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 :innocent:

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 :rolleyes2:

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 :clap: 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.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...icture2659.jpg

Nicely done! Sounds like you had a great trip!

I really wish my DR650 was F.I.!

Here is a work in progress
Which is best for off road on a dirt bike?

Cheers,

Panniers etc
 

Well, so here is my little biddy stuff, too.

I went on a Hokkaido touring 2 years ago during summer vacation - roughly 3.500 km ride on my "old" Honda TA (model 1992).

I used 2 Hepco&Becker panniers as well as a soft bag (that was originally designed as one of 2 soft panniers).

The panniers were loaded with clothes, cooking utensils, a sleeping bag and all the stuff you need for a 2 week trip. In the soft pannier on the rear part of the seat I had my "emergency equipment" like toothbrush, rain gear, camera, maps and so on. On top of the panniers I carried my tent, tarp and sleeping pad.

The panniers weighed in at around 10 kilogram each, the soft bag at around 8 kilogram.

I was more than satisfied with this setup, the H&B panniers didn't let me down even during the worst downpours (yes, we had a taifun).

Just have a look here:

http://virtulanguage.com/images/DSCF0690.JPG

and here

http://virtulanguage.com/images/DSCF0827.JPG

This year during sumer I will go up there again with a "passenger" (= g.f.) and I will probably have to reduce my equipment load.

Awesome efford building that rack. Is that bender one of these jobbies? If so, how do you find using it? If used the hydraulic ones only but found it limiting as there is only a bottom die and the pipe buckles on tight radii.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...nding/67_3.jpg

also, how do make those clamps?

Yup, thats the same bender! Usually i try to avoid chinese crap, but for only $100, i couldn't resist, and it's been worth every penny. This is called a roll over mandrel. The mandrel suports the tubing while you roll it. Another way to use the bender you are describing without collapsing the tubing wall is to stuff it with sand and cork the ends. This method will always give you a desirable radius! :thumbup1:
The clamp was quite simple to make. First, i took a block of aluminium and drilled it to the same size as the tubing of the frame. I then drilled the two holes for the 6mm threading tap to the proper depth. I then cut the block in half with a bandsaw and re-drilled the top holes to accept the 6mm bolts and tapped the bottom holes. The frame was a piece of 1" SS angle iron drilled to match and welded to the tubing.

Jesse Panniers
 

Here are a couple of photos of how we packed for a trip from Munich to Cape Town

Audrey on her F650GS in Ethiopia with Jesse bags and an Oxford duffle bag
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/...7d21c05f57.jpg

Me on my R100GS with Jesse bags and an Oxford duffle bag
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/...e5dd253b75.jpg

I think the only thing slightly unusual about how we packed for this trip compared to other trips is that we anticipated that in less developed countries we would be spending more time in hotels than camping. So what we did is move all the camping gear from the duffle bags to the metal panniers. All of our clothing was then put in the duffle bag. When we rocked up to a hotel we just unclipped the duffle bags and walked in. Everything was then secure on the bikes (after tossing a cover over it) and we didn't have to lug stuff up to the hotel that we weren't using.

We also had PacSafes (as can be seen in the picture of Audrey) that we put on the duffle bags whenever we thought that there was a security risk such as leaving the bikes unattended or riding in big cities.

Camping was still reasonably easy as we pulled the tent out of a saddlebag and then tossed our duffle bags into the tent. The only downside was that the duffle bags could be dirty or wet in the tent.

The only other problem we encountered with this system was that the Oxfords were not waterproof as they were intended more as a pit bag rather than motorcycle luggage. Next time it will likely be something like an Ortlieb waterproof bag on the back.

This system works for us with the usual proviso that hard luggage can hurt if it falls on you. Audrey still has a bit of a bruise from a fall in the Sudan.

Can you tell us how much your Jesse bags weigh, empty ??
I love those Pac-Safe systems. How did they work out over the long term? Any problems or inconvenience?

