side boxes
 

for a long trip what kind of side boxes are good to get?

what is convenient?

someone mentioned that since you have all your things in there - it's good to get ones that you can take off and bring to your room where you are staying

else in some places you will be worried it might all get stolen .. and etc ..

what are the available options?

from my understanding / observation I see few choices:
* aluminum boxes and .. sometimes detachable?
* plastic like suitcase like .. sometimes detachable?
* material side bags
* cages to put in boxes

* what else?

what is good?

thank you ..


http://i.imgur.com/gSLlS9e.png

http://i.imgur.com/L9DoN5W.png

http://i.imgur.com/vi6brpH.png

http://i.imgur.com/mw17YMW.png

Love those Apple panniers. I should have kept my old G4 and used it as a top box. You just can't get anything into laptops :rofl:

Re the options, apart from a van driving along behind with all your luggage you've just about covered all the bases. Asking which one is best is fraught with danger though; ten people will probably give you twenty opinions. :rofl:

If you can fit GIVI V35 panniers on your bike, then get them....they are almost INDESTRUCTIBLE. I dropped my bike many times and everytime thought thats it they must be smashed...but no, only scratched, they protected the bike and my legs.....gorgeous product.

+1 for V35 s :thumbup1:
What ever you choose , beware the girth . Whilst this is nice in porno s it aint good if you have to split traffic on your trip . An example being in Germany ( where of course its totally legit doh ) i could get my lumpy old Pan thru gaps that some tenere s with side cases couldnt , likewise a blackbird with cases on too got stuck . Just something to think about ..........................

ohh wow GIVI V35 panniers
https://www.google.com/search?q=GIVI...d=ssl&tbm=isch

sure do look nice

will try to get them

> beware the girth .

gooood point

but I'd still go for safety first

I'm rarely in a rush to get anyplace

when on a bike I'm zoned out .. I'm in the groove ..

> soft on dirt

yes excellent point .. but I think hard cases properly attached to frame/chassis would be OK

> You just can't get anything into laptops

ahahahahah :p

I've been through all of them (except the Apples ...).

The Givis survived a crash at 70kph with nothing but a scratch, but they bounced terribly on bumpy roads. The 3rd box was almost empty and was a great place to store the jacket when exploring on feet.
http://pip-photos.smugmug.com/Motorb...ltar_250-M.jpg

The Zega cases are toploading, once you've had that, you won't accept anything else. But in the dirt, it really hurts if your legs are trapped underneath. I've had one come off at 150kph due to stupidity. Almost empty, except for a SLR - nothing was damaged.

http://pip-photos.smugmug.com/Motorb...79-benni-M.jpg

These are lockable soft bags. The straps are a bit unconvenient, but no complains other than that.
http://pip-photos.smugmug.com/Motorb...alkan195-M.jpg

For me: soft on gravel, alloy on the road.

By the way, if you have hard boxes on a tough rack, all the stress of a crash will be directed to the bike's frame. Stronger is not necessarily better ...

spip

Soft bags.

Unless you want to be as aerodynamic as a house and drag 20KG more weight than you need to. They're good to sit on though.

Soft all the way for gravel or dirt, I just found out what happens if you wreak on dirt with big heavy frames and boxes attached to your frame - it bends.

After some experience on a 250 around South America, in the future I´ll be looking closely how cyclists pack for RTW gigs. Less really is more.

If you weld on steel plate arms to the pannier bracket rather than to bolt directly,this will provide the vertical stiffness you need while giving flex, to cushion the blow to the frame during a drop .If bent just straighten and continue,so many are tied solidly together transferring the shock to both sides of the pannier mounts along with the frame.

Soft bags with soft stuff inside are the perfect cushions in a crash.

Clothes, sleeping bag etc.

Keep your valuables central in a back box, roll bag, tank bag etc.

Zoned out? Are you American? :innocent:
bier

Hard boxes don't mean safety. Sure, sometimes when you fall, they may protect you ... BUT ... as often as not, a leg or foot gets caught under a box. Not a pretty picture. Many many riders have broke legs and ankles this way.

What you haven't brought up is the bike your riding and the sort of riding you intend. There is now a STRONG consensus that if you're doing a lot of riding OFF ROAD on smaller, lighter bike then soft panniers are The Way.

If you never intend to explore off road ... or very rarely ... then Hard Boxes are just fine. They give the illusion of security and ARE convenient in some ways.

Hard bag users tend to Over load their bikes ... as hard boxes allow that. Also, consider the added weight that Ted brought up. Not only the weight of the empty boxes, but the weight of racks and all the hardware. It's substantial.

