plastic VS steel Panniers (for example: afrika twin)
 

Hi,

In the process of buying a bike, i see different bikes that already have panniers. But, they are plastic / soft panniers with an unique click-in system.

I'm wondering if thats good anyway, because if you fall, they can easily brake. you can't repair plastic. you can repair steel if you find someone who can weld, and that is much easier.


But i'm wondering where I can find steel racks and panniers, and how much they cost.
I have on site: Welcome to aluminium-panniers.co.uk

for about 200€ for the panniers and 100€ for a rack.
But I don't even know if that fits.


so, where can I find racks that fits for for example an Honda Afrika Twin or Transalp? (these are the bikes I am looking for)
sites, examples, prices, etc...


thanks!

Might help if you say where in the world you want this stuff?

Top right hand corner has an add for 'Overland Solutions' - they are in the UK... for example.

Metal panniers are usually aluminum rather than steel .. that means a very specific wielder. Can be hard to find.

There are plastic panniers .. and some very tough plastic cases - see the 'Pelican Cases' .. they are 6 mm thick and take motorcycle crashes fairly well .. probably better than the aluminum panniers.

Belgium.

yeah, i ment aluminium.
Its not that you'll have to weld the cases itself, but it woud be rather the fixing that will be broken i guess. when you have bars and bolts etc it's easier to repair/fix it again.

The bikes that want to buy have a standard givi-rack for honda's. its plastic and the panniers are fixed to it with a unique one-piece mecanism. if that's broken, it seems to be lost.
take a look at this bike Honda africa twin - Te koop in Eghezée Upigny | 2dehands.be
he's fitted with such panniers.
seems to me that, one touch-down (and sure I will do some), and your panniers or the fixings are broken...

Yes that is correct. If you think it will be an issue for you go with soft luggage.

I don't know if its an issue for me.
I didn't ride a lot with panniers, an never felt down with them.

So I'm wondering if this is a critical item of your equipment or not...

steal 100 procent shore i had 1 pair off steal paniers mad and had a crasch in nepal att 90 kilimeters all i had to do whas geat a hammer and bang them aout dam strong plastic sucks 1 crasch and the are gone

Peli cases are great - the 1550 are a good size and beat any alloy case. Peli 1550 on TT racks are very hard to beat. I'll never buy alloy again - one fall and let the water in.

one crash and alloy are scrap - peli are much tougher.

H&B also offers plastic panniers. They are less expensive and waterdust proof.

Hepco & Becker plastic panniers
 

imjayp8 do you know the H&B model or have a link to them? They sound interesting.

Not sure how much you've looked into luggage in general, but you may want to reconsider hard luggage before you put the coin in. I know you see a lot of that stuff around Europe and depending on your use and needs it may well suit you. But they limit you really quickly by which time you will look for alternatives, which often results in abandonment of hard luggage.

On topic though, both are similar in terms of repair. Sheet metal and rivets or bolts will fix most things. Plastic will likely hold it's shape, ali won't. Depending on the impact ali won't ever be back in the shape you need to hang it back on and it'll just piss you off for the duration that you continue after. These things are all mitigated with soft luggage though.

It's very likely to be the H&B Gobi panniers which are double skinned - the gap in between can hold a few litres of fluid, such as spare water.
H&B used to sell an optional tap attachment also.

They used to be supplied as standard fitting on the KTM 990 adv model, then they became an optional accessory toward the end of life of that model and nowadays I don't see them fitted at all on the bigger engined KTMs.

Any kind of search should bring up the information.

I had these Hepco&Beckers fitted on my KTM military:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nadjen...57607395787304

These are fitted on the KTM's used by the german army, so I guess they have been somewhat tried and tested.

On the picture above, one of the panniers came off, but nothing broke. Not sure how often you can do that before something breaks, but the mounting systems looks as if its designed to allow the cases to come off without damaging the mounting system. I liked those cases. They don't have sharp angles which hurt much more when your leg gets in contact with the case (which can happen when you come off, or when you're struggling with the terrain).

Rob

Holan Alu gets a plug
 

The Earth Roamer guys really rate the Holan Nomada alu cases. You can read what they say on their blog - Earth-Roamers : Holan Nomada panniers

The Holan weibsite

My new touring screen's just been dropped off so gotta go....

I have the same panniers (and bike) as Robbert, and fully agree. Also see my comments in this thread:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-luggage-81367

I had plastic GIVI's on my Africa Twins. They're actually stronger than aluminium cases.

I dropped my Africa Twins loads of times with the plastic luggage on. They flex and give instead of breaking. They NEVER broke. And you can fix plastic if you have to.. It's easier to find someone who can plastic weld (any car body shop) than a good aluminium welder. You can even do it yourself with coat hangers and a soldering iron. Or just patch cracks and holes with strong glue or rivit a patch on.

I've also had aluminium boxes on some bikes. They bend and distort and stay bent and distorted. They're great until they're bent and then the lids won't close, they won't go onto their racks properly etc.

The only benefit of aluminum boxes is that they good to sit on.

As for security, In work i've had to break into many a luggage box with lost keys. Aluminium boxes are easy to pry open. Give me a tyre lever or a big screw driver and I'll get inside any commercially available aluminium box in under 30 seconds. The locks on them are crap and just pop off. And the rigid body makes it so much easier as it's great levering base. (This has nothng to do with me being a scouser either lol)

Try getting into a GIVI with a lost key. You have to almost smash the thing to pieces. They bend, twist and contort and almost refuse to break.


Pelican cases are even better.....


I use these... They are almost indestructable. Only downside is that they're not waterproof.

https://www.silvermans.co.uk/tabid/6...0/Default.aspx

Or with (plastic) Peli cases which simply do not break or bend, not even upon the worst crash. Unfortunately I know from experience!

I have just made luggage racks and pannier frames for the throw over bags for my Triumph 900 Thunderbird.

All EN316 stainless steel. and cheaper than buying chrome plated mild steel tube.

Nice! Stainless steel is a good choice for luggage racks and crash guards. It's TOUGH, and and scrapes and scratches can just be buffed out. Much better than painted/powder-coated mild steel.
Only downside for DIYers is it's difficult to work (cutting, drilling, filing, bending) and needs special welding material.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why is it that most of the manufacturers' designs for luggage (plastic) just look so damn awful? When you look at what Suzuki and Kawasaki offer as luggage for their so-called adventure bikes, it makes me cringe. Why don't they make them like H&B? Cool-looking!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk