plastic or alu panniers

[Academy]

Getting pretty close to pulling the trigger on a 990 R !

I decided to go ahead and have the dealer install factory panniers and crash bars. I am flipping coins on going w plastic or aluminum panniers

Any words of advice on the panniers?

[Orangecicle]

I have Gobis. I consider them as being just too wide for regular use. I'm converting to Pelican cases very soon.

[traveltoad]

Kriega Overlander 30 or 60.

[Marine By Choice]

Fantastic!

[Wantajustride]

I don't want to try and talk you out of,, or into,, one or the other. I actually have three different types.
Aluminum hard cases, Soft (Heavy Cordura) and Plastic. All three have different benefits and liabilities.

The hard cases have better security. By that I mean, you can lock your stuff up to protect it from theft to a certain degree.

But I do like the soft luggage on my 990R. Just an FYI,, the soft luggage I chose was just about as expensive as my hard cases by the time I bought the KTM racks and bags. Save some cash and install the racks yourself. It's really pretty easy to do if you have a little mechanical ability and a few tools (some will be in the KTM tool Kit most likely).

Maybe other inmates will give you the pros and cons of each from their experience.

Lots of options from a lot of different manufacturers.

+1 on the Kriega Overland 60, add a Wolfman Beta Plus tail bag,,, and you got some serious room for lots of gear.

WJR

[Av8rPaul]

I had Gobis on mine and loved 'em. Very watertight and I just like the way they look. They are quite wide, but I don't know how it's detrimental unless you are riding single track or splitting lanes.

[Academy]

I like the looks of the those Kriegas and the rack accepts RotopaX canisters

[Wantajustride]

Originally Posted by Academy

I like the looks of the those Kriegas and the rack accepts RotopaX canisters

They are much lighter than hard cases.
The Rotopax containers were partly the reason I chose the Overland 60 kit.
I will tell ya, the kit wasn't cheap. And it did take some time figuring out the best way to mount the "Platforms" to the KTM racks. Fact was, I could only get 3 of the 4 cams to attach to the rack frame. The 4th attachment point I used a very heavy duty plastic tie strap to fix the platform to the rack. Maybe I just couldn't figure out the way to get the 4th cam to work out?
I'm very satisfied with the product

WJR

[Academy]

Who manufactures the aluminum KTM branded boxes?

[Pete640]

Touratech, but branded KTM. Not as wide as the gobis and lighter. dont stand up to a fall as well as the plastics but as with all things the right tool for the job depends on the job....

[MotoTex]

As long as the bike never falls on the aluminum bags they will do fine.

I've landed my 950 on my Caribous several times and they are no worse for wear and tear.

After reading a lot of reviews the single common aspect of all the metal boxes were that eventually I would read of someone tweaking them and then being unable to close them. Several of these reviews were folks on world tours.

Some were able to bend things mostly back into shape, others had welding done to repair the metal case. Many reported the cases never sealing properly again.

Bottom line is that this is considerably less likely to happen with cases such as those offered by Caribou Cases or other Pelican-style bags.

Aluminum is prettier and looks great on those GS's at Starbucks, but in the real world there may be a few drawbacks worthy of consideration.

Go to the vendors forum and read ALL the posts for any set you are planning to pay good money for. Then decide.

[Maoule]

My bag project was: Racks and mounting kit from HappyTrails = $317
2 X 1550s from PelicanCasesforLess = $240
4 keyed alike locks from Pplmotorhomes = $ 56
$613
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=855346
The lid cables and hardware were < $10. Not cheap but exactly what I was looking for. It definitely adds some ass to the bike; I just about effed up today pulling out of the garage and sliding between the pickup and car. The pickup bumper reminded me about the cases

[Academy]

Originally Posted by Maoule

My bag project was: Racks and mounting kit from HappyTrails = $317
2 X 1550s from PelicanCasesforLess = $240
4 keyed alike locks from Pplmotorhomes = $ 56
$613
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=855346
The lid cables and hardware were < $10. Not cheap but exactly what I was looking for. It definitely adds some ass to the bike; I just about effed up today pulling out of the garage and sliding between the pickup and car. The pickup bumper reminded me about the cases

I like the pelicans but the pic of the KTM w the plastic boxes in your thread looks pretty sweet too

[Lobster]

Originally Posted by MotoTex

As long as the bike never falls on the aluminum bags they will do fine.

I've landed my 950 on my Caribous several times and they are no worse for wear and tear.

After reading a lot of reviews the single common aspect of all the metal boxes were that eventually I would read of someone tweaking them and then being unable to close them. Several of these reviews were folks on world tours.

Some were able to bend things mostly back into shape, others had welding done to repair the metal case. Many reported the cases never sealing properly again.

Bottom line is that this is considerably less likely to happen with cases such as those offered by Caribou Cases or other Pelican-style bags.

Aluminum is prettier and looks great on those GS's at Starbucks, but in the real world there may be a few drawbacks worthy of consideration.

Go to the vendors forum and read ALL the posts for any set you are planning to pay good money for. Then decide.

I had a low speed get off on my home built alum panniers and they held up just fine. They have a nice little scratch, but between them and the crash bars, NOTHING plastic hit the ground...NOTHING. A little black spray paint and you'd never even know I was down.

[Academy]

Originally Posted by Lobster

I had a low speed get off on my home built alum panniers and they held up just fine. They have a nice little scratch, but between them and the crash bars, NOTHING plastic hit the ground...NOTHING. A little black spray paint and you'd never even know I was down.

Yes! I heard that crash bars and panniers save the day in a lot of situations like that