Narrowest plastic panniers
 

Colleagues,
I am trying to turn one of my bikes into sporttourer and in parallel sorting out problem with my dualsport, and here is what I stuck with...
Which are narrowest plastic panniers in range of 25-35 liters size? Including old old old style cases etc. - any sizes you can post will be of great use for me.

If you interested to know why - well, bike is Honda Firestorm, I got tired of soft luggage on long trips and want hard cases. But Firestorm is famously narrow so that traffic jams are breathe. I want it not to turn into integalactic liner wide vehicle and going to cut rear plastic for tighter fit. Still need to do best I can to keep it narrow.

Something to consider perhaps are tank panniers... I like having the widest part of the bike in front of me so that I can navigate easier in tight spots... just an idea (see pic below).

givi/kappa 21ltr are the narrowest plastic panniers, but they are quite small. corbin do beetle bags that are neat, but small and expensive. and you will have a hard time finding any for a firestorm/superhawk.
you will be better off with a large topbox, even a 52ltr will be narrower on the bike than any panniers and be more practical with room for two helmets.

Yep, I looked at E21s...I mean those Givi/Kappa cases with top load.
In fact I am just few hours ago back from Givi shop...
Here is perhaps useful for somebody info.
There is new model of universal side case/topbox called B36N. Same width with E21s (marginally wider, about 7 mm) and 36 liters of capacity.
Tried them on my DR800 - niiiice! Expensive a bit, but nice.

I looked at Corbin Beetle Bags - well, sourceable but by God Superhawk with them looks like joke and they are not really large in capacity. And expensive.

Since Nonfango basically compatible with Givie (you just have to flip over top mount) I am going with either E21s or that new B36N. Nothing else seems to fit the bill...

Has anyone seen these in the flesh? If so, what do they look like?, they look ideal for anyone touring on a small cc motorcycle.

they look ok but i would have to ask myself, seeing them in the flesh;
1. how do they mount? a bicycle doesnt put the same strain on things a motorbike would, what are the mounting points like on the box itself? and can it be easily mounted on a motorbike?
2. what are the lid seals like? of course they would be waterproof up to a point, for a bicycle, but rain driven by 100mph wind is something else.
3. security? is there a lock or provision for one? and i dont mean a padlock shackle, even a small padlock thrashing around will soon eat through a plastic box.

Yes , I've seen them in the flesh .
They would be ideal for a small capacity bike ,but you'd have to rig up your own mounting frame or adapt the cycle mountings .
They probably aren't as tough as a Givi but they have locks that would deter an opportunist thief .
I saw some on sale for $35 recently [half price ] .

The simplest way to mount them would be to bolt them straight on ,with a backiing plate made of aluminum .
The lid might need some work to make it waterproof at speed ,or you could do what I did with my old craven panniers and just place a plastic bag over the top of the pannier and shut the lid down on it .

They are just a plastic box really and something that you could adapt to your needs,with a little ingenuity for little cost , they are not a Givi like ready made accessory [which might cost 10 times as much ].

The old style Craven fibreglass panniers are quite narrow.The ones that the police used to use or you see on Brit bikes sometimes.

I'd love to find Cravens, I find them not only suitable but good looking too (I love old style :)) but seems they really hard to find at reasonable price. I would be very grateful if anyone would point me to such place in UK or anywhere else in Europe.

About three years ago I sold a tatty set of Cravens for,I think,£30.No locks/keys,no frames just a few bits of bent metal.They would have needed some work to get them nice.They come up on ebay from time to time.

I would like some slim boxes for my Africa Twin but I am too mean to go out and buy a new set,so will probably stick with soft luggage for now.

