Hard Luggage hinges keep breaking

[nigel_tailyour]

I have BMW hard cases in aluminium and the hinges keep breaking on my GSA R1150 from 2004

The BMW dealer wants £28 each for them. A much cheaper way to replace these hinges is to buy the exact part made by Southco in the US (just search Southco Access Fasteners) and ask for the C6 hinge.

In the UK they are distributed by [B][url=http://www.zygology.com]Assembly Solutions, Fixings & Industrial Fasteners Supplier

[Fern]

If they keep breaking, is it worth taking them into a local engineering firm and seeing if they can make something even better that won't keep on failing? I would hate the worry of wondering if the panniers are going to go bouncing down the road!

[Dazzerrtw]

I had a BMW 1150 adv back in 2004 and had the same problem.
The hinges are plastic .

After I had them break for the second time I just fitted a pair of metal door hinges at £1.50p each and that sorted it.

Dazzer

[farmer palmer]

I had the same problem back in 2002.......Opened one of the boxes and the lid just broke off in my hands. It was a right PITA and the hinges were expensive to replace even then.

I bought a couple of similar style metal hinges from a local hardware store for £2.50 and re drilled them and swapped them from the pannier to the topbox so I had a matching pannier lid set again.

I then bought another two pairs of hinges incase I ever had the same problem and carried them on a couple of tours just incase but changed to Touratech Zegas in 2004 for an Iceland trip.

The worst thing was those wee plastic hinges were really complicated with balls and springs etc inside and made the simple job of hinging open and closed again difficult.

FP.