Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Can't fit panniers to the EXC anyway, but I bought a rear rack from the states (bolts in under the rear subframe)and will use either the wolfman beta bag or the lovely yellow dry bag.
Know various people who have toured with wolfman and they can't rate it highly enough.
Martin at Winding Roads who stocks Wolfman is a pleasure to deal with.

jonny955 wrote:
I'm constantly amazed at the overall width of some set-ups.

If you travel solo at least look at Ventura bags.
No extra width or wind resistance.

Ted.

I love hard luggage when touring as it makes life so easy for leaving jackets and lids with the bike while wandering around and has somewhere for all the foreign shopping when you see something exciting to eat.

If going off road I only take soft luggage as having the huge panniers/topbox setup just begs to be filled with anything you might need and ends up weighing a ton and spoils the riding.

I've used a set of throwovers with a home made exhaust guard a few times. I've also used a big, cheap bag and pop-rivetted a board to the base to give it some rigidity and tied it to the back seat full of bin bags. Both worked well and didn't cost much and didn't even need a rack.


imil1 copy by therealjimwatson, on Flickr

Of course another option is Boos shopping basket on the Armstrong, just visible on the left of the shot :huh:

I'll be trying my 60ltr overboard bag on the TTR600 I've just bought and maybe Aldi drybag panniers

Yup the shopping basket on the MT500 was effective... when last seen in 2007

Panniers work well for carrying loads as they move weight closer to the CoG of the bike.

Hard or soft is entirely a matter of choice but I agree with Jim that soft is often better for the dirt when long term security is not an issue.

Jimbike wrote:I love hard luggage when touring as it makes life so easy for leaving jackets and lids with the bike while wandering around and has somewhere for all the foreign shopping when you see something exciting to eat.

If going off road I only take soft luggage as having the huge panniers/topbox setup just begs to be filled with anything you might need and ends up weighing a ton and spoils the riding.

I've used a set of throwovers with a home made exhaust guard a few times. I've also used a big, cheap bag and pop-rivetted a board to the base to give it some rigidity and tied it to the back seat full of bin bags. Both worked well and didn't cost much and didn't even need a rack.


imil1 copy by therealjimwatson, on Flickr

Of course another option is Boos shopping basket on the Armstrong, just visible on the left of the shot :huh:

I'll be trying my 60ltr overboard bag on the TTR600 I've just bought and maybe Aldi drybag panniers

So where's the pic's Jim? we need to see her.
Oh and well done and good luck with her.

I'll put up pics soon but can tempt you with this.
To get back on topic, would anyone put hard luggage on this?

Having lose luggage is inexcusable. A young lady lost her life around here a few years ago when her cheapo pannier strap got stuck in the back wheel causing a lock up on the motorway

Panniers are a pain but a necessary evil. Having all your gear packed away and waterproof can only be a good thing !!

Leave the bin bags to the refuse collectors.

scouse wrote:Yup the shopping basket on the MT500 was effective... when last seen in 2007

Panniers work well for carrying loads as they move weight closer to the CoG of the bike.

Hard or soft is entirely a matter of choice but I agree with Jim that soft is often better for the dirt when long term security is not an issue.

+ soft panniers will impart less of a load on the frame, weight-for-weight, than rigidly mounted boxes. A big advantage for hard landings!

Jon

scouse wrote:Yup the shopping basket on the MT500 was effective... when last seen in 2007

Panniers work well for carrying loads as they move weight closer to the CoG of the bike.

Hard or soft is entirely a matter of choice but I agree with Jim that soft is often better for the dirt when long term security is not an issue.

I saw him last week and the shopping basket is still on. He's just heading off to Spain on his Norton single B) (without hard luggage of course).

For security I've bought a Pacsafe mesh like you use, Scouse.
Like has been said before, it's not usually a problem but at least it will stop inquisitive fingers!

I'm looking forward to going lightweight again after the BMWs

I tend only to use my panniers when I'm travelling with Mrs Dash, for various reasons:

- it's usually longer trips of a week or more.
- her bike (ER-6F) doesn't have much capacity for luggage.
- we tend to be doing more non-riding stuff, hence carrying more clothes and other gear.
- if we're going to the beach or somewhere else where we don't want to be encumbered with riding gear, the panniers and top box will swallow two people's riding gear (minus lids, we take a cable lock to attach them to the bike).



(The bright green bag is a Carrefour 'bag for life' which we had to buy, along with some extra bungees, when we arrived in France, went to the supermarket and realised we had no spare luggage space in which to put food )

If I'm on my own it tends to be just for a weekend, and usually to a bike meet somewhere, so I stick to the top box and a dry-bag on the pillion seat. Gives some secure storage (there's some things that are worth locking away, but I don't feel the need to worry about someone stealing my dirty socks) but keeps the width and weight down. The presence of the top box also makes it a lot easier to attach the dry bag, because you're tying it into a corner, rather than to a flat surface.

Still can be quite bulky, especially if I've got a tent and tarp on the back seat as well. Makes any trail riding quite exciting as you can't shift your weight back going downhill :blink: .