Lots of discussion about panniers and loading up the bike in general.

What's the best way to carry your stuff?

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Hi,

These are two Touratech KTM 35L panniers, both weighing a total of 22KGs with 2-person tent, stove&fuel, food, sleeping bag, mattress, pans, utensils and spare oil.

On top of one (out of sight) is a Krieger pack to keep fresh food cold with a pouch to hold tools. On the other is lashed a fold-able seat, which frankly I probably don't use nearly often enough but good when camped.
edit: found a pic of the other side


The topbox is a Givi, fantastic as I can lock my helmet and clothes in there.

There is a big 90L red bag between me and the Givi, folded around the Givi, for when I want to store my riding gear.

I use bungee chords to keep the panniers taught, and thread it via the chair and the red bag handles to ensure those are lashed down.

My backpack holds all my ID and papers, a book, towel, toilet paper, and a water-bladder.

I would say the entire luggage with gear totals less than 35KG. I prefer the bike's handling with this weight, as the bike is preload-adjusted for it.

Works well, but getting the Touratech panniers on and off is a complete pain. To do it frequently is a character building excersize!

I have a small Wolfman Enduro tankbag on order for frequently needed items (not in the pic) when crossing borders.

HTH.

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http://bigben.to/ London to....? The big bike annual rally.
http://www.mongolbikers.com 125cc London -> Mongolia.

This is a pretty standard set up, nothing unusual.

I could have carried a duffle on the rack but not needed. Plenty of room

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Soft fabric panniers for dirty clothes and daily consumables.
Duffel bag for sleeping kit and clothes.
Tank bag for documents and camera.
Topbox for spares and food.

The complete system comes off with two bungees and a lock, and takes arond 2 mins to put back on. Everything put together weighs 22 kilo, and can be easily man packed and carried around. I like the system.

Birdy

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Here is the setup I use for long trips. Happy Trails aluminum panniers, with their mounting system. The top box I believe is a Happy Trails as well, but I bought it used, so can't say for sure. The bike has 58,000 miles on it, maybe 2/3 of that with the luggage on, and all 3 boxes have had one welded seam split. I reinforced them with ferreteria angle brackets, and all is well, so far. I have been quite happy with this setup overall. I bought my luggage in 2001, and my racks are made of round tube, and have never broken. The newer ones are made of very lightweight square tube, and they seem to break pretty regularly, at least most of the newer ones I've seen have been welded, so I can't give a real strong recommendation for the new ones.

For shorter trips, I have a set of Cortech soft bags also. I use these anytime I am not taking a computer along. The main thing I have against hard bags, is that I personally know three people who have broken a leg or ankle when the bike fell on them, or they ran over there leg while dabbing. There is nothing like the lockable security of the aluminum bags though, and for another multi month trip, I would use them again.

My usual packing system was computer, maps ,notebooks, camera in left pannier. Tools, spare parts, rain suit, clothes in right pannier. Clothes in one roll up bag, tent , sleeping bag, and pad in th other. Maps, guidebook, water snacks in the tankbag, and other miscellany in the tank panniers. Would have been nice to be a little lighter, but I like clothes for all the temperature extremes, and would probably take about the same stuff again, maybe add a GPS. I never weighed my gear, but I would have to guess 120 lbs. or so.

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america

Looks like you've got everything you need

Safe going!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Where do you pack that really small guy standing on your saddle?

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So far i've built two sets of panniers, one for my '89 R100 GS, and another set for my R1200GS.In this post i'll concentrate on the R100gs. The first required some stiffening of the R100 sub frame. Instead of re-enforcement, i just built a new sub-frame using 3/4" 0.065 Chrome Moly tubing.[IMG][/IMG] This has the benefit of being both very strong and weldable with mild steel rod, making repairs in the third world that much easier. I added an attachment point behind the left foot peg, feeling this was much stronger than using the stock muffler as an attachment.[IMG][/IMG] I used simple angle iron to bolt on the panniers, as i don't see the need to remove them every night. The panniers are bolted to the frame with 4 bolts each, and removal takes about 5 minutes. The pannier itself is a part of the frame, providing great strength. Made of 2mm aluminum and welded, these boxes are extremely strong! Lids are removeable and i prefer the aluminum finish just in case i need to weld them again. The first time i lened the bags with cloth, but in Colombia i had some durable bag liners made that attach with velcro.
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My next project was the 1200GS, which i sold last year. This bike was a challenge. The sub-frame on the 1200gs is very flexible, and building a new one was not an option at the time, so i opted for a more sacraficial type of box made from 1.5mm aluminim and connected them to a tubular frame.[IMG][/IMG] I used small stainless steel bolts to attach the panner hooks, which i milled myself from aluminum blocks.[IMG][/IMG] The idea was, in the event of a crash, the box will crush, or the soft stainless steel bolts will shear, saving the sub frame from harm. Both instances are easy to fix, a twisted sub frame is not
This time i chose to build the pannier racks from 3/4 stainless steel, as i really had no plans on entering the 3rd world with this bike, and anyways, welding stainless still is much more common that most people think.[IMG][/IMG]
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[IMG][/IMG] The boxes were welded simple and rectangular, without a re-enforcing angle, again with removable lids which proved extremely useful on previous travels as tool trays or whatnot. [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]I coppied the tapered pattern of the stock Vario cases to keep the lines of the bike square. I also purchased a muffler from Metal Mule that allowed me to keep both boxes the same size. [IMG][/IMG]
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the building process:
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BTW... all the primary fitting was welded on the bike without disconnecting the battery or ECU and i never had a problem, but then again, i know where to place my ground and start my arc.

If I'm doing a trip that will take in more off road then I go with soft panniers.
Help's keep the weight down, and if..or when the bike get's dropped there is less damage.




If I'm staying on the black stuff,then I use alloy pannier's.



Which are best ? .. who know's

I have also tried useing Tank bag's....but I can't get on with them .

Some nice fabrication Wish you lived in my neighborhood!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Avoid panniers ?


We bought the bags from an army surplus store in SF. They hold a tent, sleeping bags and ground mats.

Jean will hate me for this pic.

And Ventura tail pack has enough room for 2 people to pack for 3 months.

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

The loading of extra weight will always effect the handling of a bike to some degree or other.
In order to minimise this the weight should be carried, as much as possible, as close to the sidesof the bike and within an imaginary triangle drawn from axle to axle and up to the riders head.
The heavier items really need to be as low slung as possible within this triangle and the weight as evenly distributed between sides as can be managed.

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The electric monk always has faith.

But now i've got an Ohlins shock
I think everyone should do this before hitting the road.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Hi Birdy

A terrific post!Where was the pic taken? Thats the way to travel.