Vario BMW liners

[Doofus]

Hi

I just got myself a set of the BMW liners for the vario luggage (it seemed to me to be too good a bargain to miss - on holiday in the USA and I got all three liners (left, right, top) for a charge to my credit card of £157.)

Anyway, I have a couple of questions that I wondered if someone could help with...

1) what's with the plastic buckle thing? I guess it's an extendible strap for "over the shoulder" use?

2) are they waterproof enough to be used outside of the vario boxes (e.g. strapped to seat)?

3) any other comments?

cheers
Darren

 

[Eastriding2002]

Hi

I just got myself a set of the BMW liners for the vario luggage (it seemed to me to be too good a bargain to miss - on holiday in the USA and I got all three liners (left, right, top) for a charge to my credit card of £157.)



3) any other comments?

cheers
Darren

Yes, as lovely as they look when carrying them into the Hotel, they take up too much room in the panniers, making the already too small panniers useless for more than a few days away. The LHS one inparticular is virtually useless.

I now use GIVI panniers, no use to you I know, but also pack my stuff in those small vacuum bags which makes you able to get much more in each case.

 

[SkyGod]

Hi Daz, you can always guarantee there is somone on this site to piss on your chips eh!

As for the positive comments above:
Ive used them for over a year mate and they are great. Not sure about using them outside the bike but they have kepy everything bone dry after many a downpour. And Ive always found them plenty big enough as you only pack what you can get in them.
Nice after a day in the saddle to just open the panniers then off you go, no stuffing stuff in bags and carrying it loose.

 

[Eastriding2002]

Hi Daz, you can always guarantee there is somone on this site to piss on your chips eh!

As for the positive comments above:
Ive used them for over a year mate and they are great. Not sure about using them outside the bike but they have kepy everything bone dry after many a downpour. And Ive always found them plenty big enough as you only pack what you can get in them.
Nice after a day in the saddle to just open the panniers then off you go, no stuffing stuff in bags and carrying it loose.

So because someone doesn't agree with you its not valid.

Now perhaps you could explain "only pack what you can get in them"?

IMHO they are an expensive option which actually serves no purpose, aside from restricting the capacity of the already smallish panniers. I fortunately got my set for £50 so not too bad a loss. Like I said previously, for a weekend away with the Mrs., they're just about adequate, any longer than that and they're useless, very nice looking and well made, but useless.

PS: Aren't the panniers detachable to take off the bike after a hard days ride?

 

[Doofus]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. Don't worry about my chips - I knew what to expect from the liners before I bought them as I had been thinking of geting some for a while and had done some research. This means I was already aware that some people thought the BMW liners overpriced and too small.

However, my BMW bike is a play thing, if I am going somewhere that needs a lot of luggage, my girlfriend will insist on the car, if I am going somewhere on my own, I will go on my Yamaha Fazer (it's faster, both in a straight line and for filterering). I also have to admit I am a classic "all the gear no idea" kind of guy (I can't be the only one on the site!) so my preference was for the BMW OEM ones. I guess I mainly wondered if the liner was waterproof enough to be used out of the topbox on the seat so that in the event I did need to load the BMW up, I could use the topbox and its liner separately.

cheers
Darren

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I think they are great too (also got mine cheap ).

After a long, wet, mucky day in the saddle the last thing I want to have to do is carry a wet and muddy pannier into the hotel - the bags are so much more convenient.

Yeah, they use up some room in the panniers but they (together with the excellent MWB tank bag) provided enough room for me and the lovely Amanda on a 20 day trip to Morroco this year (with space to spare to bring back small pressies).

Whether or not the bags are waterproof enough to use outside of the panniers Looks like you could be the first one to test the idea Darren (Or get some decent 'dry' bags from Ortielab (spelling?) or similar).

Andres

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I love mine, especially considering I only paid £10.00 for them (cheers NOG) What really used to piss me off is that whenever you opened a loaded pannier all the stuff would fall out which made me

But now I'm well happy

 

[piebaps]

I likes em too!

The placcy buckle thing does extend the straps so you can carry them as shoulder bags and they fit in the overhead locker of a plane so they have a practical application outside of motorcycling.

You can also buckle two bags together (kinda like saddle bags) and sling em over your shoulders so when you check into hotels etc your delicate flower of a Mrs doesn't strain herself by carrying her own luggage (lazy cow).

 

[thauma]

I must admit to having been a tad surprised that when you pay an arm and a leg for the panniers, that you don't get the bags for free.

