I'd been hunting for decent pannier options for the Bonnie, and also racks/mounts for them. But all the options had drawbacks: expensive mounts, too-large boxes, not working with a passenger, crazy expensive boxes... Suddenly I had a wedding to go to and needed to get two guys, two suits and a kilt on the bike and get it all to Liverpool.
By a stroke of luck I stumbled on these the week before. 26 Litres each, waterproof, a clean black design that works with the bike (give or take the unnecessary but at least subtle treadmark prints on the sides). And reduced from £160 RRP (which they still sell at elsewhere) to £80, plus free delivery. Bargain!
I had no idea Ortlieb even did motorbike stuff, but knew they were quality from my cycling days. Even better, a search of their website turned up a chart with info on whether the bags would fit on each specific Triumph bike model. Very impressed.
Fitting the bags was something of a pain. The Givi rack turned out to be a problem with it's sticking out the side grab rail blocking where the velcro straps should go. A bit of stretching and I made it work, but it's gonna be a right pain to get the seat off and on now. A better long term solution may be needed.
After riding with them for a bit I can say that I'm still really pleased. Sensibly sized; they stick out no further than the handlebars, they stay on well, they will sit in place (against the rear shocks) without any support rails; they sit far enough back to allow a passenger to use the footpegs comfortably; they're super waterproof; they weight practically nothing. I also embarrassingly dropped the bike for the first time, with two people and a lot of baggage while stopped at a junction right by my house on the way home. The bag acted as a little airbag and the result was not a single scratch. I'm not sure how strong they'll be in the long run, and I do think I need to get rails in the long run to avoid wear and sag.
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