Himalayan luggage

Wapping

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When I was having my test rides, I had a look at Royal Enfield’s metal panniers, which fit the frames the bike is supplied with.

In essence they are a copy of BMW’s very good metal panniers, such us you’d find on the GSA. Several other manufacturers also copy BMW’s panniers, imitation being the most sincere form of flattery.

Royal Enfield’s offering are OK. Not as large a volume as BMW’s or other manufacturers’ panniers but size is not everything, They are certainly not as expensive as BMW’s and are probably not as well made. I meant to look properly but I think the Enfield panniers might be riveted, as opposed to BMW’s which are welded. This reduces costs for RE, enabling them to sell their product cheaper. The disadvantage comes in that if you bash a welded pannier in a fall, it is usually possible to bang the welded pannier back into shape. That is not so easy on a pannier that is pop riveted. That being said, how many panniers actually get bashed so hard that they distort?

The method of holding the panniers to their carrying frames differ. BMW’s have a very simple and quite clever ‘slide in place’ interference fit, then locked in place by two separate hasp locks, front and rear. All in all, very good. RE’s use a lock (I think copied from other manufacturers’ panniers) which turns from the inside, to lock the pannier in place. This is OK and I guess works. The downside is that the pin or axel that the lock turns on leaves a quite pronounced nut sticking out inside the pannier. I guess that a luggage bag might catch on these, making it awkward to pull the bag out? A small thing perhaps, but maybe something to consider at least.

The good news is that there is then a lot of choice of alternative luggage available for the RE. Micky uses the very practicable plate which replaces the pillion seat and ties a soft roll bag in place. Simple and effective. Posh Pete does something similar but with the addition of soft bags. Givi offers alternative hard panniers, larger in volume than RE’s. I haven’t looked at these so I am unsure how they lock in place and / or as to whether they use the standard RE carriers. There is then a wide choice of third party, throw-over bags, some of which do use the RE’s standard frame as a support. Ventura (luggage I really like) also offers their take on things, too.

In short, lots of choice to suite every bod out there, which is a good thing. No doubt everyone will have their favourites, just as they do with tyres and gloves.
 
Well that's 1 minute of my life I'll never get back

Read faster :D

I use the Enduristan panniers which are excellent and due to them having an internal stiffener do not lose their shape. I have the RE pannier frames and the panniers fit to them easily. Basically they straddle the pillion seat resting on the rails each side, an aerolastic from one to the other across the rear of the bike hold them in and two straps on the front of the panniers go to an adjacent bit of frame stopping them moving out and/or back. Job done, fitted in minutes, removed in minutes, grab both handles in one hand, lift them off and you're good to go.
 
When I was having my test rides, I had a look at Royal Enfield’s metal panniers, which fit the frames the bike is supplied with.

In essence they are a copy of BMW’s very good metal panniers, such us you’d find on the GSA. Several other manufacturers also copy BMW’s panniers, imitation being the most sincere form of flattery.

Royal Enfield’s offering are OK. Not as large a volume as BMW’s or other manufacturers’ panniers but size is not everything, They are certainly not as expensive as BMW’s and are probably not as well made. I meant to look properly but I think the Enfield panniers might be riveted, as opposed to BMW’s which are welded. This reduces costs for RE, enabling them to sell their product cheaper. The disadvantage comes in that if you bash a welded pannier in a fall, it is usually possible to bang the welded pannier back into shape. That is not so easy on a pannier that is pop riveted. That being said, how many panniers actually get bashed so hard that they distort?

The method of holding the panniers to their carrying frames differ. BMW’s have a very simple and quite clever ‘slide in place’ interference fit, then locked in place by two separate hasp locks, front and rear. All in all, very good. RE’s use a lock (I think copied from other manufacturers’ panniers) which turns from the inside, to lock the pannier in place. This is OK and I guess works. The downside is that the pin or axel that the lock turns on leaves a quite pronounced nut sticking out inside the pannier. I guess that a luggage bag might catch on these, making it awkward to pull the bag out? A small thing perhaps, but maybe something to consider at least.

