I've come across a few references to Alpos Panniers that sound good and cheap. Does anyone know if they're still available in the UK?

Cheers
Rob

Try MoTech. I bought mine originally from EICB ltd but by the time my husband tried we never got a response. The guy got out of business?
Anyway my hubby got exactly the same alu panniers from MoTech (that was some time in february) but was a bit more expensive!

The Motech frame system is not very good on our bikes (BMW F650GS). It is not designed for the hammering we are giving them and the bikes frames bend when the bikes fall (which happens a lot in the trails or south america!) Especially to me !
However re enforcing it by welding a piece of metal under the bike frame joining both support frames (if you see what I mean!) could do the trick. Really depend if you are going to drop your bike a lot or not. A 4th attachement point at the level of the footpegs could also be a good solution....
the panniers bend when I drop the bike but they are easily hammered into shape! Also the attachement system (panniers to frames) is not that good when you drop the bike few times! A solution for me was to get someone to weld a support metal frame under the panniers to reinforce it. (see photos in my blog, check post in Puno, Peru, style copied on Ernie Overland solution frames).

Hope this help!
Anyway in retrospect, I would not choose these panniers and frame. If you can, and you want them for an overland trip where you may do a lot of off-road (hence dropping the bike some times! And you do believe me! unless you are an off-road god! ) you are better off getting Ernie´s system to hold the panniers at least! As you may guess we are having few problems with our MoTech frames. On another hand it is good to be able to remove the panniers from the bike without having to open the panniers (like metal mule require). You dont want to have to empty half your panniers in an overcrowded pavement of La PAz for example, in order to remove the panniers and get your bike through a gate!!

__________________
Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Alpos - Aluminijasti zaboji