Some pieces of motorcycle equipment seem pre-destined for widespread adoption because they just plain work, making motorcyclists’ lives easier for the right price. Corbin seats. Belstaff jackets. Oxford heated grips. Barkbuster handguards. RAM Mounts. And, over the past few years, ROK Straps.
Go to almost any motorcycle dealership or a rally with vendors, and you’ll see people selling ROK Straps. But do they actually work as well as the salesmen and devotees claim?
What are ROK Straps?
ROK makes a few different products, including stuff aimed at pet owners and the tacticool crowd. ROK Straps are made for the powersports sector, specifically intended for securing loads to motorcycles, snowmobiles or ATVs.
For their moto-specific purposes, ROK Straps are built a bit differently from the el-cheapo bungees you find at Harbor Freight. They’re flat-wound, which is supposed to reduce their tendency to bite into your bike’s bodywork when they’re under tension and to minimize chafing on the cargo they’re securing, and reduce the chance of it slipping around.
The two-part design with three eyes (an eye at each end of the non-stretchy webbing on the left) lets you attach these straps to a very wide range of racks and motorcycle chassis components. Photo: ROK Straps
Also, there are no hooks. Most bungees use some sort of hook to secure the ends. ROK Straps have eyes sewn into the ends, using a two-part system. One part of the strap is non-stretchy, with an eye sewn into each end, and half a buckle in the middle. The other part of the strap is stretchy with an eye sewn into one end, and the other half of the buckle at the other end.
You can use ROK Straps’ eyes at the ends to secure them with a girth hitch. Or you can use the eyes to loop around hard points on the frame or a rack, as seen here on the luggage mounting points below the pillion seat. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
This means you can secure the ROK Straps to either two or three points on your bike, using either a girth hitch, or by hooking the eye around some solid part of your machine’s chassis. See it demonstrated on a bicycle rack below:
There are three versions of ROK Straps aimed at riders: The Motorcycle Stretch Strap, that can adjust to as long as 60 inches; the Pack Stretch Strap, that goes to 42 inches; and the Commuter Strap (as demo’d above) that goes to 28 inches. ROK sells some versions with fixed length, but the only ones I’ve ever seen used are adjustable-length. Slide the buckle around on the non-stretchy section of webbing, and you can make the strap fit as needed.
You can get ROK Straps in a wide range of colors. Photo: ROK Straps
All these straps come with a lifetime warranty. Several are available with reflective thread included, for more nighttime visibility. The longer threads are also made of beefier material; the shorter straps are thinner.
My own experience
I used a lot of different straps over the years before trying out ROK Straps, and had heard all the warnings of “don’t use a standard bungee, the end will come loose and put your eye out.” I always reckoned such predictions were somewhat overblown, but nevertheless, switching to ROK Straps with their better system of securing the ends, not to mention a lifetime warranty and the ability to adjust the length, makes ROK Straps worth spending the extra money on. At this point, I have two of the shorter Commuter straps and three of the Motorcycle Stretch Straps that I use regularly on my motorcycle.
On duty down in Nevada. Note that I’ve run the ROK Straps through the MOLLE webbing on that bag in multiple places. This helps keep things from shifting around. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
In general, I find the lighter Commuter straps aren’t ideal for full-sized motorcycle luggage. The plastic buckles don’t seem to have the grip I want for heavier luggage, probably because the straps themselves are smaller and therefore offer less resistive friction. I use them, but don’t rely on them.
Instead, I use the longer-and-beefier Motorcycle Stretch Straps—and I’ve used them a lot. On the back of my Bandit 1200, attaching camping gear to the Ventura rack. Attaching the Turkana Duffalo 25L and 40L bags to the back of my Super Tenere, my WR250R, and loaners like the CFMOTO Ibex 800, GasGas ES700, etc.
At the Cape Clear lookoff in summer of 2024. For easy forestry roads, where high-mounted weight isn’t as big of an issue, these straps make it easy to haul a bag on just about any motorcycle. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
This includes a lot of pavement and a lot of dual-sport riding too. In all that time, I’ve never been let down by these straps—but that’s partly because I don’t put all my trust in their elasticity.
Be realistic
A lot of the time, when I use ROK Straps, I back them up with a cambuckle strap (typically the trusty “BMW Strap“). Not always; if I’m going to only be on the street, I might be OK with just the ROK Straps. But if I am going to be off-pavement, I want to have a more solid connection to the bike, with no stretch, so it won’t shift around as the bike bounces. And if I’m going to be only using ROK Straps, I will make sure to loop them through MOLLE webbing or some other solid point on the bike, so if things shift around a bit, my luggage won’t fall right off the bike.
You can’t see the ROK Straps, but they’re there, attaching my sleeping bag and pad. What you *can* see is that BMW strap over the whole lot, serving as a non-stretching backup in case a plastic buckle breaks. I don’t always use a cambuckle strap, but I do like to at least carry one with me, just in case, if I’m using ROK Straps. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
I’ve known people who poo-poo’d me for my caution… and then lost luggage that fell off their bike when they didn’t exercise the same caution. And there are enough such stories that I am a firm believer in ROK Straps, but will always advise users to think through their use carefully, and remember they’re only as strong as the plastic buckle used to connect them.
One nice thing about ROK Straps is that the elastic has enough give that it’s usually easy to slip a pair of shoes, or a beach towel, etc., into the straps and have them secure it to the exterior of your luggage, instead of having to take the straps off to stuff the gear into your bag. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
But overall: ROK Straps work so well with such a wide range of gear that I spend my own money on this stuff and would recommend them to any motorcyclist, as long as you use them cautiously. They fit just about any kind of motorcycle and any kind of luggage; buy ’em once, and you should have them for life.
Check out ROK Straps at Revzilla here, or here at RMATV. Pricing is usually around $25ish for the medium-length straps.