Hunt is on :) Put an eBay watcher on :)

for an @T you should be able to find some 2nd hand metal jobs for good money? summers over so people are coming home from their big trips. they would look pants on a firestorm tho :nono:

hi

im looking for panniers for my f800gs, i cant decide on what i want but also i think its easy to buy something then for it to turn out 2000km later to be a pain in the arse, can anyone who has travelled point me in the right direction? there is the possibility that we will be 2 up

so its a pannier for shoes, a pannier for clothes and a topbox for makeup, leaving you with a tankbag?

oh you have met her then, that would be 2 for shoes :)

If you want really skinny panniers, how about the classic despatch rider panniers made by Kieth Gold? Simple, top loading, designed to let a bike slip through the worst of London's traffic. I don't know if they are still made but maybe like the Cravens, they could turn up on ebay.

on second thoughts she can stay home

I do not mind treating my 2 bikes with separate sets :) I just do not like weight of metal panniers, I also never saw ones that would be skinny enough but most importantly - I had really hard time this year on "german motorway" section of trip to Norway because of bike twitching with wide Givis at 135+ kmph with top box or (top box left in hotel to be picked up on way back) at 145+ kmph. Now I am trying to make something...ahm...more aerodynamic (thou my DR Big itself looks like brick :))

I have just ordered a pair of the bikebins panniers to try on a ybr125, a mate of mine(www.justmetal.co.uk) is going to fabricate a set of frames for the bike, he has already done jobs on my GS and both Enfields.
From the bikebins spec sheet it appears that the right hand box will require 'heavy' modification due to the upswept exhaust, this looks like a new pannier base will be required after chopping out 2" off the height. If I learn how to post pictures on here I will do!.

i never thought of that, if you want narrow panniers you could get metal ones, chop and weld them narrower

I now done with rebuilding frames and making adaptors to be able to click-on Aprilia Pegaso panniers on both bikes. Those are too pretty to be offroad panniers, but offroad I would not take hard cases anyway.
Here it is.
On DR800 overall width with panniers is 85 cm - precisely same with handlebar width.
On VTR1000F it is 80 cm, still wider than very narrow bike that VTR is, but bearable.

http://kickstarter.org/mkportal/modu...lbum/a_645.jpg

http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...0/IMG_0179.jpg

http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/r...0/IMG_0178.jpg

Do you have an heat problem on the Honda? the bottom of the pannier appears to be very close to the exhaust.
What is the handling like on the Suzuki when loaded? The panniers are mostly past the rear axel.

For Honda - no problem, panniers are not that close as it looks and anyway with proper fuelling/jetting bike exhaust gases are not that hot. It is headers that get hot mostly.
For DR - not a slightest problem with handling even with previous panniers which were same position and heavier. I think you need to take into account sheer size of that bike and fact that I never exceed 10-15 kg per pannier.
However, even with my wife as passenger and 3 fully laden panniers DR will give run for money handling wise to any other bike in tight stuff. Pure correct geometry and suspension tuning matter. This bike is magical when it comes to geometry, I still don't get how Suzuki managed it.

Well, I think French mini-team completed RTW on YBRs, no? They are very reliant.

The difference is that you probably running stock exhaust and panniers made from different plastic. Those are meant to be OK close to silencer.
Also - Honda exhaust and DR exhaust is not stock in my case. Honda runs same kind of arrows used by Rumi VTR supertwins team, e.g. it is race type with absorbing filling, so they never get that hot. DR runs ex-Benelli Tornado Tre double-skin titanium Arrow, also don't get that hot as it is semi-labyrinth and double skin.
But general rule of thumb for me is that I should be able to hold hand agains exhaust outlet without burning it or getting too uncomfy to keep it in gases way or I will start looking at jetting.

Ah, sorry - read all now, you mentioned bikebins...they are totally different kind of plastic, really can melt much easier. Pegaso panniers are more heat-proof and laid inside with kinda soundproofing material...

the danish police used glasfiber panniers and , I think, quite narrow. Try and ask the BMW clubs where to get them

Politiets motorcykler

Just fitted the 'Bikebins.com' panniers to my ybr125, the ali panniers I use on the other bikes would have been too large for this one, the right hand pannier had to be 'cut down' and have a metal base inserted to keep it off the exhaust, !st try out will be at the TT and 2nd at Ripley. The rack has been made bigger to cary tent and sleeping bag etc(topbox removed).

