When Brenda from Bitchin Gear dropped off a sample of the Podium Tank Purse we knew we were in trouble.  With no women currently on staff at our small operation we were left with no choice but swallow our he-man like pride, go metro-sexual and test the Podium.  Luckily, the sample came with a blue Bitchin Gear Logo rather than the frilly pink one, so some vestige of our red-blooded macho sportbiker façade remained.

Re-dubbing the Podium the “murse” (man-purse), we were won over by the practicality of the offering.  Sportbikes have never placed an emphasis on taking all or even any of it with you, and under-seat storage is at best a paltry offering; that makes a day bag near mandatory in any sportrider’s kit.  The Podium is a hard-shelled magnetic tank bag with a water resistant fabric outer, with deceptively large storage, big enough to accommodate most of your day ride’s needs: wallet/small purse (we won’t say which we used for testing), keys, phone, smokes, Plexus, and micro-fibre cloth, with more room to spare.  For bigger items, journalist notepads say, the two dividers, sectioning the bag into quarters, can be removed adding to the versatility.  A nice additional touch is the shoulder strap (included) allowing the Podium to accompany you when the bike is parked in the lot.

There is a minor niggle in the overridingly good Podium.  Tested on our recent 999 loaner the bike’s extruded gas cap required the Podium’s bottom hard shell be bent slightly to ensure the magnets made good contact.  For those on bikes such as the ZX6R and GSX-R series where half the tank is plastic, the bag can simply turned sideways to keep it securely attached to the metal portion. The magnets on the Podium are not quite as strong as those found in the less sexily named Givi T409, to which this offering holds a striking resemblance, but they still keep the Podium nicely attached.

Indeed the Podium betters its Givi inspiration with construction improvements such as double-stitching around the magnets, while the logo is less intrusive than Givi’s and the color choice for the logo is a nice added value when coordinating with your wardrobe or ride.

The Bitchin Gear Podium then is practical, cost effective and meets a major need of those out for a sporting day ride when it comes to bringing the essentials, and that makes the Podium a trick offering in our books.  Now if only the folks at Bitchin Gear would work up a line of these offerings for guys, or for the price difference the XX-chromosome set can ditch the machismo and go with the blue logo.  It would make us look all like sensitive new age guys, and that spells S.N.A.G., which coincidentally is what we’d recommend you do if you have a chance to pick up a Podium.

MSRP: $ 57.95 CDN
Web:  www.BitchinGear.ca