Vario Rant.

[alp]

Is anyone else on here irritated by how much usable space is taken up in Vario panniers by the internal mechanism as well as their weight?
When empty they are heavy enough so I wouldn't want to haul them filled with gear from the bike up to the hotel rooms, so we use internal fitted bags to carry our gear off the bike and leave the Varios on the bike don't we? Well yes, but the bags have to clear all that internal mechanism so are a heck of a lot smaller than the outside dimensions of the Varios would suggest. Then there's the Vario on the silencer side, how small is the usable volume of that?
I hear you say, expand them, that's want they're designed for. Well yes, if you can accept being so wide as to cause problems when filtering.
I was going to leave them in the garage for my next trip but Givi are still on the beach and won't be sending out the aluminium adaptor plates for the Monokey top box resting in my garage until I'm in deep darkest Europe.
I've reduced the stuff I was going to take on my trip to avoid expanding the blighters. I'd better not try to bring back more than I start with.
Rant over....carry on chaps!

 

[Bryn]

It's not just the vario's... the abominations from Triumph look huge , weigh a ton and hold very little

 

[spalding12]

here is your solution:
buy THESE instead
worth your money

i have some for every bmw case i've ever owned
they fill up the space perfectly, allowing you to use EVERY LAST BIT OF SPACE:

http://kathysjourneydesigns.com/pro...lebag-liners-for-BMW-R1200GS-Vario-cases.html

 

[Paul S]

Did you not look at the panniers before you bought them

Crap rant by the way

 

[spalding12]

BMW's vario pannier cases are the most poor-designed farkle for the GS.
they "left over" space they leave is nothing short of embarrassing, quite frankly

 

[iand46]

You can still filter with wide boxes, just need to take more care.

 

[Nutty]

Do what I do, and don't pack anything fragile in them, then jump up and down on them in the hotel car park until they fit! Or don't take so much stuff.

I agree though, they don't leave much room to pack much in.

 

[patzx12]

The Varios are brilliant, the best bike luggage available. I wouldn't have anything else i even had the on my 2 GSAs

 

[DrAlf]

Agree - excellent piece of kit and very well designed. Leave all your biking stuff in one pannier on the bike and carry the other one up to your room. Sorted. If you can't carry a single pannier it's time to get down to the gym

 

[dave hendy]

Use the BMW inner bags they are a great design although a bit expensive Luckily we are using the ones we bought in 2005 for the previous model so have got our money's woth

You can get loads into the bags and they are much easier to use than a lot of other bikes which are very strange shapes and not easy to pack

So all in all I like the panniers

 

[spalding12]

Use the BMW inner bags they are a great design although a bit expensive Luckily we are using the ones we bought in 2005 for the previous model so have got our money's woth

You can get loads into the bags and they are much easier to use than a lot of other bikes which are very strange shapes and not easy to pack

So all in all I like the panniers

they are a HORRIBLE design because they use only 75% of the available space
well-constructed..... STUPIDLY SIZED

 

[MrB-239]

here is your solution:
buy THESE instead
worth your money

i have some for every bmw case i've ever owned
they fill up the space perfectly, allowing you to use EVERY LAST BIT OF SPACE:

http://kathysjourneydesigns.com/pro...lebag-liners-for-BMW-R1200GS-Vario-cases.html

I like the idea of these spalding. The trouble is their web site says they don't ship to the UK

Where did you get yours from?

 

[dave hendy]

they are a HORRIBLE design because they use only 75% of the available space
well-constructed..... STUPIDLY SIZED

Each to there own there are much worse pannier designs out there. Triumphs are s#!t

 

[Mr K]

Are the newer ones heavier then?

 

[Humbug]

here is your solution:
buy THESE instead
worth your money

i have some for every bmw case i've ever owned
they fill up the space perfectly, allowing you to use EVERY LAST BIT OF SPACE:

http://kathysjourneydesigns.com/pro...lebag-liners-for-BMW-R1200GS-Vario-cases.html

They still don't fit all the available space. They're no better than the BMW ones IMO. There's an Italian firm that makes inner bags to fit ALL the pannier but I can't remember their name.

Ah, just remembered.

HERE you go.

 

[spalding12]

They still don't fit all the available space. They're no better than the BMW ones IMO. There's an Italian firm that makes inner bags to fit ALL the pannier but I can't remember their name.

Ah, just remembered.

HERE you go.

those are awesome
thanks for the link
very nice stuff, indeed

 

[DING-DONG]

You can still filter with wide boxes, just need to take more care.

Yep there deffo heavy and carrying them thro hotels especially if your on top floor is a pi55 take, but once i get to my destination i take em off so i can play, i pack everything in plastic bags so get the full space and use the smaller box for overnight stops. Tbh if you don't expand them, there pointless.

Filtering you need to be aware and think ahead, m25,QE2 bridge,paris, rush hr i have no issues ducking and diving, my mate says i looks impressive.

 

[GSMartin]

Have you put it on the scales? The top case for my K1200GT weighed 20pounds empty. With SWMBO stuff in it, nearly a ton.

 

[paul08]

yes, they are bloody heavy to lug into a hotel or b&b. Which is why, after my first trip, I invested in inner bags from ManeEvent.

Other than weight, my only issue with them is that, when stuffing stuff in tight, it is easy to get material caught in between the lid and main case, which prevents you latching them up

 

[Yonkyo]

The Varios are brilliant, the best bike luggage available. I wouldn't have anything else i even had the on my 2 GSAs

A big +1

I've had the same set of original Vario's from my 04 GS, which now adorn my GSA.

They have served me faultlessly for 9 yrs and 4 bikes, and i'm still surprised how much stuff i can stuff in them.

£80 : shopping... easy...