I have the givi trekker outback set (58L top box + large and small panniers)
The 58L top box is great for low(er) speed city riding and filtering. I can fit my helmet, boots, jacket, trousers in there if needed, though it can be a bit of a squeeze. At High speed (over 80) I find it can lighten the steering a little bit but it isn’t a big problem. With a bag in the pillion seat, or a pillion, this problem goes away. I use it for commuting with a 17” laptop, lunch and a change of clothes
If the 58L top box and the panniers are fitted at the same time the pannier lids are partially blocked and don’t open easily. I rarely use panniers and top box at the same time.
The panniers are great; broadly similar real world capacity to the top box and I have the bag for the smaller one for clothes etc which makes it all completely waterproof. No bike handling issues but with the panniers only I get 3-4 mpg less over a motorway trip VS just the top box on its own. My go to setup for touring or longer trips is these + a tank bag.
I’ve crashed twice with the top box only; both times the plastic mount plate cracked and I had to ratchet strap the top box onto the pillion seat sideways to get home. This was a bit of a pain but at least it was cheap to replace the top plate. There is a metal mounting plate which might have survived better, but this might have then damaged the frame somewhere instead of the plastic plate being the point of failure. These were roughly 20mph crashes in town, once I slid out from under the bike in the crash, the other time my leg was trapped under the bike and it had to be lifted off.
Crashing with the panniers was a better experience. The engine bars and panniers create such a big leg gap that none of the bike was on me and I could get out from underneath unscratched. It was a 30ish mph crash sliding down a very wet french road, the panniers were a little scratched on one corner but otherwise absolutely fine.
The metal these are made from (stainless steel?) doesn’t like road salt and all my boxes have a somewhat corroded finish after a couple of winters. The locks, clamps and clips all need a squirt of WD40 every month or so or they start to gum up, especially after wet rides or being parked outside of a day or two.
For about £1200 the full set is a big investment, but worth it in my opinion. I went for these over the BMW adventure cases as I can keep them when I change bikes or potentially change brands of bikes. I had an air cooled Gs when I bought into these, they’re now on my liquid cooled GS. Definitely get the lock set when you buy so they all share the same key.
Hope that helps
