Panniers

[pearlblue1800]

I plan on doing a ride down the west coast of Baja Mexico, ferry across the Gulf of California, continue down the west coast of Mexico, to Central America, then north on the east coast of Mexico then returning to British Columbia.
This ride will not take place till the fall of 2010.
One of the main reasons for this is that the Honda Transalp XL700V, did not make it into Canada for the 2009 market year.
This will be my ride of choice.
My question is what make of aluminum panniers are recommended, and why?
Thanks:
PearlBlue

[bigTom]

Welcome pearlblue1800! Sounds like a dream trip.

I'm a soft bag guy, I'm sure some of the others will chime in here. You might want to check the 'for sale '08 KLR' thread, I know Mac was very happy with those bags!

Glad you are here

[Yamifj1200]

You might want to take a look at Hepco and Becker side bags. I have a set of the Journey bags on my bike. Their racks are first class, and removel of the bags is quick and easy. They also lock to the rack very securely.

http://www.hepco-becker.de/_eng/frameset.php

here is a site where you can see whats available with pricing.

http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=hepco_becker

Hope this helps..

Eric

[Ironheadziggy76]

Welcome pearlblue1800! I was looking at the cans bigtom was talking about from Happy Trail before building my own out of Ammo Cans. The Hepco-Becker cans look like they are very heavy duty, but were too spendy for my budget.

[Tx White Knight]

A lot of folks like Jesse bags (http://www.jesseluggage.com/about.html), some say that any of them that are riveted do not hold up as well if you bike takes a nap on its side

[bluepoof]

I have Moto-Sport Panniers (http://www.moto-sportpanniers.com/) (the 26L Baja size). I had good luck with them on my cross-country ride last summer.

One of the covers did dent in slightly when my bike got sleepy once, but application of a small ball peen hammer upon my return home worked and the bag is waterproof again.

Here are a couple of photos so you can see the size:

http://bluepoof.com/pics/may08/cache/10pct/IMG_0110.jpg

http://bluepoof.com/pics/may08/cache/10pct/IMG_0044.jpg

[Lowrider]

Welcome pearlblue1800! I was looking at the cans bigtom was talking about from Happy Trail before building my own out of Ammo Cans. The Hepco-Becker cans look like they are very heavy duty, but were too spendy for my budget.

Hey Ziggy,

WHat ammo can did you use? I'm setting up a DRZ 400E for the TAT and was/am planning to use either a 40mm granade can or 20mm cannon can. I've been using them for years on bikes, tractors, 4 wheelers and jeeps...cheap and work great!!

BTW, I used to have a 73 AMF Ironhead that I loved but I got too old to kick start it anymore...didn't have a starter. It was a cold natured witch!! #1 son morphed it into a bobber over the years and we both had alot of fun on that bike. It even had mini bowling pins for brake and clutch levers for awhile in honor of AMF.

[Ironheadziggy76]

Ahh, Lowrider you had a Sportster that had the shifter on the correct side! Mine's an XLH so she has an "Electric Foot". Here is a bad picture of it covered in sheetrock dust where I was working in the basement. Word of advice, old sheets don't make the best bike covers! I have always wanted to go with a rigid frame and a springer front end off of a 45, maybe some day. When I got it, it was practically a rolling basket, bent and stuck valve, bad white paint job. I rebuilt the top end and painted it myself. Nothing fancy, but I still like to get her out and take her for a spin every so often.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/Ironheadziggy76/Img_0113.jpg

I used the 20mm cans, here is a link where I posted them on this site. If you check out the later pages of the post I put pics of them after they were painted with the tool tube added.

http://www.motocampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1428