What are your opinions of the original Yamaha metal panniers for the XT660Z?

I am contemplating buying one of these bikes in the near future - maybe two even (for my GF as well). I will likely not keep the bike more than a few years. If I can avoid spending extra money on luggage by buing a bike that allready had them, that would be nice. What I don't want is to pay a premium for a bike which has side carriers and panniers which I will swap out.

The problem is that I see that a lot of used bikes either come with these original panniers, or only with a more classic permanent side carrier without any panniers (owner either keeping the hard panniers or selling the bike with some crappy soft bags or no panniers/bags at all).

From the looks of it, it looks like the side carrier /rack for the original Yamaha panniers will only be compatible with the Yamaha panniers. Also, the whole setup doesn't look as strong as your more typical rack - though it might in fact be entirely opposite (attachment front bottom corner?). Lastly, the panniers look very small. This last pont is not a huge issue at the moment, but would be on a long trip.

I have never seen this type of set-up up close, so I can't really make an informed opinion. All the bikes for sale at the moment are a 12 hour drive from where I live - so a trip means "ready to buy" or I don't go. Also, there is not a lot of bikes to choose from (non on the market with a complete setup with decent after market panniers - only the side carrier or the Yamaha original pannier.

It seems to me that the only real attractive feature with the original Yamaha setup is that with the panniers removed, the attachment hardware/rack is virtually invisible - and the bike is kept slim and neat. Also, that the bike is kept slim even with the panniers on - compared to more typical side carriers that add width.

I guess by investing in a removeable rack from motech, many of the Yamaha original benefits could be kept - but at a hefty price tag.

To add some additional context: I will not be using the bike for an RTW any time soon - maybe a 3 week adventure at most (i.e. Norway, Morocco or Iceland). What I really want is a T7 or an Africa Twin, but I can't justify the expense at this time - not with the riding I intend to be doing the next few years.

My ideal setup would be either hard panniers (i.e. Touratech) on a quick detachment rack from Motech, or the semi rigid MotoBag from Lonerider on the same Motech rack (when they release their quick detachment solution), possibly Mosko or Kriega.

So, what are your thoughts on the matter?

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