On a R1200GS, not a big deal. On a 400cc to 650cc bike, more of an issue.
Off road too much weight is a disaster waiting to happen. doh

In your first post you asked about detachable boxes. They ALL detach. You thought it would be convenient for carrying into your room. Yes, it is.
But do what the Pros do ... use bag liners, fit them in your boxes. All contents goes into liners.

When you arrive, simply open box, grab liner straps and walk away. After a long, hard day, this is a MUCH better way.
Boxes are heavy and sometimes a PITA to detach/reattach. Leave empty boxes on bike. In the AM simply slip liner bags back into boxes. Done, ready to ride. :D

I wouldn't have considered this a major issue - until it happened to me :( A low speed fall in sand without enough momentum to carry me clear of the bike. Only bruises and strained ligaments fortunately but that was more down to wearing MX boots than anything.


It's not much of a contrary arguement but I've had a "few" occasions where soft luggage has come off and I've lost it. If a hard box falls off you're likely to notice; I certainly did when one box came off and went under a following car last year :rofl:

Soft luggage does seem to have come into its own in recent years with an increasing selection of professionally manufactured bike specific stuff to choose from so maybe the days of lash-ups from army surplus or hiking rucksacks etc discarding your belongings as you go are over. I spent years trying to live down a reputation for dragging soft bags behind me on the road as everything but one last (long) strap came undone or broke.

Am I imagining things or have hard luggage system been getting bigger (and wider and heavier) as the years have passed? I've always been conscious of the width of luggage on whatever bike I've loaded up and in particular whether it's wider than the handlebars. Wider than the handlebars (or even close to it) is a huge no no for me as it's very easy to find yourself leaving scrape marks when overtaking in traffic. Metal boxes leave bigger marks than soft luggage :rolleyes2:

Well, yes, I suppose they do if you're happy to sit there in the rain with a socket wrench for ten minutes every morning and evening but my definition of detachable is being able to take them off / put them on in about 10secs each without tools.

The "Pro's" quote above made me smile. I read somewhere recently that there are only about 500 people making a full time living from novel writing in the US. I wonder how many are doing the same from overlanding? Any guesses? Journalists, book writers, people running courses on the back of having done an RTW or where the journey is a means to another end don't count. I doubt if many of the "usual suspects" here are not subsidising their travel by other means. Or maybe you are all funding lavish lifestyles from bike riding and I'm the one left looking forlornly through the railings as you vanish into the distance yet again :confused1:

Back on planet Earth, bag liners are something I've never got on with. I've tried various versions of them over the years but it never seems to work for me. If I use one big bag I can't get the thing back into the box next morning without having to rebuild the contents into the box from scratch. It never just drops back in. If I use a number of smaller bags carrying them into a hotel needs something like a laundry basket to put them all in. It looks like amateur night carrying armfuls of plastic bags into a hotel when everyone else is arriving with holdalls and suitcases. Somewhere there's a "pro" method of doing this but taking a couple of bags of dirty washing past the receptionist isn't it. :rofl:

Yep, happened to me as well. Painful but nothing broken. Also, "Paddling" in deep sand is a "No No" with hard bags back there! OUCH!

That's funny! :rofl: I've seen both hard and soft come off the bikes. I've had a few fall off too! doh

But with me, FIRE was the more serious issue! If softbags are not well set off from hot pipe ... watch out! Various friends have set fire to soft bags as well.

But on the flip side, the hard bag crew constantly have racks cracked and broken. Very common.

Well mounted soft bags with proper off sets are much better today. (as you've noted) The new cinch systems are pretty robust and waterproofness is better too. But still, hard bags are nicer to get into. Soft bags you have to dig around a bit for stuff. Compromises!

Most modern hard bags are 10 second on or off. Not a problem. My various GIVI bags and current Triumph OEM bags ... all good, easy ON/OFF ... just not great for me off road.

By Pro I really mean very experienced riders. Guys at the big BMW rallies is where I learned about bag liners. These guys ride a lot, have learned quite a bit on the road and really are "Pros" regards bike travel. Many work in BMW dealers or are mechanics ... somehow they have time to ride huge miles per year.

Some of the guys I ride with here in San Fran Bay area are on that level too. We call them professionals too ... even though few actually make a living from it. We've got Doctors, Writers, I.T. Wizards, Lawyers, Police, Nuclear scientists and Real Estate and Start Up investors. :innocent: ALL are great riders, most are as good off road as on and own several bikes. 60 riders in all, but only about 30 active these days.