The good news is that there is then a lot of choice of alternative luggage available for the RE. Micky uses the very practicable plate which replaces the pillion seat and ties a soft roll bag in place. Simple and effective. Posh Pete does something similar but with the addition of soft bags. Givi offers alternative hard panniers, larger in volume than RE’s. I haven’t looked at these so I am unsure how they lock in place and / or as to whether they use the standard RE carriers. There is then a wide choice of third party, throw-over bags, some of which do use the RE’s standard frame as a support. Ventura (luggage I really like) also offers their take on things, too.

In short, lots of choice to suite every bod out there, which is a good thing. No doubt everyone will have their favourites, just as they do with tyres and gloves.

SW Motech make good luggage and in soft type or hard alloy pannier options

I have their alloy boxes and think they are on par or better than the TT offering
 
The RE aluminium boxes, being smaller than most aftermarket items, obviously offer less capacity but they do look in proportion with the rest of the bike.

The Himmy is quite a thin bike and large panniers could look absurdly big. So if style's your thing, pack less and use those neat standard items.
 
There are many arguments for and against hard/soft luggage :blast

I prefer the roll bag across the seat. Wunderlich supplied Sue and myself with one apiece for our first Long Way Home adventure. Made by Ortleib and it is still in use, still going strong. Totally absolutely waterproof, and crash proof and still doing the job!

Pear shaped, just spread whatever is in it level and fold down and snap the fasteners .... sorted.

In a hotel room or camp you can just open it up and work from it. Underpants and socks in some red plastic supermarket bags, T shirts in another, trousers in yet another :thumby:

Toiletries to the right, old helmet bag with chargers and cables to the left .... sorted :thumb2

Laptop buried in the middle :D

i-qbVHWGx-L.jpg


:beerjug:
 
In my case, it's a matter of distributing the weight. The tent has to go in the roll bag. That leaves one pannier for the bag and mat and the other for cooking stuff and minimal spare clothes. The Lomo bags fitted are just too small for bag etc. Sod's law the large ones will be too big and too close to the exhaust! Anyway, a visit to Lomo will reveal all.

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk
 
It is because OEM rear racks for most makes have surprisingly light weight limits, maybe 7kgs, that the pillion seat replacement luggage plate appeals to me. That part of the frame can carry an 80Kg pillion, so presumably you can stash some pretty heavy luggage there.
 
In my case, it's a matter of distributing the weight. The tent has to go in the roll bag. That leaves one pannier for the bag and mat and the other for cooking stuff and minimal spare clothes. The Lomo bags fitted are just too small for bag etc. Sod's law the large ones will be too big and too close to the exhaust! Anyway, a visit to Lomo will reveal all.

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk

Ready to go .... but the keys aren't on the lanyard round my neck, or in my jacket pocket, they're in the feckin' pocket inside the tent :D

:beerjug:
 
In my case, it's a matter of distributing the weight. The tent has to go in the roll bag. That leaves one pannier for the bag and mat and the other for cooking stuff and minimal spare clothes. The Lomo bags fitted are just too small for bag etc. Sod's law the large ones will be too big and too close to the exhaust! Anyway, a visit to Lomo will reveal all.

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk

The tent can go anywhere if you take the poles out and tie them somewhere separately, like onto the carrier.
 
Or you can go home made with Peli type boxes. No frames just 3D printed mounts, so light weight and tucked in well.

Not very big but do the job
 

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Ready to go .... but the keys aren't on the lanyard round my neck, or in my jacket pocket, they're in the feckin' pocket inside the tent :D

:beerjug:
You shag ONE sheep! : blast:D

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk
 
The tent can go anywhere if you take the poles out and tie them somewhere separately, like onto the carrier.
Indeed but I like to have it all in one Lomo bag. Bear in mind it's a fairly large tent and probably wouldn't fit into a medium pannier anyway. (Translation: I'm an old fart set in his ways!)

Sent from my moto e30 using Tapatalk
 
Or you can go home made with Peli type boxes. No frames just 3D printed mounts, so light weight and tucked in well.

Not very big but do the job

I'd love some more information/photo of your mounts, please. 👍
 
I'd love some more information/photo of your mounts, please. ��

I'll sort some pictures out, but basically I 3D printed spacer blocks then bolted through the box and the block into the subframe, added another printed block to the rear indicator stem and ran a steel bar down to near the pillion footpeg.
 


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