As an alternative to aluminium panniers, has anyone tried transit cases. These are typically used as shipping containers for the music or airline industry. A manufacturer in Oz is- www.roadcase.com.au. They offer a suitable shaped box as a VISA-ATA Pilot Style Shipping Case for A$299. The construction is plywood with bonded aluminium sheet, and fully protected/riveted corners. Seems like a good alternative which would be tough enough and they will make in custom sizes for a bit more. Anyone try such a beast?

(BTW, I have experience of these as ATA-300 shipping cases used to transport delicate electronics around the world in the aircraft industry and the cases themselves are bullet proof).

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Tim ('91 R100GSPD)

The only baggage you carry should be in the panniers

We used two flight cases that used to house massive military camera lenses. They were £15 each from an army surplus store.
I work in the entertainment industry so use these cases all the time, so i thought they'd be a good idea.
They are really tough, although this comes from the thickness of ply inside, which is also the downside as they are pretty damn heavy!!!

You can see them on our bikes at----
http://www.moto-hike.co.uk/Finished%...sSMALL-WEB.jpg

Chris
http://moto-hike.blogspot.com

Wonky, I like the look of the half size jerry cans mounted near the engine. How did you go about mounting them securely on the frame? I had a small amunition box on my super tenere in the same place, good leg protection I thought. Some close up photo's of how you mounted your cans would be great.

Cheers

Alan

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Be the person your dog thinks you are.

The jerry cans were great.......as crash bars!
We only ever used them for fuel once, to get maximum amount of cheap Iranian gas into Turkey. The 20 litre tanks were always good for 350k's and we just stocked up on fuel every time we saw somewhere decent(or not if out int sticks).
As far as mounting went, my friend made up a 2/1 inch steel bar which mounted to the front of the frame just under the exhaust headers.This had a nut welded into the top of it at each end.
He welded a piece of flat steel between the handles of the jerrycan, then drilled a hole in it. Pop an allen bolt through the hole and screw into captive nut in the bar.
All worked rather well, although.....
We kept having to get the jerrycan handles welded up as they kept cracking. Vibration and lots of tumbles i'd say.
Basically, i wouldnt use them again. Much too heavy and we didnt need the fuel capacity. I reckon a small ammo box(7.62??) on either side would be much better for stashing tools/spares and still give decent crash protection. We had an ammo box on sumpguard, but this kept getting bashed by the wheels in potholes until it bent nicely to shape.
If you're really interested i'll take some pics when i get back home again(couple of weeks probably)

On the flightcases front, ive had loads made for work and the quality is extremely variable. They arent usually lined and in my experience the rivets are usually not finished on the inside and would make a right mess of your kit. If theyre strong it will be because they're heavy. The honeycomb plastic they use on the light(er) ones is pretty brittle. Someone who makes good ones would probably charge a lot, as much as ali-panniers probably. You get what you pay for. Good luck....

chris

I like the jerrycans in that place too because the low and centre place of gravity. Also I think that it's better for the frame than storing the jerrycans at the weaker sub-frame along with the heavy aluminium panniers. But what about the cooling of the engine when you travel at high tempratures?

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Asia, 27 months, 73,000 km. - Africa, 3 years, 96,000 km. - Honda XR 250 - http://madnomad.gr