The best Bag liners are custom made for the hard bag in question. You can improvise but then you can run into the problems you describe. Custom fit bag liners work well, slip right in, no fiddling.
I hate carrying Hard Bags around, especially if your room is 3 flights up. :nono:

The "Pro's" bit was very much meant tongue in cheek and I had a good idea what you meant, it was just your shorthand way of using it that amused me. "Stuff the pro's use" is such a hackneyed marketing slogan in my "professional" world (I'm a photographer), trotted out again and again by companies to try and give a serious edge to some piece of kit that children would discard. It was only after I posted that the other interpretation - kit that (moneyed) members of the professional classes would use (I won't put the other half of that in - don't want to upset anybody :rolleyes2:) occurred to me.

Maybe I fell on my head as a child or something but for some reason or another "turnkey" luggage systems (hard or soft) always seem to make me turn the other way. It's as though I have to take the road less travelled with bike prep as well as on the map. Bespoke luggage systems have come and gone over the decades and I've very rarely bought any of them. Bikes, yes, tents / camping gear, yes, boots, jackets, yes, but luggage, no. I have made or adapted so many sets of luggage from scratch that I have trouble remembering them. And I mean starting with steel pipes and a welding torch. Doing my own thing with luggage is probably why I've scattered so many of my belongings over the highways and byways of Europe and beyond. :(

Anyway, my next "expedition", in the planning stage at present, involves taking my wife as a pillion. It'll be her first serious bike trip in quarter of a century and being a "professional person" I'm sure she's not going to put up with any slapdash Poundland based luggage solution. Only the best Honda can offer for her (or at the very least better than what's on the bike her sister and other half use. Nothing like sibling rivalry to loosen the purse strings!). It'll be an interesting experience to ride a bike with luggage that fits. :rofl:

Uh Oh, the missus on first Bike ride? Maybe something like this?
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/Mo...0f40290d-L.jpg

Or ... if she really gets her way then it'll be this ....
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/Mo...r-loaded-L.jpg
Notice the plate? :rofl: Oh, the shame! I thought only we 'mericans went of holiday with that set up? :oops2:

GIVI plastic boxes are so often ignored.

I've used them loads of times on numerous bikes. They're solid, waterproof, probably more secure than aluminium (harder to prise open) and they crash way better than a lot of metal boxes I've used as they just tend to squish.

I'd use them over those big silly metal square cases any day.




However, they don't look 'Adventure' do they ... doh

Givi boxes might not look solid when compared to metal ones just because they are made of plastic, but I think they are stronger and look cool. You can also put them on and off the bike in seconds so very convenient if you want to take panniers and top box in your tent or room.

My GIVI bags also held up well. They hit the ground a couple times on this trip to Copper Canyon. Also used them on my DR650 and bashed them against trees going down narrow trails. And they did NOT break! Very impressive. I sold these off ... probably should have hung onto them. Very tough gear.

http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...-4jFVsC3-L.jpg
2 days lost in the Sierra Tarahumaru. The poor V-Strom took one HELL of a beating ... going down endless silt filled two track, rocky tracks NOT suited for the big Vstrom. The GIVI's never complained ... my buddies GS factory bags were destroyed. One fell off on the way home. Had to bungee it on.



I still have an old set ... forgot numeral designation but are original old style. No racks for them ... so may sell them too. (the racks are expensive!)

http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...-dVDmFdQ-L.jpg
Just before setting off on my first major Mexico trip on my new DR650.


I've been back 3 more times since. The GIVI's were good but the added weight (empty boxes, racks, hardware) was 35 lbs. (15 kgs.) They took a few good hits, no problems beyond a few scratches.
http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...-P3qH46P-L.jpg
Playa "La Gringa", Bahia de Los Angeles

Yes, that's it exactly - or the front half of it anyway :clap: Looks nice in red :rofl:

It's not her first long trip, just her first since the kids were born. I dug out a few old pics of us riding my old Honda CX Turbo through a snowstorm in the Pyrenees many years ago as well as one of us touring a Honda C50 stepthrough in Greece a couple of years earlier to show what a hard bitten biker chick she is (was) :eek3: :rolleyes2: but Photofvcket seems to lived up to its name and now doesn't work at all after I uploaded them.

Plan is to live the American dream and go NY-LA (for her) and back (for me as well) via anywhere interesting that catches our eye. We're probably going to buy one on the east coast - I have a friend in NJ who I'm hoping will be able to source something locally + sort the paperwork and, all other things being equal, will be coming with us on his 1976 GoldWing (or his modern Triumph). We'll then sell it once it's back in NJ. We thought about Harley's (too cliched), BMW (too "professional" :rofl:) and anything else just looks like hard work.

