Touratech USA

I was visiting my cousins in Seattle recently and sadly was not on any of my bikes, but I insisted we stop at Touratech. Not only did I want to see this place in person, but I also figured I could pick up a few things for my and my husband’s bike trip to Austin for MotoGP.
So in we walk– four gals dressed for shopping and dining in the city. I thought for SURE the folks here would assume we were lost … But no. We were greeted immediately asking what we needed. I explained that I ride and my cousins were kind enough to bring me there to prep for my trip … Well… Out came the free coffee and the Touratech mugs and the water bottle for my 10-​year old cousin and a tour of the shop and stickers and a license plate holder and every question I had answered with as much respect as if I’d shown up in a dirty rally suit and mud-​covered GS. I was even given the sticker you can only get if you go to the shop — even tho I didn’t have my bike with me.
We easily spent an hour here and the staff didn’t mind at all. I got some things I needed/​wanted for my upcoming trip and to plan others (and some fun things I didn’t need like a pint glass!). My youngest cousin even found camping gear to buy for her dad for his birthday!
I unfortunately (fortunately?) can’t vouch for the service-​your-​bike department but if it’s anything like this, I’d imagine you’re in good hands. I know I’ll be back. My cousins left with an incredibly positive image of my hobby and the motorcycling community, AND wanting to learn to ride and promising to return just for camping gear if they don’t. Satisfied customers all around, best client service ever!

I have outfitted two bikes with Touratech in Seattle. Every interaction has been a pleasant one and I trust that they only recommended products that they felt added value to my particular riding parameters. Too often you go to a shop and their only goal is to sell you everything they can. Not so with Touratech. They were thoughtful in their recommendations and even tossed in a t-​shirt when I purchased my panniers and luggage. Don’t be lead to think that the only bikes they outfit are BMW (I outfitted a R1200GS). They have a wide selection of items for KTM bikes and I am currently outfitting 690 Enduro R. Swing by and meet the staff to see for yourself. Also check out their local rides and other events.

The gear I’ve bought has been delivered promptly and has been very good quality. The people I’ve dealt with over the phone have been really helpful, even for small stuff.

I have to stick up for Touratech a bit here after reading the previous stories because I had an amazing experience there that I just have to share. (This is summer 2013, ~9 months or so ago).
I drove my ancient, beat-​up 1995 R1100GS with ancient, beat-​up Touratech panniers to their Seattle location.
I was a little sheepish showing up with a crap bike as I’ve gotten treated badly before by snobby salespeople at various places.
And the panniers were probably almost as old as the bike, so the last thing I was expecting was any kind of warrantee support.
All I was hoping for was to find a few parts to fix up the failing locks on the panniers. I expected to do the work myself and pay roughly $ 100 or so.
Instead what I got was the Touratech tech offering to diagnose and fix the pannier lock problems themselves.
I unclipped the panniers, brought them inside, and in ~60 minutes they were fixed!
Turns out that the previous owner had misinstalled the locks in the first place, drilling the holes in sideways, so there wasn’t a whole lot to be done for that. But the new locks were serviceable (and far better than before) and the topper was that they didn’t charge me for either parts or labor (!).
So when people question whether Touratech understands customer service or not, I know there’s at least one person at Touratech Seattle who does.

I purchased about $ 5500 worth of gear/​items for my 1150GS, all of which were high quality. I later found my $ 900 Klim jacket to be a bit too snug and wanted to exchange it for an XL. The tags were removed and not kept, and there were a few months between purchase and request for exchange although the jacket had not been worn. They were nice, but wanted to charge a re-​stocking fee of 10% for the exchange. Having spent as much as I did I was expecting a full exchange… the jacket cost roughly $ 900.00 so a fee of $ 90 was a bit strong. For a place that is known for excessive prices I was hoping for better customer service. Fun place but I won’t be going back for additional purchases that’s for certain.

I recently purchased a BMW R1200GS. I spent a lot of time researching accessories for the new bike. Touratech seemed like the perfect company!
I live in Vancouver, BC, so I decided to ride to Seattle so I could get help in person. When I walked into the shop, no one seemed too excited to help. When someone did come talk to me, I told them about my new bike and how I was looking to get kit for it.
The salesperson was very helpful at this point. He started going through the list of accessories that would be helpful for my needs. We decided on crash bars, cylinder head guards, fuel line guards, throttle potentiometer guard, oil cooler protector and a headlight guard. He offered a few other suggestions, but I was reaching my budget limit. I also purchased a pair of Sidi Adventure Rain Boots. After about 15 minutes in the store, I was looking at a $ 1500 bill.
The salesperson asked if I was going to strap everything to the bike for the ride back. During my research on the website, I saw a video of the president, Tom Myers, talking about the «thousands of enthusiasts» he sees bolting things on their bikes. He talks about how the clients ask for tools and Touratech provides them, as well as help and advice on installing them. The video can be found at
When I asked for the tools, the salesperson was happy to provide them and also provided Loctite for the job. As far as help and advice went, I received very little. The only reason I received help is because I asked for it several times. Another client was also having difficulty attaching items to his bike also seemed to receive very little help. I heard the salesperson state they were very busy inside and if it were any other day, it would have been better.
The instructions provided with the products were not very clear. The black and white photos were hard to see and the written instructions assume you have a lot of knowledge about how motorcycles are constructed. I do not.
After a few hours of frustration, I rode away with the crash bars, cylinder head guards and throttle potentiometer guard installed and everything else in my panniers. I’ll try to put those on at a later date when my frustration levels have gone down!
The products themselves seem excellent. I am looking forward to testing them out with my new bike!
I guess I expected more from the shop than I should have. I could have saved myself several hours of travel simply by ordering from their website. In the end, I would have achieved the same results!