Pannier review in Issue 3

[frey bentos]

Dörr are adapted alloy storage cases same as Allit and many others, they'll perform well but maybe not as strong, waterproof, crushproof as others designed for bikes.

Budget panniers, ´they dont all have to be branded names for loadsa dosh, I found some Swiss Army Pioneer boxes on fleabay.de. Made of ABS plastic, double skinned at the edges and about 3mm thick. If they bust they can be welded at the roadside with a cooker and knife. They survived my last tour with some of the heaviest rain I ever rode in and they stayed 100% waterproof throughout, I've got thermal insulated shopping bags as liners. and for the €32 a pair I paid I'm more than chuffed, on the downside they're too big if I want to take a pillion but as I travel alone and wont be picking up hitchhikers I aint too bothered, & they're narrower than H&B cases I have.


The blue bag on top is my semi automatic washing machine, a watertight bag half filled with water / grundies and the air trapped in.

I pity the poor bugger that would ever steal the blue bag......

[desertraider]

i put alloy boxes on my last 650 v strom they cost less than £60 to the door from a company called farnells , i already had givi racks, made some mounts with plastic covered washers bolted on to the racks

i did like the look of the givi boxes aswell , smaller box on right side to match size up because of the exhaust
not my bike by the way (with givi boxes on )

[Roadcat]

That seems like a really good price for those boxes desertraider! Did you buy them off the web? Been googling for them, but the only Farnells I can find are electrical supply guys, and while they have various boxes I can't find anything that looks like yours

Ahah! Found it: http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/produc ... ku=7583249

[desertraider]

yep that be them, they do them in allsorts of sizes , their not very thick like some makes but if you trash one their cheap to replace , not that you want to do that, £60 odd pounds afair bit cheaper £400 odd or is is iam a tight git lol , their was a chap selling them on ebay for about £200 aset robbing sod .

[Mutley]

Hi desertraider, neat looking setup you've got

How thick is the ally on your boxes, I have Darr boxes which have what seems to be quite thin ally. I was thinking of putting some ally plates on the inside for support but yours 'just' have the washers. I take it your boxes are stable when fitted to the bike? I also have the givi rails so I could easily fix them to my bike like you have

Cheers

[desertraider]

oh they were not very thick but they where solid when fitted , the washers were plastic coated with a sticky foam back (from B&Q) filled them up with allsorts of stuff for 2 week camping trip and were spot on, only got to use them 3 or 4 week in total before selling the bike

[Orlando_Orange]

Just picked up some ARD panniers for my XT660z. Will do a review with pics once I have fit them.

i've had ARD panniers for the last 4 years - first on my F650 then on the S10. with the "puck" system they use it was very easy to switch to different racks, just needed to drill new holes and duck tape up the old ones.... bought them for £275 for a pair. the brilliant thing was that they were made to my exact measurements... now i know it was 4 years ago but i reckon £275 for bespoke cases is a pretty good deal...

in the fours years i have had them i've dropped the bike on them 2 or 3 times but never had a decent crash. never had a leak (even through the taped up holes), although i do use waterproof liners. had one of the "pucks" fall off and my bodge job of a piece of metal and 8 washers from b & q is still working... as well as cases they've proven their usefulness as seats, tables and a beer cooler. personally i couldn't live with hinged tops as i always need to get something out of the panniers at a rest-stop and the drypack over hangs them meaning that for a hinged lid the drypack would have to come off....

disappointing they didn't give you some to look at..

some pics:

on the bike




table and chair (and you can see the pucks here):