Hi Dave,

would you please post some shots of the YBR, with the panniers removed, so we ca view the framework?

Regards

Reggie AKA The Cameraman

Hi Palice15, how did you get on with the bike bins on the ybr? I'm considering these for my derby Terra and thought they were more in keeping with the size on bike, I'm not worried about removing them so will probably make up a rack to suit.... Any info would be helpful, cheers :thumbup1:
Tdmalcolm

I get on with the 'bikebins' fine, I used them for the Horizons meet at Ripley, and because of thier size you have to really think of what to pack! I would recommend then for any smallish motorcycle, just keep an eye on the pins that keep the hinges together does work its way out.

Hi palace, Thanks for that, I think I'll be getting a pair to install on me Terra....I'll post some pic's when done:thumbup1: cheers, TDMalcolm

Hi
I have just removed the left hand pannier for some photos, and after this post I am off to see Palace!!

Nice one there.... have been eyeing the Bikebins as well for use on the Terra's and the rack designs that we have been busy with would sort out the frame shortage!

hiya, I know this is an old thread but it helped me in getting a set of bike bins sorted out for my bike, a YBR custom 125.

I'd looked into panniers for my bike - non-existent or to large and unweildy/unsafe & wanted something big enough / strong enough without being overkill for my needs.

I already owned a pair of bikebins from my bicycle touring so knew that although the top flick over catches were good enough to keep the bin on the bike rack, the sideways bottom bit that goes around your rack post wouldnt be good enough and study enough for a motorbike. I tinkered around with various ideas involving bungees etc till I found klickfix (also called Rixen Kaul) had just started making moto parts - I sourced a set from here: https://www.gundgshop.de/english/mountings/ - the ones which are lockable were the ones suited for me, they even do little 'universal' racks that can be used if your thinking about doing this yourself, but I had already had an excellent set of racks fabbed up and custom made for me by a mate. I had to take all the fittings off the back of the bikebins and redrill 3/4 holes in them and a larger hole to fit the lock part through into the inside of the bikebin, I used the plastic epoxy stuff you can get quite cheap off EBAY, DIY stores etc, to fill in the holes and make watertight around the inside edge of the lock part going inside the bin etc, its by no means neat but does the job well. I have wrapped some heatproof wrap stuff around the bottom of one bikebin, over the exhaust side of the bike, but tbh its overkill, as the exhaust never gets that hot anyway and the clearance is quite high on my bike as the exhaust is low-slung compared to standard YBR's! In regards to keeping the bins in one place on my rack, you get little clamp thingys with the moto sets when you buy, but these where too small for my rack bar thickness so I just used small hose clamps and wrapped plumber rubber amalgam tape around them a few times to take pointy edges off and keep waterproofed. Works a treat and solid.
Best bit is the profile of the bins is just a bit less than my bars so I know if I can fit my front end thru whatever gap I'm tryna get thru then my back end is ok also. The locks on my bikebins [older versions had locks built in, they now just have a gap bit you can put your own lock thru which is better] are flimsy but as a deterrent there ok, but yeah a determined thief would have no trouble getting into them. The locks onto the racks are great again as a deterrent but yeah again wouldn't take much to snap them off the bars if a person really wanted to nick 'em. I rarely leave my bike unattended in this way so not an issue for me. Thats pretty much it. Thanks to the original post person and the guy who posted photos of his bike with bike bins on them, for aiding me move towards a solution for this.

I got my bikebins for like £20 [b-stock was selling them on EBAY] each years ago, there roughly about £40 each when you buy a pair atm. 59euros for the Klickfix MOTO fittings, universal rack If you want it - 89euros, I got my racks made for about £50 by a mate who makes bespoke gates. Misc bits - glue/tape etc say around £10/15 at most. Job done.

Image shows bikebins on my bike - no image of other exhaust side atm or close up of the racks I got made but if anyone is interested I can post those pics up for you.