Im travelling with mules at the moment...

I recently had a 70mph crash and my left mule, although dented looking a bit rough, is still in one piece and im still travelling.

It took the full forc of the crash, was ripped off and thrown down the road.

Its soo tough and thick that I cant get it square again without the use of a workshop. The brilliant guys at MM in the UK had already sorted me out with the new fixings and rivits... I can still close it and travel with it too !!

Because the mules are rivetted, you can take them apart, knock them flat and re-rivet them !!

The Touratech Zegas would of been abliterated and btw, the TT boxes are thin enough to open with a tin opener !!

pics of my mules here !! before and after lol Touring Ted » Crash near Viedma

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hi Guys
I am looking to fit panniers as well and have been looking at these HATTECH has any one had any experience with these Hattech panniers. they look solid and spacious and are 2mm thick the same as the mule
cheers

Guy's I am in the process of kitting out my bike in the US & was wondering what the feedback on Jesse panniers was? I will be in Phoenix soon & as they are a local firm some friends & ofcourse a local dealer have recommeded them & a bike that I am looking at buying is also fitted with them.

Have seen Ted's snaps & would go for MM just for the added protection! I might need it!

Cheers Mojo

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

Im using mules on my XT600E in South America at the moment and I have given them a PROPER test involving high and low speed crashes and small drops and spills on a regular basis

Now I love the mules. They are thick, strong with decent locks and great workmanship...The fitting system is fast and strong too.

BUT....I have discovered a couple of negatives due to some small drops and the odd crash.. This may not be a problem for the fancy BMW´s outside the pub, but when overlanding, its a big deal...

The mules fitting system is ingenious and quick but also very intricate and complicated when things go wrong. When you crash or drop the bike, the fittings rip out of the box, break easily and twist etc. This makes it VERY hard to get them straight again and difficult to align the fittings to the frame in order to secure the box. The way the box is locked to the frame requires the whole system to be operating perfectly without dints and bends... ratchet straps ARE required if you do any damage to the locking system. (although true with many systems in fairness)

I also find the boxes TOO strong. As in impossible to straighten after a crash. They are soo thick and well made that I cant get mine straight again after a small spill. I have been literally jumping and boucing on them to get them straight will no luck..

The possitive side is that they are rivitted so that i can drill all the riveits out, knock the panels straight individually and then rivet them back together. Time consuming and specialst tools required but at least doable. A welded system would be more hassel.

Im by no means slagging them off, I just like to offer a fair perspective relavent to my experiences.

To summerise... The boxes are fantastic but the fitting mechanism needs to be more robust.

Metal mule customer service is by far the best though. They will help you whereever they can.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

In my light use so far, the TT's have seemed fairly capable, I particularly like the mounting systems' simplicity. My bike hasn't been droppped (yet) though, so who knows how well they'll stand up to that. If I take them RTW, I'll be able to answer that question before we reach Calais, so I'll get back to you on that one!

BUT - one thing really grips my s**t. They are an absolute pain to lug around when full, because there is no central handle anywhere, the only ways to carry them are by the bottom in a 'baby carry' or by the bungee points. Obviously neither is very easy, a central handle would make things a lot easier. I believe MMs have them.

I'm still not one hundred percent convinced I'll take the TTs, that's why I'm testing them around the UK, before I get half a continent away, then find out I don't like them!

Happy Riding

Joel

I'd recommend Andy Strapz soft panniers. Worked well for me, no welding required after a tumble and I think a lot of the people I travelled with who had hard luggage would go with them next time.

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Chris
www.motocrossafrica.co.uk

Hey,

I followed this thread quite a wile because I want to buy new panniers. My main question of choice is, like Toneski (Tony): plastic vs alu. Most contributions to this thread are about different manufacturers of alu panniers but not about alu vs plastic. Well, I had experiences with the "plastic" panniers of Hepco&Becker, the "junior" set. I used them on my BMW F650 in 2001 for 8 month traveling in the Middle East and in 2004/2005 for 18 month traveling around the world. I was very satisfied with these panniers. They are light in weight, have a side lid in stead of a top lid, are easy to mount and strong. Their best feature however is the slightly curfed lid. Because of this, the pannier doesn't dig in the surface in case of accident. It is the digging in that causes most of the damage. I just have one point of critic. Once I dropped the bike and a sharp stone just hit the edge of the lid of one of the panniers. Just on that spot the pannier leaked a little bit and I cann't repair this damage. With this experience I don't know why I should opt for alu panniers, keeping in mind all the stories about deformed or torn apart alu panniers in this thread. Anyone who has an argument alu panniers above "plastic" panniers? Like to hear it!

Good travels, Mart

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Voorbij de horizon / beyond the horizon: www.wonderfultravels.nl

Ahem, Mountain Main, Theprinceofmince has, sniff sniff, Jesse luggage panniers. As per everyone elses comments, they are great. They are about handlebar width, solid and easy(ish) to get on and off. I slid 20 or so metres along the (admittedly greasy) Jordanian highway and they suffered nothing but a scratch. Haven't found a fault yet, and in Europe, our supplier Kiwibob (Germany) provided us with great customer service.

On the Zega panniers, they are probably great for collecting the groceries, but if you expect your bike to fall over at some stage in its life, they just don't stack up. Moto Maiden's Zega panniers are closer to oblong than rectanguar, and are now sporting a second layer of auminium struts and supports - almost a second skin. We are thinking about balsa wood for the next trip.

Mountain Man's 2 suitcase system would - in addition to the above benefits - look fantastic in high-powered business meetings. Something to think about.

cheery o
Gareth and Helen

but the panniers from KLr650.com can't be beat for the price. I have them on an old DR that has taken its share of spills over the last year and 20k miles and they have held up better than any others I have seen.

Why it pains me? They are clear knock offs of happy trails boxes but for $293. delivered they can't be beat.

I didn't use and specific mount, just bolted them to my frames. I made the rack from square tube for a cost of about $36 and a couple days of welding. Since this was my first ever intro to welding I would imagine someone that knew what they were doing could bang out a similar project in a matter of hours.

The whole set up is now well tested and for a total of $330 US ya just can't touch it---

My 5 cents worth is my (second hand) MM's are really well built, far sturdier than TT's. Not as "nice" though but who cares? I bought them off a guy in Brisbane who had taken 2 dirt bikes with them from UK across Russia to China. He swore by them. I'm using the original BMW mounts which are OK so far (on my RTW to the supermarket). I scrounged a new set of decals off MM who responded immediately by air mail. Says something.

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Tim ('91 R100GSPD)

The only baggage you carry should be in the panniers