pelican cases as panniers
 

Hi all

I was going to get Happy-Trails Teton panniers but my budget is to tight so I'm considering make my own rack and use two pelican cases.

Anyone had use them?
comments?
suggestions?

Aldo

Check out "making my own pannier for xt600" thread posted by crturboguy. Pics too...

Caribou Cases.

www.cariboucases.com - World's Toughest Motorcycle Luggage

It's a hell of a price hike between a Pelican case and a Caribou modded one though. Still I notice Caribou do a top loader now, and I've not seen a Pelican equivalent.

Check out the Pelican 1430 at Custom case manufacturers, Pottertons Cases supply custom cases, flight cases, plastic cases, tool cases, padded bags/soft cases, peli and explorer protective equipment cases.

I just bought a 650 vstrom with pelican cases. They are a rugged case. I got stuck in some heavy gumbo ( clay ) and had to drag the bike some when the fender to wheel became totaly clogged. The bike came out without a scratch . The pannier had a few scratches ,that after washing , became almost invisible . If you want flash and dont plan on ever dropping the bike go stock cases , but if you have an adventure of any sort in mind these are great.
Bill

Alos look at the moto-sport racks & universal mount, then you get your pelicans separately. This is the route I took with a set of 1550's for one of our DR's. Alot cheaper than haapy-trails or carribou cases.

The top loaders do stick out quite a way though, and you have to remove the trolly handle/wheels... neat idea, but rather clumsily executed I thought?

The main reason you might go for the Caribou is their mods do not affect the original Pelican warranty (whereas if you drill your own holes, they probably won't lifetime warranty the case, although I understand Pelican are a pretty good company regarding warranty issues?)

The Caribous also come with their own quick-release system to mount on the Caribou racks (or a universal ALS design that fixes on third-party racks) - expensive, but good quality, and the convenience of bolt-on...

A more budget option would be (as Blackbeast suggests) to get your own rack and some sort of fixings for bog standard Pelicans - some people just bolt them directly to the frames and use inner bags, or you could use quick release frames (such as Hepco & Becker or the SW Motech ones) that stay attached the cases...

Obviously the Caribou system is the neatest solution, but you do pay for it.

xxx

I have a pelican as a mobile office / flight case for my laptop - it's the pull-along jobby. Very well made and totally idiot proof and and watertight - I jet wash mine to clean it.

I reckon they'd be excellent cases, even if you drilled them for fittings it's nothing that some decent mastic would sort out.

As an aside my pull along one has the wheel rack screwed to a standard case and there are no bolts inside, so there must be standard mounting points on the outside. There are some on the inside for mounting cargo nets etc in the lid without compromising the case.

RTS

I traded my aluminum panniers for a set of drilled pelicans. Much happier, better units. Very rugged, and lockable. My KLR got blown over on the coast while I was doing something...came right down on top and slid a few feet. A few scratches, but none the worse for wear:thumbup1:

I made my self a pannier set in my ex-bike (klr250) with a couple of pelican 1430 top load cases and a turbocity rack... it was undestructable... a little bit small but that was the only issue.

secure box on dualsport
 

I've seen Pelican 1300 and 1400 bolted to dualsport subframes as topboxes on the web but I'm thinking I can do better. I want to put a case, from 1300 to 1450, on my WR250R using some sort of rack to allow me to remove the case as required without tools. Most WR racks fix to the subframe behind the pillion seat where the frame is less strong. I'd like to involve the rear seat bolts in supporting the 3kg boxes + contents, as per some of the TurboCity rear racks (which incidentally seem a bit heavy).

Anyone have any ideas?