Lining Aluminium Panniers

**StevieG** · #1 10 Jun 2003

Hiya,

After looking at Touratech and Tesch Panniers and the associated prices ;-) I've had some ally panniers made for me, but was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for lining them to prevent stuff turning black from rubbing?
I was thinking of adhesive backed thick kitchen foil but can't find any. Any ideas?

Cheers, Steve

**iswoolley** · #2 10 Jun 2003

Touratech sell inner bags for their panniers, into which your stuff is loaded.

The advantages of this are;
i your stuff doesn't rub on the inside of the panniers
ii it's a convenient way to quickly extract your stuff when heading into a b&b/hotel/auberge
iii it's more convenient when accessing stuff at the bottom of your panniers
iv it limits your capacity for overpacking.

It'd be dead simple for you to make a pair of these to fit your custom built panniers. Put some handles and a shoulder strap on them as well. Have a look at the Touratech website for pictures, etc.

HTH.

Iain

'02 Africa Twin

**paulc** · #3 10 Jun 2003

Another option is to have the panniers anodised

**chris** · #4 10 Jun 2003

i did the following: at woolworths you can buy clear sticky back plastic, the sort children might cover their school books with...

also good stuff to 'laminate' maps with.

works really well.
ChrisB

**Story Leavesley** · #5 10 Jun 2003

I've been wondering about lining my new panniers too. I investigated painting the interior but it seems like successfully painting aluminum is an involved process and may chip. Has anybody successfully painted their aluminum panniers?

I also investigated powder coating the bags which seems like a more promising finish. Powder coating is thicker and more rugged and not as likely to chip. However, powder coating is not cheap.

Instead, I tried the following on my bags. I bought a roll of the thickest (11 mil) white duct tape. I cleaned the interior of the bags and applied the tape to all sides, overlapping slightly. I've finished one bag and it looks good. The white lightens up the interior, and the tape is sticking well. I think the duct tape is strong enough that it won't wear through easily. However, the test will be how it holds up to the constant rubbing from the contents of the bag, and the heat from the road/exhaust.

Story

**Julio** · #6 11 Jun 2003

Hi All

Anodising will stop the black film coming off on your gear. Powdercoating is not as hardwearing as the above.

It costs more but will last alot longer.

Ernie Overland Solutions anodises all panniers, so may be worth giving him a shout to see if he can help you out.

Julio

**StevieG** · #7 11 Jun 2003

Thanks for the advice guys.
The panniers I had made are essentially just boxes with lids to which I've fitted locks and bolted them to my luggage rack, so they need some kind of treatment to protect them. How do Touratech etc finish their panniers?
What about aluminium etching primer to create a bonding surface for regular paint?

Steve

**peterkik** · #8 11 Jun 2003

Hi,

What about simple cardboard?

Peter

**Tony Robson** · #9 13 Jun 2003

Made some liners for my Zega Cases - Material, piping, zips and straps(heavy duty cotton ribbon) came to about £13 GBP.

Took a bit of designing and time to cut and stitch it all but - even if I do say so myself - they are 'bloomin good. Well worth the effort. Put some cheap mesh inside - to speerate the two sides as they fold open - nicer idea but really need some stronger stuff.

Pros - protects everything from getting covered and can be lifted out if I leave the boxes attached.
Cons - They do bag out a little so putting them into the boxes means a few moments care when packing to get things nice and flat on the outside edges...

**spakur** · #10 13 Jun 2003

Steve,

Below is an answer I got from F650.com (http://www.f650.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=13440) when I was about to buy Touratech panniers. I used "clear sticky back plastic" (for school books), but the constant rubbing of hard items against the plastic has made the plastic develop holes. I plan to remove the plastic and paint it instead.

"Aluminum panniers oxidize and leave black marks on anything placed in them. Based on the advice of a GS Adventurer rider with Touratech panniers, I picked up a spray can of truck bed liner. I cleaned the interior of the new Touratech panniers (premounted - only way to go) with rubbing alcohol and masked with tape around the opening. I removed the threaded tighteners and then sprayed the interior with several light coats at five minute intervals. The spraying is supposed to be at temperatures above 70 deg. F (20 deg. C??) and takes 24 hours to dry.
The result was a nice crackle black hard finish with no paint runs.
One caveat, don't do the spraying anywhere where the fumes can get into living quarters. I'll add additional coats when the weather warms up again. I didn't paint the interior of the lid but used several coats of quality wax instead."

Good luck!

/Spakur

**A.B.** · #11 13 Jun 2003

Truck bedliners will leave marks too.

------------------
A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

**lbauer** · #12 6 Jul 2003

I sprayed truck bedliner in one of my Touratech panniers and lined the other with cheap carpeting. Both solutions seem OK so far, but I only did this a few weeks ago so it's too early to be sure.

-Lujo
'99 KLR 650

**StevieG** · #13 10 Jul 2003

Thanks for all the tips guys.
I've looked into a few of them - can anyone think of a good reason not to use Hammerite inside and exterior too instead of truckbed liner? It seems like the ideal solution to me, even if it might look a bit DIY! ;-)

**richardb** · #14 14 Jul 2003

I've just lined my zega cases with bubblewrap, which I had lying around. I don't expect it to last forever but then its cheap to replace.

**spakur** · #15 15 Jul 2003

Steve,
I wouldn't use it on the outside, because the aluminium surface reflects the sun perfectly, making it not too hot in the pannier. If you go with black (worst case) it will be cocking inside (if it is hot outside).

/Spakur