Best panniers for 990 Adventure

[hilslamer]

Originally Posted by Alleycatdad

If you're talking about the rotopax, mine have proven to be plenty tough as far as abrasion goes, at least as hardy as the aftermarket main tank on my WR250F.. Given the options, I find this to be a fine spot to mount extra gas. 2-1 with an adv tank would be better protected, but that's a bunch of $ that I don't want to spend, and pretty permanent for the majority of days when I ride and don't want to pick up the extra weight. Mine are somewhat protected by the projection of the utility cases behind them, which is weird, but when it's gone down, the larger case and (once) the mount seem to take a bigger hit than the gas container.



If this bothers you, stay away from the "extra fuel" threads, where the leading method of choice seems to be coffee bags...bungeed on...now THOSE give me the heebie jeebies.

Um...you mean this one?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298041

Interestingly, they reference my recommendation for the TEMPORARY use of such a(mylar) bladder, in emergencies, here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262998

...although I don't at all recommend bungee-ing it on to any part of the bike...it fits nicely in a backpack and personally, I see that as motivation to ride _really_ carefully while you ferry fuel to whoever is out and stranded. Obviously not DOT approved, as if that means anything these days...

The RotoPax might be tough but on a wet-pavement lowside(or highside) at any sort of velocity, and expecially on shipsealed pavement like we have a lot of in the Southwest, they abrade right through in about, Oh, say 50-175 feet of slide. Combine that with those nice steel crashbars you have sparking their way along with the footpegs as they put some grooves in the tarmac, and you've got a big fire on your hands under just about any conditions even before you and the bike come to a hault.

JMO, though, to each his own...the stock tanks on the Adventures of all years are amazingly tough and literally have inches of plastic(in multi-layers and replaceable panels) in the contact/slide zones(low hanging parts right near the lowest mount) to avoid abrading through in a similar event, so it's clear that KTM addressed the issue as best they could but the RotoPax ones are...well...pretty thin...and the way you have them mounted there they are very vulnerable IMO. JMO, though. The Adventures are literally the ONLY motorcycle I have ever seen made to carry fuel in a tank(s) where it is so vulnerable as such.

Originally Posted by Helios

Yes I have thought about that, in fact that is why I chose the Kolpins vs the Rotopax.. the Kolpins have a much thicker wall and are super tough.. you can stand on one empty with the lid off and it will not even flex
But you do have me re-evaluating it again...(thanks...LOL!) Maybe I will add some sacrificial panels to the sides of them like the fuel tanks up front have...

-H

As I denote in my comments above, the stock Adventure tanks of later than ~2006(I think...or so...) have sacrificial panels outside of the stock(thick, but softer plastic) tanks that I personally have proven to work quite effectively when I foolishly mounted a fresh front Dunlop 606 the night before and left on the following cold morning and promptly lowsided like a beginner on a roadrace track. Either engineer the mounts so that the tanks themselves break away and don't ever see the weight of the bike or apply sacrificial panels as you mentioned.

[DuctTape]

I have both the Zega pro and Kriega systems along with the KTM tank bag.

Granted at just a little over 1500 miles, 3 naps and 1 clutch I'm still pretty wet behind the ears but so far I'm very happy with the set up. By using the Kriega drypacks I'm able to haul all the important stuff like tools,tubes, first aid and riding gear for different climate changes whether I'm taking the hard cases or not and the one time I did get stuck in the mud without the panniers I was able to leave the bike and wade out with drypacks on my back and tank bag in hand so all the expensive stuff wasn't left behind.

[hilslamer]

I guess I derailed this thread a bit with all the chatter about the RotoPax etc. ...pictures later, but I have an older Jesse luggage system, and for hardcases, I prefer them over all others. The way the front-bottom "edge" of the cases are beveled makes "paddling" in sand much easier(no corners to dig into your calf) and also the way the outboard-bottom edges are beveled gives a lot more cornering room on pavement as well. the way the top "edges" of hte lids are beveled also makes aggressive one-person stand-up riding much safer, and also makes it much easier for a pillion to get on and off the bike under all circumstances.

The bevels(all of them) also make the cases MUCH more rigid in a crash, where any other brand tends to crush and "parallelogram" to the point that they will not close or seal and often are very hard to get straight ever again. The lip that the lids seal to interfaces in such a way that the lid is also structural, preventing the parallelogram phenomenon further.

As I recently found out when I lost my key, the dual handle toggle locks take a pretty significant effort to defeat too - and you can't remove the cases AT ALL without opening them first.

The only drawbacks are the pricetag, and also that the mounts are steel, heavy, and not really all that ergonomic when the panniers are not installed.

[Mooney 78865]

After reading the replies in this thread I pulled the trigger on a set of Wolfman racks and bags today. Having a set of Pelican cases on a brand K (that's what got me started in all this "adventure" stuff) and hooking my feet a couple times under the cases. I figure I wasn't going to keep pushing my luck. Fortunately, Alpinestar tech 7's kept my feet pointed the right direction. However, with another 60+ hp and a few more lbs, I'm bound to get myself into some sort of mischief that will trash an aluminum pannier, or my leg/ankle.

[Mooney 78865]

Originally Posted by DuctTape

I have both the Zega pro and Kriega systems along with the KTM tank bag.

Granted at just a little over 1500 miles, 3 naps and 1 clutch I'm still pretty wet behind the ears but so far I'm very happy with the set up. By using the Kriega drypacks I'm able to haul all the important stuff like tools,tubes, first aid and riding gear for different climate changes whether I'm taking the hard cases or not and the one time I did get stuck in the mud without the panniers I was able to leave the bike and wade out with drypacks on my back and tank bag in hand so all the expensive stuff wasn't left behind.

Dude! I was reading your list of bikes, VERY nice stable! What color RSV4?

[Mooney 78865]

My bad, didn't read the "factory"! My local shop: KTM, Ducati, Aprilia. And they STOCK bikes. Have coffee too. Significantly above average!!

[moto-treks]

Originally Posted by DuctTape

I have both the Zega pro and Kriega systems along with the KTM tank bag.

Granted at just a little over 1500 miles, 3 naps and 1 clutch I'm still pretty wet behind the ears but so far I'm very happy with the set up. By using the Kriega drypacks I'm able to haul all the important stuff like tools,tubes, first aid and riding gear for different climate changes whether I'm taking the hard cases or not and the one time I did get stuck in the mud without the panniers I was able to leave the bike and wade out with drypacks on my back and tank bag in hand so all the expensive stuff wasn't left behind.

nice looking 990 - well farkled too. How do you like the Renazco seat?

[Gargoyle]

Originally Posted by Mooney 78865

After reading the replies in this thread I pulled the trigger on a set of Wolfman racks and bags today.

Post some pics after you install the racks and bags please.

[kirb]

I spent enough on KTM Gobi latches that I could have bought a set of Wolfman's. they seem to pop off with even a hint of a tip over.

I'll use the Gobi bags for two-up and will be getting a set of Wolfman's for single tours.