, which loop those straps around the frame and run back up to the tankbag, Mosko’s design has you zip-tie the rear straps to your bike’s frame. Is that a better system, or worse? I’m not sure, but it’s quite quick to install.

Once you’ve got the straps around your frame, you can tighten them to the correct length with Velcro-style hook-and-loop sections. You can trim them down as well, if you want to remove excess material. I didn’t, and I’ve had no trouble.

What’s it like to ride with?

There are two tankbag theories. Some people want to haul just the basics, others use the tankbag as a major part of their luggage system, with capacity at 10 liters and more.

I tend to like a medium-sized tankbag while traveling and a small tankbag while off-roading. The Gnome works well in the second category. Photo: Zac Kurylyk

For day-to-day use and dual sport riding, I tend to like tankbags that are on the smaller side, with 5-7 liter capacity. Just enough room for a camera, a snack, a notebook, maybe some water. The Gnome fits nicely into this slot, with a five liters of internal volume—including 1.5 liters of space for a Hydrapak hydration bladder in the base of the tankbag.

I’m not a must-drink-all-the-time-while-riding kinda guy, but if I was, I would say this arrangement is much preferable to carrying a floppy and annoying hydration bladder on my back. Reach down, and your drink hose is right there in front of you when needed. When not needed, you’re not carrying it around.

The Gnome tankbag has a main compartment on top of that hydration bladder, opened with a zipper. Once that zipper is closed, 1-inch buckles on each side of the tankbag keep the lid secure, so your zipper doesn’t work itself loose over a day’s ride and spill all the bag’s contents when you hit a jump. My guess is, this is a feature that was implemented due to unpleasant previous experience of the designer. I once lost a nice custom toolkit out of a tailbag due to this happening, so I can appreciate the thoughtfulness here.

However, those buckles do make it a bit slower to get into the tankbag at a tollbooth or gas stop. Perhaps a single buckle would have sufficed? Or maybe not. If you really don’t like them, you can just leave them unbuckled.

I frequently found myself forgetting to re-buckle the tankbag after closing the zipper. That’s my fault, of course, not the designers’. Photo: Zac Kurylyk

The interior of the bag has a few handy organizers and a secret passport compartment in the base that isn’t so secret at all, now that I’ve told you about it.  Another zippered compartment sits under the lid. I like the added organization, as it means less searching around for pens and earplugs, etc. The exterior is water-repellent 630D nylon; Mosko includes a rain cover with your purchase.

What about Mosko’s claim that the bag enables you to move around the bike more easily? I put the Gnome tankbag on my WR250R, which was my only dirt-friendly bike in the stable last year.  When I was up on the pegs, the Gnome wasn’t in the way, and didn’t flop about annoyingly as the bike bashed over bumps. While the word “unobtrusive” may sound like I’m damning this tankbag with faint praise, I think that’s the goal the designers aimed for, and I think they nailed it.

With that in mind, I think the Gnome will stay on the WR for the forseeable future, despite having other tankbags in the garage. It’s not a ground-breaking design; I’m not advising you to go throw out your old tankbag to buy this one. But if you’re in the market, consider it. It does its job well.

On this trip, all I had was a couple of tools, but you can fit a surprising amount of gear in here if needed. Photo: Zac Kurylyk

Would I change anything?

I think a slightly larger version of this tankbag would be interesting to try. I also liked Mosko Moto’s Hypalon webbing on top of the bag, allowing easy attachment of accessories via MOLLE strap—and I think some sort of cellphone mount accessory that attached by MOLLE would be a good addition to the tankbag. Maybe MOSKO could dream something up, a sort of panel that attached and provided a stable base for the phone.

The other niggle is the pricing. The Gnome is expensive, with a $225 MSRP for American customers, and $335 CAD for Canadians.

Currently, the Mosko Moto Gnome is available in Black, Desert or Onyx/Orange color schemes. More deets here!