Deleted account 240831001
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Those bloody panniers again 
For the last couple of days of my recent holiday the LH pannier release catch refused to function, the key turned to the left but the catch at the back of the pannier refused to move so the pannier wasn't coming off. I tried shock treatment by kicking it a few times, slammed the lid shut but nothing so it had to wait until I got home.
Searching the wonderful internet only gave one instant result from a guy with a 1290 SA who'd had a similar problem so he dismantled the pannier from inside and prised the box off. Armed with this information I put the bike on its centre stand, opened the lid and had a look with a torch.
There are a series of small Torx headed screws around the area where the mounting block is secured so I set about removing them. There's a key in the toolkit that fits but it's not ideal so I used a bit from a set I've got in the garage in a screwdriver body and they all come out fairly easily. That's the first part.
Next step is to prise the pannier of the mounting block which is done easily enough by pulling from the front edge of the pannier and wiggling things about by the lock. Once the pannier was off I could operate the latch and get the mounting block off the bike then find out why the mechanism had failed.
Easy. There's a small square block on the end of the key barrel that engages into an operating arm (it only fits one way and you really can't get it wrong) and in the end of the block there's a hole with a small screw in it that retains part of the mechanism. That screw had come loose after being battered about on broken road surfaces for a couple of thousand miles and there was the issue.
Put the screw back, position the operating arm and try it a few times then lightly grease everything and it's time to put things back together. I did this by fitting the rear side of the block into the pannier body then push it down to get the lock and arm in place. I then used a flat bladed screwdriver to open out the plastic side of the pannier a bit so the block dropped behind it on the forward side, replaced all the screws it's job done.
I wouldn't want to do the job in a field because of all the small screws but you could put it on a sheet of plastic and reduce the risk of losing parts. Having a better Torx driver made the job easier so if I'm going away on holiday I'll throw one into the extra tool kit I always take with me. I'll add some very basic photos later but it's not a difficult job and if you really have to get the pannier off and it's stuck you can do it without wrecking things
For the last couple of days of my recent holiday the LH pannier release catch refused to function, the key turned to the left but the catch at the back of the pannier refused to move so the pannier wasn't coming off. I tried shock treatment by kicking it a few times, slammed the lid shut but nothing so it had to wait until I got home.
Searching the wonderful internet only gave one instant result from a guy with a 1290 SA who'd had a similar problem so he dismantled the pannier from inside and prised the box off. Armed with this information I put the bike on its centre stand, opened the lid and had a look with a torch.
There are a series of small Torx headed screws around the area where the mounting block is secured so I set about removing them. There's a key in the toolkit that fits but it's not ideal so I used a bit from a set I've got in the garage in a screwdriver body and they all come out fairly easily. That's the first part.
Next step is to prise the pannier of the mounting block which is done easily enough by pulling from the front edge of the pannier and wiggling things about by the lock. Once the pannier was off I could operate the latch and get the mounting block off the bike then find out why the mechanism had failed.
Easy. There's a small square block on the end of the key barrel that engages into an operating arm (it only fits one way and you really can't get it wrong) and in the end of the block there's a hole with a small screw in it that retains part of the mechanism. That screw had come loose after being battered about on broken road surfaces for a couple of thousand miles and there was the issue.
Put the screw back, position the operating arm and try it a few times then lightly grease everything and it's time to put things back together. I did this by fitting the rear side of the block into the pannier body then push it down to get the lock and arm in place. I then used a flat bladed screwdriver to open out the plastic side of the pannier a bit so the block dropped behind it on the forward side, replaced all the screws it's job done.
I wouldn't want to do the job in a field because of all the small screws but you could put it on a sheet of plastic and reduce the risk of losing parts. Having a better Torx driver made the job easier so if I'm going away on holiday I'll throw one into the extra tool kit I always take with me. I'll add some very basic photos later but it's not a difficult job and if you really have to get the pannier off and it's stuck you can do it without wrecking things
