Twisted Throttle Quick Release Pelican + SW Motech Racks any good?

I've been scoping panniers for my G650GS for weeks and I can't settle. I am likely to do some camping and such where I'll be feet from the bike but I'll also be riding this bike on travels to more domesticated destinations where I'll want to bring luggage in with me for the night.

Thus what I'd really like is a set of cases that I can remove from the racks without having to open the cases. In the event of a downpour I don't want to have to fill my cases with water or drench everything inside while trying to unmount them.

I'm very attracted to the Caribou cases system but $800 is a little rich for my blood. For about $230 less I can get the Twisted Throttle Quick Release brackets, the SW Motech Quick Release racks, and a set of Seahorse 720 cases.

Brackets: http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/5677/854/
Racks: www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/6855/118/

My biggest concern with this solution is that the SW Motech brackets look a pretty wimpy compared to the Happy Trails SU or Caribou racks and the added attachment points (so you can quiickly remove the racks, which I'll probably never do) make me nervous about durability.

I've done some Googling as well as searching on this forum and can't find any really definitive reviews on the ruggedness and durability of the SW Motech Quick Release pannier racks. Is anyone here able to remedy that?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Like I said, I did search. If I somehow missed a good post I'd be greatful if you could point me to it as opposed to flaming me for not finding it.

Thanks!

I've got the racks you're asking about (I use em with Givis, though).

They are fine for street and gravel roads, but I wouldn't want to trust them when it comoes to single track and terrain that would be pretty much warrant falling over . . . . .

Ive used the SW-Motech racks some on my DR650,the one time I took them on a multi day trip on rough bashing fire roads one of the quick release dealios gave up quickly,I ended up threading a bolt through it and lock nutting it then using rok straps around each box/rack combo and that held it all on for 1900 miles of thrashing. It is nice being able to pop rack and box off once camp is reached and you dont want all that stuff on there.
Like most racks they would probably bend all to heck in a decent crash.

Thanks for the replies. Still on the fence. The Happy Trails SU rack looks significantly stronger and I'd really like to have some confidence that if the bike does land on it's side I won't be out a pannier rack. Might just bight the bullet and deal with non quick release panniers.

Here's an option:
http://cariboucases.com/store/?name=Catalog&mode=d&id=002

Pulled the trigger this morning. Here's what I ordered:

From Caribou:
Hepco Becker racks: $322
DIY quick release case mount kit: $190

Some random website:
Seahorse 720 cases x 2 @ $48 each.

That gets me a complete quick release kit with what I percieve to be more hefty racks (than the Motech) for $608. That's $200 cheaper than the complete Caribou Pelican setup and just $38 more than the equivalent Seahorse + Twisted Throttle + SW Motech rack setup.

I'll post a full review when I get it all set up.

I'm a little late, but for future reference, my buddy dropped his vstrom 1000 on his sw motech racks at around 10 MPH on asphalt. No cases on them, direct on the rack. A little scrape on one of the pucks was the only obvious damage. Cases fit fine. Their instructions suck though and they are a royal pain to install.

The 1/4 turn fastners are a joke for anything beyond pavement duty.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out..I'm considering going the same route.

I have also those Sw-motech quick lock racks and pelican 1550 cases. Few hits in dirt and one on race track and they are still fine. Okay they have bend a bit but nothing serious. Left pelican has also few scratches because of this:
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zh_lThjrDCM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://youtu.be/zh_lThjrDCM

I posted a write-up of the install of the HB rack w/ Caribou hardware on the Seahorse 720 cases here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18698312#post18698312

+1 I realize this thread is a few months old but I would like to share my experience with the SW-Motech side racks. Last week I had these sideracks fail while riding the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route. One of the welds that attaches the bracket to footpeg failed. In addition I had two of the quick release fasteners just pop off. I have 1500 Pelicans (the small ones) attached to the racks so these smallish cases should not have been too much stress on the racks. I have had no drops and at this point I am very disappointed with the racks. I think they’re okay for street riding and maybe some very light off pavement stuff, but they were definitely not up to the task on this trip.

This was Twisted Throttles response: "I am sorry about the failure of your racks. SW-Motech is the only brand we carry and we have faith in it. Your carriers are currently out of warranty but if you would be interested in a new set, I would be happy to offer you another set at a deep discount of $190.94 . Please let me know if you would like to proceed with an order."

YES. Solid as hell. They saved my buddies ass twice (I think hes a member on here) when he dropped his wee strom with them on. Once in the rain and once in the snow. nothing got bent cases just got scratched.

Twisted throttle service is also excellent.

SW Motech EVO racks and Pelican 1550 cases. Cases are 100% lifetime warranty regardless of how you mount them. The racks are very strong. We did the Washington Backcountry discovery route and they were flawless even if hard bags are not the way to go there. Soft has give, and if you fall really hard anything will bend, and it is wider than a soft system. But they are built very well. The 1/4 turn bolts did not budge, and if it made it through some of the crazy bullshit baby head lava rock washout hell we did for 600 miles, I will never be concerned. If you are scared of the 1/4 turn system buy the Caribou rack bolt modification and change them.

N

If you go soft go with Kriega 10 year warranty, bomb proof, 100% waterproof

Maybe I just got a poor weld job on my SW-Motech racks then, because I had heard nothing but good things about these racks. I think I'll re-weld them with some extra gussets and toss the 1/4 turn fasteners for some 8mm Stn. Stl. Soc. Hd. Cap Screws and Nylock Nuts.

Please contact our toll-free customer service line. If you are within the warranty period of two years we should have no trouble replacing those for you. 855-255-5550 If you bought them through a dealer of ours you may have to run the warranty through the shop. If you call us though we will get you taken care of one way or another.

Kevin

The racks are fine, but the struts will bend if you drop the bike hard enough; they are easy to straighten if you need to. I just found a crack in the HAZ of one of the welds on mine; just welded it back up and painted it, no problem.

As others said, if you really plan to abuse these things, you might want to look for a more robust setup.

PS - Twisted Throttle has always treated me well when it comes to product support. No complaints.

Kevin,
Thanks for the reply, and I did ordered these directly from TT in March of '09 so I'm out of the two year warranty period. A closer inspection of the welded area has revealed that the actual weld did not fail but the parent material around the weld failed. A friend of mine who is a ASTM certified welder looked at it and his evaluation was that welder was set to hot and undercut the parent metal at all the joints. Although I not a certified welder I'm still pretty good and can use his equipment to re-weld and add some gusseting to all the welded joints. It won't cost me anything but a some beers and a few hours work; and I was able to complete the trip so no harm no foul. Additionally, I think I'll replace all those quick-release fasteners as well. But thanks again for your response. I think your customer service is good and in no way am I knocking that.

Well I'm glad you wil be able to resolve the issue and I am still sorry it happened. We do have a kit to fasten the quick-lock carriers to the bike.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-sidecase-hard-bolt-adapter-kit-for-quick-lock-sidecarriers



Also, I didn't get the impression you were upset with SW-MOTECH or Twisted Throttle and I'm glad you're happy with our service. We do try.

Kev

As one who is currently researching which racks to buy this thread came up. As to the notion of gussets and beefier racks my two cents is that : at the point the racks become a (relatively) "immoveable object", i.e., somewhat indestructable, then the MC takes all the punishment, so decide if you want bent racks or bent bike is my theory. I do, however, want a rack/luggage set that will support the MC in a zero tipover situ with only scratchy stuff to deal with.