I had the BMW ones originally as they looked neat and the expanding idea seemed good.,
In use they had a number of problems:
- When parked between other bikes the side opening was inaccessible
- Could not easily use the full capacity without liner bags as everything fell out when opening (unless they were removed from the bike first).
- The expansion mechanism meant they had poor capacity compared with external dimensions.
- Flexed like crazy when fully loaded and expanded as only fixed by plastic mounting plate on top edge and halfway down front.
- The left one is about as useful as my car glove box and if the liner is used a lot of the small capacity is lost anyway (the liner does not fit around the exhaust cut-out)
Gave up after first tour and bought Touratech Zegas. OK they seem expensive for what looks like a couple of aluminium boxes (my son-in-laws comment was they looked like they were made in Russia) but they work.,
- The mounting system is bomb proof, rigid and very well engineered (buy grey for a standard GS and it matches the bike well)
- The top opening makes them easy to use and nothing drops out when opened.
- The loose lids (no hinges) seemed a failing but its a plus as I can leave the lid off and carry items that will not go completely inside. It also makes it easy to use the tops as racks (anchor points are standard) as it is still easy to get inside when kit is lashed to the lid.
- Great capacity and its all useable.
- Easy to bolt bottle holders (for water, stove fuel, etc.) to the outside.
- If you want liners they are a fraction of the price of BMW ones.
Downside
- The bare aluminium finish scraches easily (I fitted a couple of rubber strips (sold as bumper/fender protectors)to the lids so lashed on luggage would not scratch) and they loose their shine quickly.
Overall I think its worth spending the cash on kit that works and has been well tested on many expeditions.
Final plus. When I dropped the bike the only damage to the pannier was a small and hard to see ding on a bottom corner - but they stopped any expensive bits of the bike hitting the deck so you get a set of rear crash bars for free!!