Sorry Patrick, the racks and hardware would be awkward to remove and weigh. The mounts are made of some kind of heavy steel while the bags themselves are aluminium. Unlike Touratech bags the Jesse bags don't crumple in a crash. I think the reasoning behind each is sound: Touratech believes it is easier to repair a bag than a subframe and Jesse believes the mount will break off in a serious enough get-off.

I'll try to remember to weigh the bags this weekend.

As to tools Audrey had her rather lame standard toolkit with the addition of a Torx screwdriver in Nairobi (Thanks Tom!) and I had the standard R100GS toolkit expanded to about the same number of tools as the super toolkit that used to be available in the mid-80s. The tool roll fit under the seat in the stock location. If you look closely at the rear of my bike you'll see Al Jesse's rear compartment usually used to mount a top case. In there I stuffed a couple of oil filters for each bike, spare ignition cables, an adjustable wrench, a long T-handle allen key for the oil filter, a combination spanner/tire lever that fit the F650 rear axle and a few other sundry items like super glue and electrical tape. I'm not a believer in carrying tonnes of spares. Since you can't carry an entire spare bike with you inevitably the part that breaks is the part you haven't got with you.

I too am not a big believer in falling so my pace is quite slow. On the down side I don't have much practice falling so if it does happen I probably won't have the brains to step away from the saddlebags.

PacSafe worked perfectly for the whole trip even if we didn't use them very often. It takes a bit of practice to get good at putting the PacSafe over the duffle bag but once you've done it a few times it only takes a few minutes. When riding with the PacSafe over the luggage I found that the bare wires would scratch the bike and actually rubbed some holes in the duffle bag. I think you need to make a personal decision if the added security is worth the added weight. They are heavy.

I'll try to remember to weigh the panniers...

I see that the picture at the pyramids doesn't show the rear compartment very well. Let's try this one riding along the Nile in Sudan:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/...eeb8194cbe.jpg

Love the juxtaposition

Hey, cool. I never noticed that. Thanks Spitfire!

DR650 with Andy Strapz and Ortlieb bag
 

Here are a some pictures of my bikes the Ktm is loaded up on a longish trip in Russia (note me doing a curtsey like a ballerina) it has the ktm hepco becker luggage and top box, top box is heavy but roomy and very comfy for her ladyship to lie back on to go to sleep it had all the everyday stuff and stoves etc, the tent is underslung on right pannier, I had a tank bag for all kinds of stuff and army ammo sacks on the front crashbars for a big lock and chain , puncture gear and inner tubes etc .I found the Hepco becker stuff very good, waterproof and unbreakable although the pannier internals were quite small (couldnt cope with her ladyships shoe collection).
Then there is the Bilge pump (r8ogs) on a cool day OOp north in the Arctic she's fitted with large Tesch panniers on a box tube rack (These are immensly strong and have a huge carrying capacity, are waterproof and car proof _been tested and withstood the car very well) they look a lot bigger than they are with the angle I caught them at here. (mind you they are still big.) they have tool boxes each internal side towards the wheel which is handy for those things you only need sometimes or in dire straights, Here I am carrying all the camping gear, food, stove, and all spares/tools,Sleeping bag, camping mats and lots of warm clothes, the stove fuel and water etc on back hung bottles,Tent and bits in tent bag on Mid rack behind single seat (I am carrying all the camping gear for two bikes here). Also got a tank bag for everyday stuff and nylon overjacket etc. I really rate these panniers they are low enough to keep weight low, not to wide and strong and secure. They are permanently fixed to the bike however I dont really find that a problem.

Here is my previous setup: SW-Motech racks with Ortlieb panniers and rack-pack. Worked well, held up to some crashes and is completely waterproof. A bit wider than I would like due to the rack, which also weighs 5gks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0236Medium.jpg

I have since bought MikeS' old AndyStrapz and Pacsafe nets (see his post above), and will be combining them with some simple racks from Ebay. Just wanted to try out the Andy's to see if I like them better.

After seeing a shattered set of Gobi's (both panniers and the top box) on my cousins KTM I would avoid using them on off road biased trips were you expect to fall.

These has been a big discussion about the build quality of the Andy Strapz. Have a look at these as well, which is superior in build quality.

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