OK, they are second-hand and a bit scruffy (the previous owner did a 20,000 mile tour of the States with them on), but new these would cost £225, and they are mine for the princely sum of nada, zero, nothing, zilch.
Readers may remember I have been muttering about luggage for the bike for a while now. It seemed as though soft paniers were the way to go - cheap and cheerful, and easily taken off when you don't need them. But then I saw a similar bike to mine at a meet, with some hard side-cases, and they looked just right. Change of plan ...
I had bought some Triumph-branded fabric panniers, complete with metal frame rails to keep them out of the back wheel. These proved to be too small and flimsy for my needs, so I put the bags on eBay and kept the rails on the bike, thinking they would be fine with some Frank Thomas soft bags. The bags alone sold for £20 more than I had paid for the bags and rails together, so I was up £20 and had the rails for free. Then came the change of heart, and I started searching eBay for hard cases and frames.
A pair of Hepco and Becker Junior panniers (the same as I had seen at the meet) came up, and with matching frames from the same seller. He had them mounted to a bike like mine and had toured the States with them. He then sold the bike and was selling the kit separately. I won the frames for £50, and just missed out on the cases. While I was waiting for the frames to arrive, I put the Triumph rails on eBay, and they sold within a couple of hours - for £50. Bingo!
So I now have the frames for nothing, and £20 towards a set of cases. I'm watching eBay like a hawk.
Nice.
ReplyDeleteThey suit the bike well, and for that sort of price (!) I can see why you're pleased.
Good call, going for the H&B option. You probably won't be revisiting the Soul Mover luggage thread, but I did comment there on the Givi thing. In essence - sturdy and reliable, yes, but generally ugly and with no attempt to tailor either fittings or luggage to suit the bike.
My Versys came with a rebadged Givi pannier set fitted, but I'd love to junk that and fit a set of SW Motech Evo bars with matching Trax black powder-coated aluminium cases. Just can't justify spending the cash for a purely aesthetic improvement, unfortunately...
I get an alert from the other blog when anyone comments, so I did see it. And replied, I think, although I CBA to check.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I would be with you on the aluminium cases. They are very popular owing to Ewan and Charlie and all that, but if you read forums like Horizons Unlimited, there are a lot of reports of the ally ones cracking, falling to bits, or damaging their owners in a fall. Plastic/ABS (or whatever it is) cases should last better, even if they don't look quite so RTW-tough. To me, the H&B are a good compromise: they seem to be robust, practical and waterproof, but avoid the gaudiness of some of Givi's offerings.
I'm not a fan of the ally catering-tin look at all - for a start, I've never owned a bike where they wouldn't look ridiculous...! The matt-black SW Motech top loaders are angular and modern (and appear to be extremely well-made), rather than a wannabee adventure biker look. That said, there's not a lot of difference in price/style between those and the plastic H&B Gobi pannier sets, which I also like a lot. Either of which, I reckon, would suit the Kawasaki far better than the Givis do.
ReplyDeleteOn a usage-versus-cost basis, however, keeping the free-with-the-bike Givi kit wins hands down!
"Catering-tin look" - LOL. I totally agree. In fact, I'm not sure there is any bike on which they don't look ridiculous. Even the big Beemers. The SW Motech ones do look good, I admit - just enough concession to style so as not to appear self-consciously butch, if you see what I mean. The Gobis have a double skin, I believe, and can carry 3.5 litres of water (although the taps are extra - how logical is that?). Whether you would want to drink water that has been sitting in the sun for hours in a plastic box is another matter.
ReplyDeletePut the Trax boxes down on your Santa list! Until then, free-with-the-bike would do for me.