Panniers: Useful or a pain in the arse?

[Rondini]

I've tried bin liners, sealiners, leather throw-overs, soft luggage, givi plastic's, no thanks I'll stick with Ally Box's . In answer to Aluns question about M25 filtering Dont Use It,Find an alternative

[scouse]

As very few Euro supermarkets provide free bags usually we take a day pack for carrying food - just slip the straps over the drysack on the pillion seat and tighten 'em and voila a temporary food carrier.

Anyone who regularly travels long distance will always know the trepidation of leaving gear unattended at motorway services in the UK on the way over and in dubious places near the outskirts of many of big cities in the rest of the world ... which is why you find solo riders often strike up conversations with others and at some point the "Could you just keep an eye on this lot" slips in while you slip off to the bogs.

Anyone who reckons opportunist thefts are not an issue has never had the misfortune of being parked up when a school party comes in... lost a pair of Oakley goggles from my tank panniers in Italy thanks to a passing light-fingered yoof at one of the cafe's on the Col du Mont Cenis. While we were having a coffee just yards away... crowd of kids surged past the bike to get back on their coach and it was only when the coach pulled away I noticed the open pocket As I had just repacked it after fixing a puncture for a French biker the little scrote must have seen me put them there... a perfect example.. not an essential item as I was on the way back from the Stella but a PITA to replace them as I got them in a closing down sale and the replacement ones then cost three times as much.

Panniers are good at keeping things out of sight and if packed correctly keep things in place and dry

[scouse]

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.

Have a look at their tank panniers. Tank panniers are a great place to carry extra oil and water and small tools and spares.

[desertraider]

well , ive had hard and soft panniers and bin bags under cargo nets and ive found a mix is allways good mid size panniers and a roll ball

[Ted99uk]

Anyone who reckons opportunist thefts are not an issue has never had the misfortune of being parked up when a school party comes in...
D

Can't believe how lucky I have been. Using Ventura soft luggage for 25 years, leaving the bike loaded up literally everywhere from mountain wilderness to city centre.
Nothing taken. Unbelievable really. In seriously dodgy spots I put a soft bike cover over it all. Why does that help? Don't know. I learned that in the States.
Ted.

[scouse]

Anyone who reckons opportunist thefts are not an issue has never had the misfortune of being parked up when a school party comes in...
D

Can't believe how lucky I have been. Using Ventura soft luggage for 25 years, leaving the bike loaded up literally everywhere from mountain wilderness to city centre.
Nothing taken. Unbelievable really. In seriously dodgy spots I put a soft bike cover over it all. Why does that help? Don't know. I learned that in the States.
Ted.

Simple , it's a case of if they can't see it or easily get to it they don't want it. In my example I was actually sitting watching the bikes when my stuff got nicked! The only conclusion we could make was the little sod had seen me take them off and where I had stashed them... not something I would have worried about in the past but do so now.

Out of sight is out of mind and if it also takes effort to get to things thieves can get spotted... which is another plus for bags and panniers vs. piled up carrier bags and ripped refuse sacks

[Ceri JC]

Anyone who reckons opportunist thefts are not an issue has never had the misfortune of being parked up when a school party comes in...
D

Can't believe how lucky I have been. Using Ventura soft luggage for 25 years, leaving the bike loaded up literally everywhere from mountain wilderness to city centre.
Nothing taken. Unbelievable really. In seriously dodgy spots I put a soft bike cover over it all. Why does that help? Don't know. I learned that in the States.
Ted.

Simple , it's a case of if they can't see it or easily get to it they don't want it. In my example I was actually sitting watching the bikes when my stuff got nicked! The only conclusion we could make was the little sod had seen me take them off and where I had stashed them... not something I would have worried about in the past but do so now.

Out of sight is out of mind and if it also takes effort to get to things thieves can get spotted... which is another plus for bags and panniers vs. piled up carrier bags and ripped refuse sacks

Agreed. I can't believe how many times I've gotten away with leaving pretty valuable things on my bike in soft luggage. As Ted says, using a cover makes a huge difference.

Only once have I seen another bike with soft luggage tampered with; someone had unzipped a lad's tailpack and robbed tools off the back. I didn't see it happen, just came back to a bike park to find the tailpack open and a lone spanner left in it. FWIF, It hadn't had a cover over it.

[Dysan]

If I'm going mainly on a road trip, probably with the mrs and sightseeing etc, metal panniers. I know they don't offer much security but much better than soft luggage.

If I'm going to go and hammer it off road I have a Giant Loop that I use. I can't get as much in it but it survives the inevitable offs much better than hard luggage. Pretty easy to strip off and take into a hostel or something.

[dogman]

Jason mentioned to me the other night that for this years European tour he'll be travelling light. I take it he meant doing what I did last year....fitting all my stuff in a top box and a bin liner on the pillion.

The advantages of riding a 'slim' bike are obvious and was brought sharply into focus on our return to the UK when one of our parties aluminium panniers took out a few wing mirrors whilst filtering through a 20 mile jam on the M25.

Overall I'm starting to think that Panniers are more of a pain than they are a gain when touring. Sure you can stash more stuff, securely, but the width restrictions are a trade off I don't want to pay. So for this summer the panniers that came on the Tiger are being whipped off and the bin liner is making a come back.

Question to all seasoned riders with Panniers. On a % basis how often have you had a problem with panniers, A. in traffic,, B. offroad.

[Neiljohnuk]

I have had different panniers on BM's down the years, the K1100lt currently has the 42 ltr K2 Krausers on, Merc paint is softer than the plastic! I prefer the Craven std. plod boxes though, narrower than the bars, easy and aerodynamically more stable, IF I can find some std. BMW K panniers I'm going to try them, need the capacity, but not the problems the K2's cause.
Deauville std. lids are narrower than the bars, no problems, havn't tried the fatties yet.

F650GS, only top box at the moment, IF I can find some tidy Cravens I'll use those, or Givi's small top openers.

As to mirror removal, the M25 'block the biker' attitude is spreading, even on a 'duty' bike filtering is getting more difficult, cagers loosing mirrors only makes the b'stards worse next time around, and it won't be the remover who gets the problem...

Navy Blue Honda CRV's in South Hampshire seem to be current anus transport.