Craven luggage on your bike. Share your thoughts/ show us a pic.

Bonzo

Bonzo

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Much as I like the practicality of the modern luggage on old bikes, I much prefer the aesthetic of the classic stuff like Craven. It's not even that expensive in the grand scheme of things, like for example around £400/£500 (depending on rack) for a pair of Comet boxes with rack, fixings & fittings, including vat - delivered (in the UK). This day & age, that seems like something of a bargain to me.

If anyone has experience with Craven gear, please share your experiences of how it works in the real world. The quality of the parts. The ease of use. The practicality.

Would love to see some pics of it in use on your bike too ;)

I'm not quite ready for touring on my Commando yet. I'm not even ready for a spin around the block as I'm awaiting parts from repair, but one day :)
 
Hi Bonzo, I have a pair of 40 + yr old Craven panniers and mounting frame .
Robust, reliable and seen me do 7 day 1900 mile touring/ camping trips.
Modern Craven kit seems just as good…
Agree aesthetics
 
Here's mine from a few years ago when I was fitting
It takes minutes to fit and remove
 

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I made it all myself
I can mount just the rack of just the panniers or both
I have a lug welded to seat loop to mount the mudguard instead of the Norton clip
I mount from that plus the seat knobs plus the footrest hangers
 
I've only used them on the Vincent. On that bike we have used them extensively over 18 years and about 60,000 miles.
The longest single trip was to the Uk for a month of touring England, Scotland and the IOM.
We strapped two small dry bags to the top of the Craven panniers. That gave us enough storage for the full month for rider and passenger.
With the huge Craven top box added in there is as much luggage capacity as a new Honda Goldwing packs, and that is a lot!
These are old Cravens, probably from the 1960s. They are very well made and durable. So are the new ones, from what I've seen.
Screenshot_20220717-201910.png
 
Renewing a thread from summer 2022 about Craven luggage: I have an old top box I've used for years and the quality seems good and it doen't leak. So, I'm thinking about buying paniers for my Commando. Craven's website is a bit confusing regarding the stainless straps pictured in each photo. Under the options menu there appears to be an up-charge for the straps. Perhaps that's there so one can buy new straps for older luggage. Anyone know?

Also anyone have an opinion as to whether to buy a top-loader or side-loader? I have some removable, side loader, BMW factory bags on another bike I have traveled with and rather like being able to load them out flat in a hotel room but getting into them during the day can be tricky. Stuff can fall out when you open them. Good bags but there's no way they'd fit my Norton. I like the 1500 Gold Wing's capacity but I don't like that you can't take them off the bike. To take stuff into the hotel you'd have to have a bag within a bag. How easy are the Craven's to unlatch from the frame? Is that as easy as the website claims?
 
"How easy are the Cravens to unlatch from the frame?"

Very easy on the Vincent. One Dzus fastening to turn a quarter turn then lift the pannier off. I would say about 5 seconds to remove and maybe 15 or 20 seconds to re-attach.

Glen
 
Thomasa said:
Renewing a thread from summer 2022 about Craven luggage: I have an old top box I've used for years and the quality seems good and it doen't leak. So, I'm thinking about buying paniers for my Commando. Craven's website is a bit confusing regarding the stainless straps pictured in each photo. Under the options menu there appears to be an up-charge for the straps. Perhaps that's there so one can buy new straps for older luggage. Anyone know?
Click to expand...

I assume the "straps" you're referring to are the pannier supports?
Do you also have the Craven rack because the Commando pannier supports appear to be for mounting onto the Craven rack?
The panniers also mount onto the rack.


craven-equipment.co.uk

Commando 1969-77

Bike kits - Commando 1969-77
craven-equipment.co.uk craven-equipment.co.uk
 
I am partial to the old Craven luggage. I have a set of top loading panniers (Comet), and a set of hinged side loading panniers (Golden Arrow?) and three different size Craven top boxes. I seem to acquire them, kind of like stray cats. I like the aesthetics of the bags, and think they look good on our old bikes.
The racks are another thing entirely. Big, heavy, and a PITA to install and uninstall.
Fortunately the luggage cover up most of the ugly frames. I won't leave a Craven frame on the bike without bags for any length of time.
Used purpose built Commando racks, like this one, https://craven-equipment.co.uk/kits-racks/product/commando-1969-77
seem much less common than the ones built for BMWs. Fortunately, the BMW racks are easy to modify by chopping out about 5 inches or so in the straight front section and rewelding it back together.
I am considering modifying Givi racks, that are usually easy to mount and dismount, and adapting the Craven bags to fit the Givi racks.
 
I made the rack for fitting the Cravens onto the Vincent, even though the bike came with a Craven rack in the spare parts collection.
I was informed that the Craven racks for Vincents tend to fall apart over time.
I'm not sure if that holds true for Craven /Norton racks.
The Craven rack for Vincents has moving parts to deal with the oddball Vincent suspension.
It wasn't too difficult to build a rack, although it is not a thing of beauty either. I agree that the best cosmetic solution is to keep the panniers and top box in place to hide the ugly rack!
 
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