► Hard luggage--panniers and topboxes

[everywherevirtually]

I put my cheap tools in there. A puncture repair kit, a cheap £9 head torch from Argos, a few cable ties, some tape, velcro and the odd torx spanner.

I use the motion pro tool from Adventure Spec and to be honest with the addition of a few male and female torx heads it will do pretty much everything. It is the ultimate in weight and bulk reduction
Of course that little number is expensive enough to live with me and not in the tool tube. Same goes for the leatherman.

 

[amado]

The part numbers on my previous parts # posting are for the original, BMW proprietary F800GS alloy panniers and its F800GS mounting hardware. And, yes - those part numbers are what you want ordered through regular BMW dealerships.

Both me and my dealer were astonished that the R1200GS ADV panniers didn't fit - but got it sorted out finally.

Many thanks, F650Dakar_Norway!!
Awesome pics, and awesome explanation!!!

Another question!

Like Holan panniers rack, does "your" rack allows the Top Vario Case from BMW? Looking at your pics, it seems like it is possible.

I would like to use the BMW F800GS Vario Top Case on a daily basis, and for more far trips, i would use the BMW F800GS Adv. Panniers.

Best Regards

Amado

 

[everywherevirtually]

So no one really seems to speak much about Givi cases (E41's in particular). Yes they're plastic/composite, so likely not as tough as alum panniers but... they seem to have a ton of storage space and the price can't be beat at 1/3 the cost of most other systems....
Is there some fatal flaw I'm failing to see? Perhaps far wider than Givi's pictures make apparent? Absolutely awful in holding up to a crash? Or just plain rubbish?

Personally I just don't like the look of them. Part of getting an 800GS, 1200 GS or any other adventure bike is buying into the sense of adventure. Unfortunately, for me they just say... 1980's, sports touring, courier, and a little too clean for my liking ( see photo below)

Plus the 800 has aggressive styling and these puppies kind of kill it for me. .

A friend of mine accidentally knocked his Vstrom 650 off it's stand the other day. He has E41's and I can tell you they don't look very pretty after a fall. bear in mind he was stationary and on smooth tarmac.

 

[ElGuero]

Touche. I don't mind the looks of them, but I do agree something alum would work better and be more attractive... From a cost perspective I wouldn't care if they got busted up and needed replacement, but I do s'pose that if mid trip they got busted to the point of not being able to carry them (or the gear in them) I would be hosed. Hmmmm.... back to looking at the BMW, MM, Jesse's I guess. Wish I could figure this out and stop having to burn brain cells about it...

 

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Another question!

Like Holan panniers rack, does "your" rack allows the Top Vario Case from BMW? Looking at your pics, it seems like it is possible.

I don't intend to find out if the Vario top case will fit.

Reason is simple:
I don't want a top case on my 800GS.
I prefer to use an Ortlieb luggage roll instead on that bike.
In addition to the excellent alloy 800GS panniers, of course.

I use the stock BMW top case on my stud-tyre winter bike only - the BMW F650 Dakar.
I own three bikes - including a '94 ST1100, the '04 650 Dakar, the '08 F800GS and let
each fulfill different touring purposes.

 

[BM_donator]

Can anyone tell me how to get at the wafer to release the locks on my previously keyed panniers so that I can re-key them to my ignition key. I have done several searches and come up with the instructions for the 1200 vario top box but can't see how to do it on my 800 panniers.
All assistance appreciated.

See post #113 here
It's the first instruction you need.

 

[BM_donator]

See what you mean.
From memory, remove the screws circled in white and lift out the black panel. You should then be able to get to the locks.

(Beware the wafers springing out when you remove the locks!!!)

 

[BM_donator]

BM_donator, where did you get those inner bags?

Thanks

FleaBay here.

 

[Emmbeedee]

There is a relatively easy way to convert your lock cylinders to the ignition key. It is less secure, but allows the user to use the keys that came with the locks, or the ignition key.

With the lock cylinder removed, remove the lock key (careful not to lose any of the wafers), and insert the ignition key. You will see that the wafers do not all line up flush. Simply take the cylinder to a grinder or file away the protruding wafers (carefully!) until they are flush with the cylinder barrel. File or trim away any swarf so that everything operates smoothly, and install the cylinders. The bags can now be opened with the original lock keys or the ignition key.

