Advice on luggage required

lyjohn

Guest
After 300 miles of being lumbered with a rucksack on her back my better half has agreed that we do need some alternative form of carrying the essentials. So your suggestions/experience would be much appreciated. This is all part of my master plan to conquer Europe, the Americas' then the World, I also have a strange aversion to Topboxes ( must have something to do with a traumatic experience with a friends CX500 a fully loaded Rickman,knackered shocks, bald teflon tyres and wet roads.
Thanks
:D
 
As you haven't specified what bike they're for I'll make the assumption you have an 1150GS :D

You're options are the BMW standard panniers for which as you're going two-up you'll definately need the bigger lids, or

one of the aluminium options from Touratech, Hepco & Becker, our very own 'toy maker' Vern or Al Jessey boxes from the good old US of A. Unless you seek out some seconhand ones you're talking an outlay of no less than £500, with the Jesse's coming in at a cumbersome £800. If you opt for Touratech of H&B you'll definately need some sort of inner bags/liner as they both suffer from aluminium dust.

If you don't fancy a top box you'll struggleunless you go for a big tank bag (Touratech & Wunderlich do one with 'elephant ears' side bags) and even then a DryBag/Stuff Sac will be a must - unless you and Mrs Lyjohn travel light :D
 
Sorry, your assumption is right though it is for an 1150GS, I am not totally against a top box but i may need some therapy.:D
 
John & Lynn

I think that it all really depends on what you want to be doing with your luggage.

I have the full BMW set - complete with inner bags. When I tour, I usually use hotels, so it's a delight to simply lift the inner bags and walk into a hotel room. The BMW panniers are a snug fit on the bike (although the l/h item is a little small as it has a cut-out for the exhaust), pretty waterproof and are styled well with the bike. The top-box has acquired a slight reputation for unreliability - there have been some reports of them falling off, but BMW modified the rack mountings some time ago and I don't believe that this is a problem any longer. The panniers can be easily modified to lock with the ignition key - the top-box can't.

If I were spending all my time camping, I might have gone for the Touratech items (or similar). They are robust and volunimous, but, IMHO, are pig-ugly. More significantly, they are about a mile wide and make traffic filtering more difficult.

Greg
 
I opted for BM panniers as they fit the look of the bike nicely and are not too wide but I got a 52ltr Givi top box to give extra capacity. Handling does not suffer, even two up. Top box fitted with Givi brake lights which are very clear as the bikes standard light is somewhat obscured with a top box fitted. Rack also available to fit lid of top box to accommodate tents/sl bags etc.
If you need even more capacity, Givy do panniers at around 50ltr but like the aluminium cases, they stck out a fair bit and as they are the same shape as the top box, they look awful on the bike.
I don't work for Givi, honest but if you decide on this top box I might be able to get you a little discount on the RRP.
 
Greg

Touratech panniers are narrower than BMW ones, in the case of the special set, significantly so! Filtering is not a problem, as they are quite a bit narrower than the bars.

Mick
 
Squidbrain said:

Touratech panniers are narrower than BMW ones

Mick

Yeah, I think that I'd heard that before - it's just that they are so ugly they look bigger!


:D


Greg
 
On my Summer trip to Greece, which was a three week trip, I used BMW panniers from my old 850R and bought an Ortlieb bag and it worked a treat. I admit I was solo but had loads of room in the panniers and took some of Julies stuff for when we met up in Greece. I packed all my clothes and stuff I would need in the Ortlieb bag and just took that in to hotels/b&b's, leaving the panniers locked on my bike. Worked well for me.
 
Greg Masters said:


Mick

Yeah, I think that I'd heard that before - it's just that they are so ugly they look bigger!


:D


Greg
Come on Greg don't be bitter you don't mean ugly you mean purposeful - nah keep yer black plastic, hinge busting, akward filling boxes for the RT's, RS's & LT's of this world. A GS and aluminium boxes is peaches and cream, they belong together :D
 
Forgot to attach this pic:
 

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jud9e said:
Come on Greg ...... you mean purposeful


I meant UGLY! - not even Royal Navy Cruisers are as slab-sided as Touratech boxes! They look like they have been made out of old Volvo door skins!

:D


Greg

PS That was 'door skins'!
 
UGLY Touratech cases

Here's a picture - I rest my case (well, actually not my case - I've got some pretty ones!)

:D

Greg

PS I still reckon that they are wider than Beemer boxes!
 

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Adrian B said:
I opted for BM panniers as they fit the look of the bike nicely and are not too wide but I got a 52ltr Givi top box to give extra capacity. Handling does not suffer, even two up. Top box fitted with Givi brake lights which are very clear as the bikes standard light is somewhat obscured with a top box fitted. Rack also available to fit lid of top box to accommodate tents/sl bags etc.
If you need even more capacity, I don't work for Givi, honest but if you decide on this top box I might be able to get you a little discount on the RRP.


Adrian
Could you let me know how much for a Givi 52ltr - Bob Jeffries recommended same & I'm keen to get one? Also, does the Givi require a specific mounting rack?
Thanks
 
I think the ally panniers do look a bit OTT unless your off RTW.
I have Hepco and Becker Junior panniers which I like for the following reasons.
1. They look nice
2. Having tried 4 or 5 different makes over the years these were the first I found to be water tight.
3. The frames dont seem to stick out too far yet I have 2 x 40 litre panniers (some offer a reduced left hand pannier to avoid the can)
 
I will get you a price asap but give me a couple of days due to bank holiday etc
A seperate rack is required for the givi but I think that the genuine BMW will as well.
 
Why spend so much ?

Look in local admags for luggage I found three Givi maxi cases (50L each) for £80 and their in ace nick ! Just keep looking no need to spend hundreds.:beer:
 


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