I know there are previous threads on this but I have more specific enquiries. I'm leaving Ireland for Morocco next week and possibly trans-Sahara to Senegal and need panniers. I'm on a Transalp 650. I was under the impression that aluminium was best but here's my current thinking. Please advise.

My concerns are durability if/when I fall and security.

I know that aluminium is harder to break into but I'm thinking that I'll have to leave them on the bike. That will mean carting everythiing out of the boxes every night and back in the next day and still worrying about the panniers getting robbed at night (I'll be staying in towns/hostels at least some of the time). And when I'm based in towns I'll have to leave them on when I want to beat traffic through town. I'm thinking that the Givi panniers can just be clipped off and brought inside making life easy.

BUT I woiuld have assumed that Givi plastic would crack easily with a fall but another thread says they're les likely to break than aluminium. Any experience?

There is soft luggage but isn't water going to penetrate them and they can never be left on the bike unwatched and will be awkward to carry around?

Based on all of tht I'm leaning towards Givi plastic. Am I right?

Hehe, some Givi-information here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub.../paniers-28802
Edit: Givi, check last page.

What about using something like Pelican Cases? Hard plastic cases. I did my own set up with Happy Trails SU racks and the Happy Trails Pannier quick Disconnects and Pelican Cases. Caribou Cases makes a Quick Disconnect set up and built in locks (I just use padlocks) for Pelicans that can mount to various racks.

This is my KLR with my Pelican 1520 Cases mounted up.


It's been on it's side a time or 2 and other than some scuff marks, they are good as new.

check out the thread "Aluminium panniers, the best ones,opinions please" lots of info regarding all types of luggage on there

Well ,if you're going next week ,you've left it a bit late to choose a pannier system .

I use those new "green" shopping bags inside the ally panniers ,just grab the two handles and pull .Heavy stuff like tools and spares is packed seperately at the bottom of the boxes ,the things I need on a daily basis are in the shopping bag .Panniers stay on the bike .

If you had soft bags ,you'd be bringing them in to the hotel anyway .

I really like the look of the pelican cases , if they had a top loader in that size ,it would be ideal for me.

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

There's a size of those supermarket shopping bags that is a great sliding fit inside Andystrapz Expedition pannier bags.
So I do the same, take my luggage to the B&B or whatever, in the bags and drop them back in the pannier in the morning. It saves unstrapping the bags from the bike, and saves taking the usually filthy panniers indoors.
If its too much trouble for me to unstrap them, who's going to nick a shabby looking pair of empty panniers?

A lot of good info there. Thanks. It seems both aluminium and plastic run the risk of cracking/breaking. Actually met a guy in bike shop in Dublin yesterday and he recently travelled to Dakar with soft bags and said they were great. Apart from risk of theft in traffic which he got around with metal mesh and plastic covers he said they were great. No risk of technical problems beyond a needle and thread no matter how many falls, they took a minute to take on and off and were surprisingly durable and water proof. I'd put my gear inside a plastic bag inside anyway as suggested above. I'd heard they'd be unstable in the wind but this guy reckons that a few bunjy cords will solve that. As I'll be based in at least two cities for a while I also like the idea of being able to take them off quickly for zooming through traffic. Way cheaper too. Any obvious problems I'm missing? Thanks

Maybe these Hepco& Becker panier would be an option to consider?

H&B GOBI

Sorry that it is all in German, but at least you can see what I am talking about. I am using the Junior ones on my Honda TA and I am more than pleased. Just an idea.

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You pretty much have it ... a good idea for plastic bags on the inside is super heavy duty refuse sacks, as in the one builders use for carting building rubble like bricks and timber away from building sites.

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The theft issue can be a worry, but I feel better bringing everything inside at night with me anyway, plus I think it makes the bike less attractive in the first place. Even if there is nothing in your hard cases, how is a thief supposed to know that? In any case, the best thing for keeping stuff inside soft bags is large ziplock food storage bags. Buy one-gallon freezer bags, or 2-gallon bags with a real plastic zipper. Helps to keep your stuff organized, and they're a great way to isolate stinky socks or filthy clothes.

I'm a recent convert to soft luggage after telling everyone that tried to tell me to nick off. The type of trip and riding that I'm now looking for has changed though. To me now it's more about the riding, and enjoying the out of the way places which are often off-road and less about doing the city church-mosque runs. If the latter is what you're most interested in you're better off if you're backpacking.

Even with hard luggage I usually don't like leaving the bike out of sight anyway (which is not difficult). You'd be amazed how easy it is to steal a bike or it's gear. Bike security is a joke. I always have a sensor based bike alarm, but still. Kazakhs actually like setting it off.
I took hard luggage to South America but am planning to take soft to Africa next time. I was amazed by the South American attitude of look but no touch. This is very different in all the other continents though. But still. I figured I go on a bike trip for the riding, so to me it makes sense to cater for that first before I worry about security.

Also, besides camping gear, what can't be replaced locally if something does get nicked (often if it gets nicked it's a planned theft or insufficient care was taken by the owner)? I now try to only carry that and clothes with some minor stuff. No SLR's or laptops. There is not much you can't do with a good smart phone now. 12 mege pixels means it might even be possible to get rid of a good compact camera. The phone has email and wifi and PDF viewer. But I carry that in my jacket or camelbak anyway. But if you do carry some expensive stuff (like a PMA which I do) you could always use pacsafe stuff like that mesh, or the travel safe which can be tied to the pannier frame and stuffed in the saddle bag with the wire coming out of the roll closure.

I takes a bit more planning (maybe plan which cities you want to stop over in), but you will enjoy the riding more. That's guaranteed. Particularly if you're not strong off-road. Even more so if you are.

Always soft !!

Most people who have done some proper overlanding travel will start off with cheap soft bags. They will then buy expensive aluminium boxes out of peer pressure and then when these expensive boxes start falling apart and turn your bike into something resembling an ocean liner, they wise up and go back to QUALITY soft bags !!

As for plastic.. Second best ! They take abuse much better than aluminium (they flex) but you won't look as cool as the 1200Gs/touratech underpants brigade

Done to death on this forum mate. Use the search function and you could spend the next 3 months reading threads on this subject.

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Technician, BMW Chester Motorrad.
www.TouringTed.com
1994 XR650L
2001 NX650 Dominator.

Now that's more information than I care for interpol to know :/