Soft bag or panniers? Best bag system for XT 600 E ? !
 

Hi All,

I bought a 2003 mod. XT600 E and I will need a bag system.
Panniers don't look nice and I think panniers looks and fits better for XT.

* What do you recommend soft bags or panniers, which is better for XT?
* About soft one, which brand is good?

Thanks for contributions.

There doesn't seem to be a right answer.

I prefer soft luggage (Wolfman) b/c of weight, size, and cost. You may be sacrificing some security, I more proscribe to the fact that if someone wants your stuff bad enough soft or hard bags won't matter. Hell, they might even take the entire bike!

TT Panniers
 

You might want to look at this video of me in the Congo bashing the heck out of my TT panniers on my XT, sorry about the expletives on it but it goes to show I'm having soft panniers next time I buy!!

YouTube - ‪Lovely Day in the Congo‬‎

I chuckle every time I watch it!!

I had a 2003 XT600E. Used it for South America..

If you want the advice of someone who bought hard panniers for this bike then swapped them to softbags as soon as he could, i'd say keep the bike as light as possible by using soft bags. That way you also don't need a heavier pannier frame too.

Big heavy panniers belong on big heavy bikes. It's as simple as that !! :thumbup1:

Its not the type of bike that takes heavy panniers well. The suspension and brakes are crap as it is...

Theres some further XT mods on my website if you're interested.

Regards, Ted

Also -- if you moved back a couple of yards, you'd of been in the shade of that tree :smartass:

I have never used these but the look like a neat idea...

Giant Loop™ Moto: Saddlebags for Motorcycles | Giant Loop™ Performance Motorcycle Gear

John

AHHH Geoff ! Your XT was the clone of mine.... Even down to the bash plate and white tank..

I kept the standard shock though.:innocent:


Sorry to hear your woes with the boxes. Same thing happened to me with my Metal Mules. Alwasy breaking, bending etc !!

I guess your a soft bag convert now ?? ? lol

made me ROTF Hehe only problem now got to look at all the others .

I quite agree i would suggest soft panners as lighter

* * *

Are they really crap? Does it need to be changed/modified?

Ok soft bags but which brand especially?

Don't get me wrong.. The suspension is adequate. It is budget though. It's non adjustable but it will get your through and do the job as long as you don't expect it to be a desert racer.

You can stiffen up the front with different progressive springs or oil weight

Just promise me you will keep the weight down.. lol.

ANY quality softbags will do. I'm currently using a set of £30 pattern 58 Army canvas bags on my DRZ..

You will probably need to buy/build an exhaust shield for the bags but it will cost a fraction of the price of hard luggage.

So you are using what 2 back packs, one either side?
Vince recommend them as well, my comment would be to remind that 58 pattern is not & never was waterproof once wet stays wet for ages & shrinks once dry and slowly stretch back to size.

Not sure if they're backpacks. I'm not familiar with the 58 gear. I've just posted a pic on the other "silvermans" thread.

http://www.touringted.com/_gallery_/...serialNumber=2

Can you identify them for me Sealous ????? (or anyone)


I knew they wern't waterproof so I've sealed them with multipurpose waterproofer (£15 for 4L but only needed 1.5L for a dousing), using a £2 spray gun.

I tested them with the hose and the water beads off... Still, all my gear is kept in waterproof roll bags anyway. I can recommend these to anyone if they're looking for a cheap, waterproof softbag "inner bag"

http://www.drapertools.com/products/...0_DB10_10L.jpg

They cost about £5 each. I bought 4 on ebay. When full, each 58 pannier fits 2.

I also love the side pockets, straps, and hangers on my 58 stuff. :thumbup1:

Large Packs.
 

Hi Ted, they look like "Large Packs", that's large compared to their sister "Small Packs". The '58 webbing consisted of a web belt onto which a shoulder yoke clipped. Two ammo pouches clipped to the front waist and one large pack was hung from the yoke and could be removed quickly. They're not battery acid proof either. Lindsay.

Hi Ted, yep the 1 on the right as we can see it is a 58 back pack.
On the other side (of the pack) you would have 2 metal hooks one on either side & 2 clips these would go over the yoke on to D rings just at tit level the hooks round the side the yoke was worn with a belt & 2 ammo pouches in front 2 kidney pouches a water bottle pouch as well and a poncho roll just below your bum! if like me you where 5 ft 5 lol. on the yoke as on the back pack as a small bit of webbing that is for a entrenching tool (pitch fork or spade) clip on there.

