I have riden my R1150 GS from London to India. I bought the very expensive Touratech paniers believing the sales pitch that they were water-tight. The slightest ding breaks the silicone seal at the base, and the flimsy aluminium bends by just looking at it. The top box rattled so much due to the bad design of the locking device that i had to send it home lest the small 'bendy' lugs which were meant to hold it rigid snapped. The paniers are over priced, badly designed, not waterproof, and hell to try and get on and off. General rating: very poor. Mine are going in the bin when i get back!

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www.lonebiker.net

I popped in to Metal Mule on my way to Brighton last week, and was very impressed with their panniers, top-boxes and their very quick, secure mounting system.

They looked very well thought out, superbly made, rigid and strong - I particularly liked the inset base that gives increased strength and protection to this vulnerable area.

There have full rubber seals on all joints/sections which makes them 'totally' water and dust proof.

Considering the total costs of properly equipping an 'adventure bike', they are relatively only a very small amount more than other makes. I cannot now understand why anyone considers other pannier boxes. They even do them in shiny eye-catching ali finish for the posers!

My own order will be going to them shortly. I only hope my endoresment here does not cause an increase in the order period!

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Vitim Bridge Clubwww.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533442
www.sibirskyextreme.com

Can't go past Jesse panniers - more space than anyone else and completely waterproof.

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http://50-degrees-north.blogspot.com/

Yeah, they seem the best and I really wanted a set, but the company and its owners themselves are rude, unreliable and lie, unless you own a BMW. I have been waiting a year for them to make me some panniers, I just ordered Happy Trails as I got sick of waiting.

Regards
TS

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www.travellingstrom.com

I really like the Pelican cases - tough and no sh--- water and dust proof. Have just ordered a set for a '08 KLR. Pack em like a suitcase - no need to dig through everything to get at something buried on the bottom.

Caribou Luggage Systems
www.cariboucases.com - World's Toughest Motorcycle Luggage Systems

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Jim

It's pretty much the same if you own a BMW:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ighlight=jesse

ADVrider - View Single Post - BMW bags - failed crash test

Initially I had the BMW vario plastic cases on my 1200GS but decided to change to aluminium for larger capacity and looks.

I've never liked the look of Touratech's Zega cases. Jesse was my first port of call. I loved the design of the lids, but the panniers leaked and the company never solved the problem with the silencer clearance, plus the compartment below the top box came off twice. Oh, and the key I had (and still have) appears to fit every other Jesse case in the world! Anyway, back they went.

I refitted the vario cases which survived several falls off road and were still waterproof. The panniers were eventually sold with the bike.

When I got the 1200 Adventure I went for the BMW luggage but found it marked easily with road salt, left marks all over the contents, and also leaked. They were replaced under warranty but I decided to sell them whilst still in 'new' condition to get something else. Also the top box is too small for any use.

I briefly considered the BMW vario cases but wanted to retain the Adventure rear rack. I decided to try Metal Mule, and I have a complete set of panniers and top box being fitted Friday.

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

I had a pair of Mycatech bags on a previous bike that I really liked, well made in Northeast US. I have Jesse's on this bike, they have been pretty good,

I have these, and have had no problems whatsoever.

Obviously you've got a bad batch. Maybe next time you should opt for Gobi's?

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Visit my space here
See my photos here

They spend a lot of time at the Welders....no matter the system.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

I agree in every word!

Personally I have experienced that endless corrugation kill the racks, not the crashes. But my boxes are pretty solid.

Well, BMW guys are used to that things work, also under extreme conditions. That might be one of (many) things we do wrong. We can not expect the same quality of kit from Touratech, Jesse and many others.
We can’t mount flimsy hardware from various sources and expect the same quality!

….on the other hand. Why should the luggage system be the limiting factor? Well, I spend a lot of time and money to solve this. Now I have a setup where I can drive endless corrugation, two up with camping gear and luggage.

I have Happy Trails on my DL650 and am quite happy with them. They are enormous and very waterproof (tested them a month ago while driving through a flood). While I haven't had a substantial fall on my bike, I've tipped it over quite a few times and only have a few scratches and no bends on my panniers.

I had the exact same experience as TravellingStrom -- I wanted Jesse's, waited 3 months of "only two more weeks", and ended up buying/loving my Happy Trails. I have been asked if they were homemade and I doubt that would happen if I had Jesse bags.

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http://davegtravels.com - RTW on a DRZ
All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09

you break one....you get another FREE!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

I refuse to pay stupid money for boxes. I use Alpos boxes which, though half the price of many other boxes, still cost too much.

But anyway, these Alpos boxes do the business and are cheap (ish) and cheerful.


PS I made my own racks, so can't comment on Alpos racks.

Down with overpriced boxes......don't pay more...

I'd consider it a mistake on any dirt or potholed road when doing long distances. But if riding like a retired pensioner, then you can do with ANY boxes setup w/o anything braking.

I had Givi plastics (a bit older models, but the mounting system seems to stay same for them, only outer design is updated) on my Susuki GSX bike, even here in Estonia, mostly on very shaky USSR style paved roads I nearly killed the plastic mounting points (where metal frame meets with the plastic box), sold them. If i'd take it to out gravel roads, they'd certanly fell off at one point taking all the pot holes

Givi pannier frame twice broke because of vibrations, first on our bad roads and again it managed to broke less than 12,000km on one of my tours on a nice european roads. Needed to re-weld it twice. Can't imagine if I fit the same system on my trusty BMW GS that ride very hard on dirt and gravel, at one point I'd probably see they're missing from the bike.

My Suzuki had amazingly lot of electrical and some mechanical problems per little 50,000km I rode with it, I whish Suzuki gave me a new bike every 10,000km or so, even more problems than the plain italian boxes created per that distance, but still, I'd recommend eighter soft or alloy boxes solution if you want to ride the bike hard and/or load the panniers hard.

In fact I've seen older Givis (with those absolete outer shapes) and they had more robust fixing system than the new ones, visually seemed to be better. But still I think indeed you can use plastics panniers like new Givis, if riding very carefully, slowly over potholes, not loading them hard, then you'll have no problems on what ever boxes you have and can praise the boxes sky-high after coming back from the trip. As always it's up to the rider.

Another thing is "crash-proof" question that most of people don't consider, fortunately or unfortunately. Solid "bending and un-cracking" alloy or a soft (textile) panniers don't fell off even on high speed crash, they have a material deformation "reserve" compared to plastics. In Poland I've done a approx 100kph crash after a car decided to do an illegal maneuver. Bike slided more than 10m on tar first, off the road the over 300kg fully loaded bike did 2 saltos together with us. Thick 2.5mm boxes stayed on till the end (VERY strong frame and very strong mountings), boxer cylinders had protected my legs (i.e. with inline or V-configuarion bike my leg bones probably had been into multiple pieces) and alu had boxes protected my g/f's legs. Basically in combination with cylinders they created a "protective space" for our legs. From the situation, I can easily tell that if we had plastic boxes, my pillon's legs would have been damaged, and other worst things happenined I don't want to imagine.

Pic of the aftermath:


See those boxes and now replace the thick 2.5mm aluminium with any comercially available plastic box that is mounted on the bike with fragile frame. What would have happened to my and her legs then?

In my definition after being through this: plastic boxes would have been simply "vaporized" with these kind of forces.

More about it here: Caja Sahel

Most of us think it's mostly our own faults doing crashes etc, but this story proves you must be careful of other mad cage drivers that can end your travel in a very unexpected moment. Choosing correct boxes can play a crucial part for your own security and protecting your bike too.

Ride safe, Margus