It should be apparent that this is not the elegant or factory recommended option, but has served me well with many BMW cases. YMMV

Thanks for this! My wife's used F658 came with a complete set of Varios with their own keys, but she let me put the side boxes on my F800GS so it was getting kind of messy, keeping track of the keys.

I just used these instructions to set the top box so her ignition key would open it, and my ignition key would open the side boxes on my bike, and if we each carry one of the original Vario keys, we can open the other's case for the rare time we might need to.

It was really easy to do; I put some masking tape on the cylinder when grinding it so very little got into the other tabs which I wasn't touching, and my Dremel trimmed the tabs nicely.

 

[Micky]

I'm glad I waited ... worth every penny

 

[Emmbeedee]

See what you mean.
From memory, remove the screws circled in white and lift out the black panel. You should then be able to get to the locks.

(Beware the wafers springing out when you remove the locks!!!)

Just to elaborate a little, once the three screws are out you remove the whole lock mechanism plate they hold in:

Then remove the orange plastic part at the bottom of the lock cylinder so you can see the little plate which holds the cylinder in place.

With a really small screwdriver, like one you might use to tighten eyeglass screws, push the little silver plate towards the cylinder while simultaneously turning the key in the cylinder, and with your third hand push the cylinder out from below.

Once the cylinder is free, remove the key and put in the one which you want to match the cylinder to and note which tabs project out of the cylinder.

These will need to be ground down so they don't prevent you from inserting the key when it's put back into the Vario box.

Make sure you don't grind off the bottom / right tab in the picture - it's the mechanism which holds the cylinder in place one it's installed in the Vario box.

This cylinder is now ready to re-install in the Vario box.

Only takes about 15 minutes to do. I used a Dremel rotary grinder.

 

[blackie]

Can anyone help some of us out?

we need to see some inside pictures of the BMW adventure series panniers and the TT special pannier system. to my knowledge the TT special system is pretty much the same as the BMW series but dont have as refined edges etc

Has anyone got picture of the cut outs??

can you lock the TT cases to the frames?
thanks

Someone had posted the inside pics of the cases on a forum somewhere before, but for the life of me, I can't seem to find the post at the moment....but to describe it, the left case has a cut out for the exhaust horizontally running the length of the case. The right case has a small vertical cut out for the case to clear the tank. It seems you can still fit a fullface helmet in the bmw adventure cases.
The TT cases can only be unbolted from the frames from inside the cases, so in a way yes its lockable.

 

[blackie]

Found it! It was in a thread I started and I forgot it was there.....
Page 8, post # 195 onwards.....

http://f800riders.org/forum/showthread.php?p=207679#post207679

 

[mikec]

New pics of Panniers and top box

Put it on today

 

[Fitzdangle]

GSA 1200 top box on a GS 800 any one ?

Can anyone tell me if the aluminium top box off the GSA 1200 will fit on the GS 800 ?

 

[freeloader]

I'm sure it could be made to fit. I don't know how the box fits to the 1200GSA, but I kept the Vario topbox from my 1200GS and now use it on my 800; I know it uses completely different fittings, but if someone gave me one then I could make it fit.

And I suspect most folk could as well...

 

[jessehere]

My dealer said it would but he did not put it on. I think it looks better then the black one

 

[gas boy]

Can anyone tell me if the aluminium top box off the GSA 1200 will fit on the GS 800 ?

Pidcock BMW in Nottingham had a GS 800 with a full set of BMW Ally panniers inc Top Box - give them a call

 

[freeloader]

Pidcock BMW in Nottingham had a GS 800 with a full set of BMW Ally panniers inc Top Box - give them a call

I'd suspect a BMW dealer would fit the F800GS luggage though, rather than that off the 1200...

...but having said that, it's possible that the fittings could be the same - I believe the vario top boxes are interchangeable between the 800 and the 1200, so the ally top boxes might also be interchangeable. Wouldn't bank on it though.

 

[mikec]

Just diff kit for fixing the rack