excellent thread, seems like a great idea making them ourselves. How much would the materials work out at ? Will the riveted joints withstand the sort of vibration you'd experience doing a trans africa trip? and also why not just get someone to weld the seams and save hassle of riveting, sealing, cutting corner bracings etc? The idea of using barrells looked good but I wouldn't like to be walking away and leaving them unattended for long in populated areas

I think riveted joints are more flexible than welded ones and in case of a damage you just rivet/screw them together but maybe this is me because I cannot weld aluminium...

IMO the weld shouldnt be on the edges because being the weld more rigid than the alu itself it may crack, probably a case made of a single alu sheet bent atthe four corners with only one joint falling in the middle would be optimal. then fit the bottom sheet somehow. But I will have to pay someone to do this.

materials worked out at about £100 with the possibility of saving something, there is the breakdown of the total cost at the end here: rtw.xtz660 - Home made aluminium boxes

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You are correct Alex......... a rivet gun and a handfull of rivets, although a pain in the ass is a hell of a lot easier to lug about the world on a bike than a TIG welder....... and is easier to use in remote places.....

Properly done, and you seem to have a good idea of how to fabricate, a rivet is as good as a weld, after all ships used to be riveted before they were welded ( my grandfather was a riveter in Sunderland shipyards in the days when the rivets were heated white hot and thrown up, then caught in tongs and hammered in with sledge hammers!) anyway rivets are good!!

great thread!

I think soft luggage is the best, you can take it into the hotel/tent or whatever after a days riding. I would be always thinking if someone is about to steal my stuff with ALLY panniers at night. If you use the box bags then you might as well use soft panniers.

Sod rivets, I know sinderland fairly well being from that neck of the woods and as an example to why shipyards turned to welding and boats moving to fiberglass - look at the Titanic !

Been using the soft ones for some travelling in the past year and my biggest concern was to come out of a shopping centre and dont find them any more as the straps arent very secure, to open the alu boxes you need more than a small pocket knife
... well, i suppose they can just load the bike on a van and run off...

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... and Nelly The Elephant packed the trunk and said goodbye to the circus...

I am in the process of welding the rack for the panniers, any suggestion on the position? I mean, I usually see in pics panniers like Touratech etc and they are quite high and pushed back on the tail, is there any reason for this?
...you need to consider how much clearence is needed when you put your foot down, so you don't run over the back of your leg with your pannier. This will happen when you are off-road, especially in sand.

You are correct Alex......... a rivet gun and a handfull of rivets, although a pain in the ass is a hell of a lot easier to lug about the world on a bike than a TIG welder....... and is easier to use in remote places.....
...don't be silly ...just because boxes may be welded together in production doesn't mean you need a welder to fix them. You most likely wouldnot be able to re-weld aluminum boxes because of contamination issues from either paint or anodizing...rivets would be the most likely alternative an any given situation.

I think soft luggage is the best, you can take it into the hotel/tent or whatever after a days riding. I would be always thinking if someone is about to steal my stuff with ALLY panniers at night. If you use the box bags then you might as well use soft panniers.
...with my bike parked safely either inside the hotel or in a secure lot, my ally boxes are by far the most secure place to keep my valuables. Would you rather trust a hotel safe, or the lock on your hotel door?

...just my two cents, nice boxes BTW!

ever tried propping a bike up on a soft pannier to change a puncture?
or using a soft pannier as a table to cook on and to sit on while you eat?

Give me a METAL ammo box or ALLY pannier anyday!

Martyn

...err, i didn't post that, that was a quote. Some very good points above!

Alex!
I think you need to place it way back (like touratech) so that if you have to push the bike, you will have some space between you & the box. Picture yourself pushing the bike with the box near the pillion area, the box will bang your back of knee!! I had same problems before.....but luckily I had soft panniers! If its ally, im sure gonna be painfull!

Btw are you going to weld it permanently or design a quick release thingy?


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