You don't happen to know whether the boxes on the 1800Wing come off or is it going to be a case of carrying our dirty washing into hotels in bags? :innocent:

Not mentioned are the Pelican/Storm hard plastic cases and clones. They are practically indestructible and cheaper than aluminum. You can get them with side racks that allow for quick removal. I'm using Storm im2600 on Tusk rack for Gen I KLR650.

That camper van and trailer is well nice :thumbup1: love the colour of the wing and trailer too - bloody hell im turning into an "merican" as we speak ya all :innocent:

Absolutely. Peli cases are probably the best luggage out there.

I've got one as a top box. It's indestructible and half the price of a GIVI.

Peli cases are far better than Alloy in every way. We've had both and soft luggage. Soft luggage is safer off road if you fall but such a pain if you are camping every night. The straps will drive you crazy.

When you ship the bike, the peli's make great checked luggage.
With TT Rapid trap system they come off in seconds but you will need to retro engineer the Rapid trap kit to account for the plastic being thicker than Alloy. Also the Rapid trap locking system is crap - it also needs engineering work to improve it. We got the work done and it all works perfectly on Angie's bike.
I still have the old Zega's after 60,000klm, only fallen off twice in sand and the damn things leak - out of shape. Like Ted says.... Peli top box with a QR plate is hard to beat.
When I get home the Zega's are history....I'll keep them on the garage as storage boxes but it's 1550 Peli's for me off ebay.

Pelican bought Storm. The Storm im2600 works about the same as the Pelican 1550 and is lighter, cheaper and has better latches.

I have come to the opinion that ALL current hard box systems have a major design flaw. This is that they are hard point mounted. Throw overs rest on the seat so when you hit a bump, the seat absorbs most of the shock. So it seems to me that hard cases, or at least the frame or mounting cage should be soft mounted by being rested on the rear seat maybe with additional cushioning.

Interesting idea.
Far as I know, only Triumph are doing something slightly different with their hard box mounting systems. All their new boxes can move about. I thought there was something wrong ... nope ... it's the way they designed it. I think perhaps Triumph had a similar goal in mind ... avoiding stress on hard points.
Not sure their racks move ... but for sure the boxes do.

I've no idea if it's working or not.

65,000km on this trip so far with 11000 of that being off road inc the TAT complete and we have had not one issue with our TT racks or TT mountings for the panniers. Angie battered her old style zegas to death, bent them all shapes but the mounts never gave up. Her racks got bent in a few heavier falls, we just pulled them back into shape - the hoops don't bend. The rear shock should do it's job if a quality unit and set up well. I did upgrade all the bolts that TT supplied though. I don't think hard box systems have that particular design flaw, I think some rear sub frames could be not up to the job though. Being able to pop the seat off easily is an option worth keeping in my opinion.

Nor I, but by coincidence I bought a Triumph last Wednesday, Was ok on the 460 mile ride home. (just a holdall thrown over the seat).

Strangely I was just looking at a couple of Triumphs complete with swinging panniers a couple of days ago and trying to work out the rational behind the design. I can't see how it would help with shock absorbtion as the movement is at right angles to the direction shocks come from. I can only imagine it's to make mounting the boxes easy so you don't have line things up exactly. Must be fun if you're in a car following a bike with moveable panniers wondering how close they are to falling off. :(

Its meant to assist with high speed stability according to the gumph on their website - pity the locks fall off though :oops2:

Right you are ... I remember that now, someone mentioned that fact in a review I read a while back. :thumbup1:

No problems with locks on my 1050 Tiger bags. But only done about 6000 miles with bags on and not much washboard roads.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...91_5WLtz-L.jpg
Southern Idaho/Oregon border

Come to think of it ... my bags are loose mount too ... but I added rubber inserts on the rack contact points to "tighten" things up. I love it. Nice snug fit yets it all moves a bit and is suspended by my soft rubber inserts.

Fuel economy suffers a bit with bags on ... Aerodynamics seem fine on the Tiger ... but it only goes 140 top speed. :scooter: (actually only been up to about 125 with bags on. All good AFAIK. The Tiger is excellent in gusty cross winds. Stable, stays pretty well on course when hit with a strong gust.

My V-Stroms always gave a fright in a gust of wind ... taking the bike right off the road if the gust caught you sleeping. One of the very few faults with V-Stroms.

Pelicans are great. no doubt about it.. But.. for around 1/2 the price of a pelican you can get Seahorse cases.. I have 1 630 on the tail & 2 720's on the sides. The 720's are 25L I think? the 630 a little less.. Got all 3 shipped to my door for less than $200.. Same kind of unconditional lifetime guarantee as well..

Reason 23523 to burn your Touratech catalogue :thumbup1:

Changing the subject - how is Mr Ted these dads :scooter: