Feck....

[Stickleback]

Decided to go out for a ride today, not too far, just to south Lakes (about 70 miles.)

ARSE! When I got there found the left hand pannier missing (if that's not an oxymoron), although it was there when I set off.

SO slow ride back looking at roadside all the time, but no luck.

If any Tossers see a Vario case on the A65 between Skiton and top of the M6 maybe they could let me know.

Alernatives now - do I buy a new left pannier, do I buy a second-hand left pannier (anyone got one??) or do I sell the right hand pannier and buy some Metal Mule type?

And I got cold and wet

 

[mike wright]

Thats bad news!..Hopefully someone who finds it may hand it in to your local police as its useless to anyone else without a 1200.... before anyone says no chance I lost my wallet with my holiday cash in it and that was handed in cash and all!..........

 

[Hexme]

Silly question but can they become detatched easily?

 

[Clive]

Silly question but can they become detatched easily?

I've found that an 1150Adv moving at around 15mph can easily detach them

 

[Stickleback]

Silly question but can they become detatched easily?

Apparently!

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Pannier mounting

If your panniers are correctly mounted thay will feel very solid, be a bit stiff to get on or off, and are unlikely to give any cause for concern.....so long as the 'mushroom' adjusters are firmly locked into place. (I have heard that some use locktite for this purpose.) If there is any floppiness in the pannier when attached the locknut must be slackened and the mushroom adjusted to eliminate this. I have seen somewhere a measurement for starting if everything is completely out of adjustment but if you examine the fitiing carefully, see what you are actually doing when you adjust the mushroom and see and feel that is is right - then tighten the locknut. The pannier will require a firm push to get on and to get off. Do not force the red levers which are a bity fragile.

 

[Blackal]

I've found that an 1150Adv moving at around 15mph can easily detach them

Get yourself a 1200Adv - they have a higher top speed

Al

 

[Bazza]

here you go...... what luck

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-r-1200-GS...ryZ30240QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Stickleback]

Bazza - you're a gent

 

[Eunuch]

I have heard that some use locktite for this purpose

Spot on. I did mine the moment I got the panniers. I forget the height these mushrooms are supposed to be, but once you adjust the nut to get that and the panniers fit snugly locktite the bugger down - you're not going to have any need to adjust it again.

 

[redcastle]

I bet the mushroom Brian is talking about is missing.
cost about £20 from your dealer
If its not there get one and follow Brians instructions.

I had the same but found the pannier with a laptop in it luckily I didnt have the small pannier on so used the mushroom from that one to get going again.

pannier and laptop were fine

 

[Backmarker]

Jeepers. That sounds like a lot of effort to get your panniers to work properly.
Still, my Al Jesse's wouldn't go back on this morning. On closer inspection turns out that the racks have rusted to hell, the panniers are bashed to oblivion, and the catches had seized solid. Trying to prise the handle open caused bits of the coating to flake off.
6 years, 90k, I expected better. Took 4 squirts of wd40 to sort things out.

 

[Stickleback]

Thanks for all your useful feedback guys on mushrooms and so on.

Still not decided whether to get another left hand Vario case or go for something more permanently fixed (but can still be unfixed fairly easily when arrived at camp site etc)...

Have of course given up on ever finding the lost pannier - but at least it was empty, unlike right hand side one which had about £200 of stuff in it. Would have been well p*ssed off had that fallen off!

BTW day then got worse, car had a suspension failure and had to be recovered by tow truck on Sunday. S'funny, but don't remember calling a bear Mohammed or anything...

 

[birdseye]

spent my time at the NEC looking at panniers for my ktm990 including all the metal mule / zega / H&B ally types. All of them are crude and expensive - found myself wishing that my KTM had the vario panniers I liked on the 1200GS I had.

only a personal opinion, but unless you are going to frequently drop the bike on a long distance trip, then I would always go for the vario. and even if you were doing your own "long way round", I would fight shy of most ally boxes I saw which are made in such a way that they would badly distort in a drop and never close properly again.

go for the welded ones with rounded corners and with press formed lids and bottoms. they will always be more robust than the sharp edged rivetted ones that are simply folded from flat sheet.

 

[Nate]

Hi had the same problem... Have a look here

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73283