The bags do look good, but I just couldn't justify shelling out that kind of cash. When I also had to put petrol in the bike (guess which got the priority)

In the end I found a set of 'boot bags' from my local outdoor store (Scats?) They're waterproof, have a carry handle and look OK, for a fraction of the price. Not as swish looking as the pukker bags, but they'll do me.

 

[robfin]

Starting at the more economical end of this thread, I too have found an alternative to the price of BM inners. I bought a pair of Ultimate Source (remember them?) inners from Motorworks, on offer £20 a pair when I had my 1150GS. I think they were origionally intended for Krausers, but they fitted ok. I have kept them and they nestle quite nicely inside the offside pannier and topbox (standard) or nearside pannier (expanded)... and I still have money for juice. Although I do not think I have managed to fill the tank to the brim yet.......but that is another thread!

robfin
(tall seat, high front, low back.......gap filled with Touratech tank bag flap and tank pad)

 

[teejay]

I have the full set but yet to try them having only bought the bike in July, had FJR Yam before and they were £60.00 for the pair as opposed to £60.00 each...................................






Good news is all three came FREE as part of the deal I did

Teejay

 

[Davy F]

Nice after a day in the saddle to just open the panniers then off you go, no stuffing stuff in bags and carrying it loose.

Likewise. Who wants to hump a heavy pair of panniers about at the end of a day ?

 

[Wapping]

Hi


2) are they waterproof enough to be used outside of the vario boxes (e.g. strapped to seat)?



cheers
Darren

In a word, maybe.

Simply put a the clothes, in a plasic bag, in the BuMW bags and strap them on your bike. If they do leak, your clothes will still be dry. If they don't leak, your clothes will be dry anyway.

Simple is always best.

 

[SALTY BALLS]

I love mine, especially considering I only paid £10.00 for them (cheers NOG) What really used to piss me off is that whenever you opened a loaded pannier all the stuff would fall out which made me

But now I'm well happy

They need softening up a bit first, try a bottle of red wine splashed on them and then cover liberally in cheap pizza. Works a treat

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm don't think for one minute you been forgiven you clumsy Tosser

 

[Wilbur3528]

Yes, they are waterproof...

Just returned from sunny Italy; 2200 miles in 8 days. Glorious sunshine and 25' plus. Returned to the UK but couldn't be a***d to unpack - and it rained! The bags are designed to be strapped to the pannier lids as well as dropping inside and my LHS was. Insides were as dry as a dead fish (That's a dead fish that's been left to dry on a hot sunny day, you understand). Zip 'em up, roll the tops over, and click 'em shut. Perfetto

 

[Bear]

As far as I can tell BMW panniers are waterproof. Yes, the inner bags limit the amount you can carry but Mrs Bear and I can pack enough for 2 weeks away in the panniers and top box. Whilst I often ask myself how I could get more in, putting the motorcycle on the centre stand reminds me just how much weight the luggage is holding. I'd rather have a Givi top box to hold two helmets but the BMW inner bags are ideal when we've ridden 300 miles in pouring rain and don't want to dump dirty panniers in a clean hotel room.

 

[Eastriding2002]

As far as I can tell BMW panniers are waterproof. Yes, the inner bags limit the amount you can carry but Mrs Bear and I can pack enough for 2 weeks away in the panniers and top box. ...........................
. I'd rather have a Givi top box to hold two helmets but the BMW inner bags are ideal when we've ridden 300 miles in pouring rain and don't want to dump dirty panniers in a clean hotel room.

Bear, How do you get enough gear for two weeks for two in them? I had sufficient room for 5 days in Scotland, the LHS is almost taken up with a pair of shoes in it!!

As for dirty panniers, who cares, I won't be cleaning the room!!

 

[Bear]

We don't camp which saves a huge volume of luggage. Even when we had the Tiger with 3 Givi boxes we took a mixture of clothes in modern synthetic fibres (Rohan for trendies, look around Millets in the real world) that dry out overnight after a wash in the shower and tatty old stuff thats thrown away after one wearing. The zips on the BMW inner bags should be used to shrink them when they are full to make pannier loading a little easier. The big problem for me is shoes as I'm a larger bear than average. One pair plus lightweight boots is about the limit. Has anybody tried removing the mechanism for altering the top box size?. The box is so small that every little would help.

 

[Eastriding2002]

Bear,

We don't camp either, but no way we have got anywhere near enough stuff in the Vario bags for our summer jaunt.

We used the vacuum bags to squeeze extra into the GIVI's and the Gelert bag I used, they made life a lot easier thats for sure.