pacsafe now do a waterproof bag with the mesh cut to the exact size called the stufsafe.

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Mike
Your former bags have been doing sterling service on loan to a friend on an Enfield in India for a few months.

When they come back in a month, I'll get around to fitting them on my CRF and post photos.

Stephan

I have only used ortliebs ... but I can tell you they are 100% waterproof.

I have heard from those who have had Andy Strapz that they are not ... especially on a long journey.

Waterproof is a beautiful thing.

Hard to compare as I dont know anyone who has actually owned both and ridden transcontinental with both.

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I am using Andy Strapz Exp. panniers at the moment and they're freaking awesome, I'm in the middle of Bolivia in the wet season and so far nothing has got wet. I would definitely also recommend the Strapz too (similar to Octopus straps/bungees) I couldn't imagine not having them now. Having never seen ortliebs I can't comment on those but I am positive AS are better than Aluminium panniers (though far less secure of course). Also Andy Strapz gave me a small discount for placing an ad on my website, you may be able to do the same.

My experience of using Ortleib is primarily on cycles both on the rear pannier and front lowriders. They have always been excellent and without problem. Only one little winge on my older models (some 10 years old) the plastic bar holding the top pannier carrier mounts will bend when the pannier is stuffed full making fitting to the rack a little tricky. Pack them properly and there is no trouble.

Remember that using them off road on a bicycle they get far harder hits than when protected by the suspension of a motorcycle.

For a temporary set up on a journey of some 1500 miles I rigged up a couple of low loader racks using the motorbike rear rack mounting points, a luggage strap and some cable ties. The racks held position and the panniers were still instant on an off forming a good base for drum bag and tent.

Some gentle of road, many miles of 90+mph (it is a Highland ) motorway and slow weaving through thick traffic, no problem. Good stability, narrow and cheap. Also I snagged a road sign doing an idiot manoeuver out of a car park at 25mph, enough to hole the pannier but did not knock it of the bike or rip off the rack. Rigid 'mortuary boxes' would have either had me off or had a costly load of damage. Also they are significantly narrower making filtering far easier - see photos

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Something to consider, the $AUD is very low at the moment, 65c to the US dollar so Andy Strapz would be 35% cheaper than they were this time last year if you live in the states.

I use the ortliebs on my 800 GS. I took them off recently to wash some of the road salt off them and dunked them in the bath. They were 80% submerged and not one drop of water got in. Not even through the plastic retainers that hold the stiffened liner in place.

I use them everyday in all conditions and they are as tough as nails. I brushed off a few things when squeezing through tight gaps and they show no signs of damage.

my bikes rear end is wider than the 1200 believe it or not so I didn't want the Ortliebs to have that pulled up / splayed out look so I bought some velcro that could bridge the gap and let them hang down to their normal position. (no pun intended )

Extending my Panniers - a set on Flickr



I'm pleased with the Ortliebs and the end result of their position on the bike

I had the same problem. I'm using Wolfman soft bags on a DR650. Solution ... velcro! I swear that stuff is almost as good as duct tape.

I bought six or eight feet of velcro from a large roll at a hardware store. I brought the Wolfman bags to a tailor. He sewed a strip of velcro to the underside of the more forward of the two sets of straps that connect the panniers atop the seat.

Across the seat, I fastened up another strip velcro so that it would mate with the velcro on the pannier strap. This is glue-back velcro so it stuck nicely to the seat, and I stapled it up beneath.

Works like a charm! Zero movement on those bags now. A brace easily fabricated from aluminum bar keeps the right bag off the pipe.

BTW ... hiya Patrick!

Mark

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How pliable is that PVC insert in the ortlieb panniers. I'm changing to soft luggage because my wife has awesome skill with coming off without injury, but seems to get here legs cought underneight the edge of the hard pannier on this bike. Not being able to pull her leg from underneight it. Don't like the idea of going soft but with the hard edges.

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Hi guys,
I'm swaying towards soft panniers because they don't have the $100,000 look and seem more practical, despite security concerns.

AndyStrapz an Ortlieb seem to be the main suppliers. My reservation is that both seem quite small (Andy 15L-25L, Ortlieb approx. 23L) per bag. Aluminium stuff seems to be around 35-40L per pannier.

Are there bigger bags out there or does this make them to combersome and raise strenght issues?

From their dimensions it seams the bigger Steel Pony panniers are almost as big as Zega 35l boxes.

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I have a set of the Steel Pony bags and have been happy with them for the last 13k km. here in Mexico. The OP asked to talk only about Ortlieb and Andy Strapz, so i'll just say that one really nice feature on the Steel Pony bags is the optional silicone mat that velcros' to the exhaust side. It is 100% effective in protecting the bag from the exhaust and should be considered with any soft luggage you plan on using.

Some research on their website indicates a capacity of 37 litres.

Geoff

Steel Pony's seem to meet the criteria. They look to be well made and are huge - combining the best of both worlds. Anyone know if these bags are available in Europe? Shipping and taxation from Oz to Europe will probably make them unaffordable. Thanks for the tip buebo

Unfortunately you have to ship them over to Europe, which adds quite a bit to the price. In the end I decided on the Giant Loop since it was available in England (the EU at least) and considerably cheaper.

Just have to get rid of the pannier frames now...

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