Empty Panniers

[Whealie]

I once rode with empty cans tot eh supermarket. Passing a car at the lights I heard an enormous booming bang. I pulled over, the car pulled over and we searched and searched for any damage.

Eventually we found the tie down ring on the lid had hit the underside of his wing-mirror, with barely a mark.

The noise an empty aluminium box can make is awesome.

[Jackdaw]

Let me join the banter
I commute, so panniers in the loft except for touring and out for the day with my wife on the back.
Top box always on for day to day stuff, unfortunatley my bike lives under a cover, so top box off at night.
I was so tempted by aluminium panniers, but that might have been for the look, but I do tour and put on a lot of mileage.
Let's be honest, the only advantage of ali panniers is coming off; you can bang them back into shape.
But, as I intend to keep mine upright and I have panniers in the loft, I'll continue to use my ABS jobbies.

+1 to this except the ability of plastic boxes to take a fall. I had a big 'off' eighteen months ago with my givi boxes on ( I was on holiday and not goin' down the shops) Left hand box took the full force of the fall, bike bounced up and over onto the other side (have you ever seen a Varadero bounce?) and the slid 50 m. up the road. The covers of the boxes are seriously scratched but they still function perfectly. I didn't need to bash them back into shape.

[StumpyFingers]

I only fit mine if I need to carry something that does not fit in the top box.
Or if on a trip that needs extra storage.
I think the reason for so many GS's being seen with them all the time is the bike came with them fitted and the rider does not know that they are removable.
In the 1980's I had panniers on my CB500 and they were fixed and not removable. Maybe the born again Ewan / Charley wannabes have not realised that times have changed.

[Snaphappy]

Would it be right to have wing (mirror) markings on panniers I am eligible for one

[winxp-master]

TBH i like the look of ali panniers, i use givi ones (monokey 41ltr) but i think panniers do give the bike more presence and if i had ali ones i'd use the extra lights from rugged roads as this gives far more visibility, especially when braking.

Tell me these lights dont look the bizz:

[Lulu]

I'm gonna stick up for these GS guys...........have you seen the amount of tools you have to carry to fix these things on the move

Quality . Well, I don't remove Nessie's topbox, a. cos I haven't worked out how to do so, b. cos once I get it off, I might not be able to get it back on again, and c. cos where else does a girl put her handbag? .

[maddave]

I never have side panniers on if I can help it. The topbox stays on tho, just coz it's somewhere to put yer lid when yer parked up

[Windmill John]

Another thing, have you noticed sports bike riders sometimes mock panniers; I know one who does.
But, they are happy to use, I think they're called, aeropacks. Even magazines advertise these for sports bikes.
Now, I'm not saying this for effect, but those aero packs do actually look stupid!
So these guys knock practical, contoured panniers, but they'll gladly stick a back pack looking thing on a tall metal bracket high up in the air on their Pocket rocket.
Vanity is a dangerous thing

[Shox Dr]

TBH i like the look of ali panniers, i use givi ones (monokey 41ltr) but i think panniers do give the bike more presence and if i had ali ones i'd use the extra lights from rugged roads as this gives far more visibility, especially when braking.

Tell me these lights dont look the bizz:

Mmmmm, The only noise omitted from that type of bikes is the Indicator Beeper.





A vote for All excess baggage dumped at the first opportunity.

[Rubberchicken]

Let's be honest, the only advantage of ali panniers is coming off; you can bang them back into shape.

Don't count on it.

Yes you can bang 'em back into something resembling squareness, but especially Zegas once they're bent they're bent, you'll never get them to close properly again. (I know, I just bought a new bloody one this winter.)



I don't have a topbox as such (the tiny peli case for the bigarse chain lock doesn't count) but I do have the metal boxes on all the time because I use them often enough that I can't be bothered taking them off. And I do filter with them. They're no wider than the bars, and just a bit wider than the engine, so while they do get in the way just a bit it's no big deal once you're used to them.

People do like to bang on about the empty C&E stereotype wannabe poser-panniers, but they're just too practical for me to care about the bad image.