You are correct Alex......... a rivet gun and a handfull of rivets, although a pain in the ass is a hell of a lot easier to lug about the world on a bike than a TIG welder....... and is easier to use in remote places.....

Properly done, and you seem to have a good idea of how to fabricate, a rivet is as good as a weld, after all ships used to be riveted before they were welded ( my grandfather was a riveter in Sunderland shipyards in the days when the rivets were heated white hot and thrown up, then caught in tongs and hammered in with sledge hammers!) anyway rivets are good!!

great thread!

I think soft luggage is the best, you can take it into the hotel/tent or whatever after a days riding. I would be always thinking if someone is about to steal my stuff with ALLY panniers at night. If you use the box bags then you might as well use soft panniers.

Sod rivets, I know sinderland fairly well being from that neck of the woods and as an example to why shipyards turned to welding and boats moving to fiberglass - look at the Titanic !

Been using the soft ones for some travelling in the past year and my biggest concern was to come out of a shopping centre and dont find them any more as the straps arent very secure, to open the alu boxes you need more than a small pocket knife
... well, i suppose they can just load the bike on a van and run off...

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You know what? If these jerrycans were a big bigger and wider I would cut them horizontally to have a "lid" and a "box" then I will heat the lid's edge and bang it with hammer &anvil to make it slightly wider so putting the two pieces back together the "lid" would overlap the "box" a bit, put a seal and a couple of latches and there you go, the pannier is done!
You even have half of the rack ready...
Havent tried it, it may work... it may turn out to be quite heavy though but really chep and strong.

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... and Nelly The Elephant packed the trunk and said goodbye to the circus...

UGLY!

but..... nobody will try to steal them unless they run out of petrol...

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... and Nelly The Elephant packed the trunk and said goodbye to the circus...

I am in the process of welding the rack for the panniers, any suggestion on the position? I mean, I usually see in pics panniers like Touratech etc and they are quite high and pushed back on the tail, is there any reason for this?
...you need to consider how much clearence is needed when you put your foot down, so you don't run over the back of your leg with your pannier. This will happen when you are off-road, especially in sand.

You are correct Alex......... a rivet gun and a handfull of rivets, although a pain in the ass is a hell of a lot easier to lug about the world on a bike than a TIG welder....... and is easier to use in remote places.....
...don't be silly ...just because boxes may be welded together in production doesn't mean you need a welder to fix them. You most likely wouldnot be able to re-weld aluminum boxes because of contamination issues from either paint or anodizing...rivets would be the most likely alternative an any given situation.

I think soft luggage is the best, you can take it into the hotel/tent or whatever after a days riding. I would be always thinking if someone is about to steal my stuff with ALLY panniers at night. If you use the box bags then you might as well use soft panniers.
...with my bike parked safely either inside the hotel or in a secure lot, my ally boxes are by far the most secure place to keep my valuables. Would you rather trust a hotel safe, or the lock on your hotel door?

...just my two cents, nice boxes BTW!

ever tried propping a bike up on a soft pannier to change a puncture?
or using a soft pannier as a table to cook on and to sit on while you eat?

Give me a METAL ammo box or ALLY pannier anyday!

Martyn

...err, i didn't post that, that was a quote. Some very good points above!

Alex!
I think you need to place it way back (like touratech) so that if you have to push the bike, you will have some space between you & the box. Picture yourself pushing the bike with the box near the pillion area, the box will bang your back of knee!! I had same problems before.....but luckily I had soft panniers! If its ally, im sure gonna be painfull!

Btw are you going to weld it permanently or design a quick release thingy?


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Yes, it does make sense, I wont be able to "paddle" if they are too close.

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I know you have made em waterproof, but flotation aids too? where do you store the oars? roflmao!

only joking Alex, I know what you mean. but pushing is easier than paddling, more so if you have short legs!


Martyn

Youre right Martyn! Im only 5' 10".
I had problems when I have to push the bike to the nearest rest area on a highway! Luckily it was only 1km away & its downhill too.
This was a long time ago,
I was so excited to do my 1st "long distance" trip from Kuala Lumpur to Penang (its only 380km) I forgot to turn the fuel switch back to 'ON' after filling it up at the petrol pump. It was in 'Reserve' mode.....

Which latch system are you going to use?

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Yep, I did that on a BMW R80RT, fully loaded with gear, raining, at night, no idea where the nearest fuel stop was ( 21 miles down the motorway in actual fact!) took 8 hours of walking and hitching to get fuel.

Martyn, I actually had to push the bike further, but since the R&R were just 1km away, I decided to push there 1st, then look for a "victim" to help me get fuel, since after calling the motorway backup team does'nt seems too convincing. They said "Sorry we only assist automobiles!" (because automobile pay toll/bike dont) but youre on a 'Big Bike' right?
maybe we'll try... :confused1:
Once reaching the R&R, I went and ask the cleaners wheres the nearest petrol pump. So the kind old man ask me to go & see his partner who is free at that time to take me on his moped. So we went on his postie bike to buy petrol (in bottles) in the oil palm estate, we also took a short cut through the estate.

Alex, I actually wanted to ask... after looking at your pics how do you lock the box? & arent you going to do anything with your saddle? The shape are very similar to my Dommie, after a 100Kms they will start to bite




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