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

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

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Looks like you've got everything you need

Safe going!

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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.

Hi Mollydog

last summer I used the XT660R for our trip to Romania

My partner was pillion .

The bike was you could say fully loaded

We had a pannier each for our Kit..The large waterproof bag on the rear of the bike carried a tent..2 sleeping bag's..2 air bed's...and the cooking Kit.

Then we also had the Kolpin fuel cell which hold's 6lt .

The tank bags carry some spare's ie inner tube's and a 12volt mini pump .
The other bag carries water proof's..

I did make a lot of mod's to the bike before the trip.

although It still as the standered fork spring's and shock, I did fit a set of fork spacers,which make's the front end harder.
I also fitted a set of shorter links to the rear shock,which lifted the back of the bike.

The pannier frame's are from Touratech ,these I had to strengthen by adding 2 more supports to help take the extra weight .

I also had the seat reworked with a step init for more padding for Leigh.

The XT did better then I tought it would. The only place I could have done with more power was on the autobahn

Apart from the small amount of motorway work the bike was excellent.Most of the time we were riding around the 60 mph and at this speed the bike was doing 74mpg even when we were doing 80mph on the motorway the bike was still doing 65mpg.

New tourance tyres were fitted before we left,and on our return we had done just over 5000 mile's and the tyres only look about half worn.

The XR400 also did very well.
all stock part's,and it carried all this kit on the 4500 mile round trip.

once in Midelt I ditched some kit,changed the tyres and traveled lighter.
then collected it all for my return ride home.

This was from 2006 when my wife and I travelled from Cape Town to Nairobi. Now me and a couple of friends will participate in the 2012 Budapest to Bamako Rally ( Bamako by Vespa ). I will keep my setup as it is on this trip, the two other guys may go for a different setup like the Spanish Postal Scooters (Correos) - a large plastic top casse on a tubular frame, which basically means no manufacturing.

The principals are as for any setup. It should be rugged enough to not damage either the luggage nor the ride, it should be easy to repair and be easy to take on and off, and it should keep everything locked up and out of sight.

I opted for a large top case on a rugged metal frame (can be easily welded). The Vespa rides low and only have 10" tires. Sidepanniers would only dig into the ground on uneven surfaces or when leaning into curves, and would also make it cumbersome to service. I was very happy with this setup.

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I wish Id taken a photo but there was an F650 GS in bristol a couple of weeks ago with two full size suitcases as panniers.

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Saw a Honda C90 a couple of months ago on the road, had white painted home made wooden panniers and top box. 0 points for style, 100 points for practicality!