FYI I still have my 58 belt order, with yoke we would then remove the kidney pouches and put more pouches instead & in certain, operations we would just have belt order minus yoke as well

you missed out kidney pouches water bottle and poncho roll.

I can recommend the Ortlieb saddle bags! They are absolutely waterproof, easy to mount, hold on tight to the bike and they are lightweights!

Last year I used those on a trip round the baltic sea and I think they´re good equipment. Only thing is that it takes a little fumbling to open them up. My brother used Gobi panniers, weighed 18kg´s (panniers and rack).

This year we´re both with the Ortliebs.

Prevents you from taking to much stuff on the way, too :)

I bought one of these....very easy to attach, remove..and throw over your shoulder when carrying from bike to tent etc...

A few thoughts....
- I left it on the bike over night in some Cornwall rain and woke up to 2 pools of water in the basins. Perhaps it was because the tail of the bike was facing the direction the rain was coming from and this was directly into the zipper. I'd imagine that while riding the bags would not take in water.

- The tapering effect of the basins restricts the volume of goods you can pack, squared off would imo be better.

- Not sure if the inner packing bags are necessary. I packed my goods in my old Oxford soft pannier waterproof covers which would take on any shape I needed by a squeeze and a shove.

Besides that, I was impressed...makes a good back rest too. Dropped the bike once, rode through a bush :blushing:....bags were unharmed.

I have a mate doing a dirt lap of Aussie at the moment. I've been a soft bag covert for a while now and he knew it before he left with his lovely custom made heavyweight alloy boxes. He must have hated telling me, but a month after he left that he was sick of bashing his boxes back into shape, and the boxes bashing his legs OUT of shape and now has a set of Andy Strapz bags on!

I've got Andy Strapz bags and they are good, but have worn thru in a couple of places. I'm going to get another layer sewn on to them.

Cheers

Nigel in NZ

For you guys who are soft luggage convets, do you ever worry about your stuff being stolen when ur not near the bike? Or are you with ur machines most the time?

Id love soft luggage but id be paranoid that all my belongings would be stolen, and hence will prob use hard luggage. The security is the only reason i want hard panniers tho.

The idea of soft luggage is that you mainly put "Soft" or non valuable things in them..

I pack mine with clothes, plate , mug , toiletries etc etc ! Stuff no one would really want to steal. And if they did steal them, their need is obviously much greater than mine .. It would hardly be a big deal if my favourite Spiderman y-fronts were stolen anyway !

For valuables, keep them in your tank bag which comes with you and any other things in a "pacsafed" roll bag.

In all the places and years iv've used soft bags, I've never even had anyone try to steal anything...

Ted's right, that's how I do it, except I also sometimes use a topbox and lock stuff in there. However, I have never seen a topbox that someone with intent could not open with a large screwdriver.

Cheers bloke

Nigel in The Shakey Isles......

Indeed, motorcycle "locked" luggage is very much a false sense of security although no doubt a deterrant to the oppurtunist..

Here's what I use. For my upcoming Aussie trip, I've ditched the green sleeping mat on the top (replaced with a much smaller Exped downmat) and the rear rack (replaced with nothing!). I think I can keep the Wolfman luggage and dry bag secured without needing a rack.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_guF3w-1XHdk/TF...0/PICT0188.JPG

I've spoken to Ortlieb. They answered as they don't have side bags in Dortmund/Köln are but in Berlin.

Will try to organise at my next visit to Germany :) Hope I find...

pannier
 

Here is my 2 cents.

If you a lot off road and travel 1 up ,soft luggae can do it pretty well for a while .
If you are travelling for long time mostly on hard pack and want your gears to stay safe while visiting cities then hard luggage plastic or metal are better.
when you are 2 up they are much better due to the fact that you can carry more stuff. For tough off road I love the ortlieb sof pannier

?c?

oxford bags
 

Oxford bags, the cheap ones 40quid a pair, yup there crap!!! they aint waterproof!!! BUTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!
my wife has had hers for 60,000km on our RTW, weve repaired them in Africa ,Asia, South america and they are still working.
The only reason I dont have mine is mine went up in smoke when I lost the little rubber bung that keeps the side panel off the exhaust in Tanzania last year, an interesting experiance.
They fit really well on our XT600,s
Most bags are crap, these are as bad as most but they do the job very cheaply and are easy to repair, the zips have lasted well, they just rip the seams occasionaly.
Works for us,
a bonus is when you arrive at a border you look like a tramp, our nickname is team skint and we rarely get asked for a bribe
Pete