Ride Report: Nylon Panniers

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I got quite a few comments about the panniers I set up for our recent NOCNZ rally, and I was so happy with how easy they were to set up and use, I decided to post a mini ride report on them for the 1500 mi/5 day trip I took.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


I got the idea for using these from @worntorn as he posted a while back that he thought that they would bolt up nicely, and reviewed them positively when used on his Thruxton R.

They are Triumph Nylon Panniers, part number A9518150. Be careful with the p/n as there are several for these style panniers, and they only differ in the mounting brackets. This particular variant is designed for the Thruxton 1200 and Thruxton 1200R.

I got them from the US off of ebay from Moon Motorsports, in MN, for $180 US plus $10 shipping in the continental US. It cost me about that much again for shipping+GST to land them in NZ, but since the same items are $899 NZ and special order here, it was a deal. If you are in the US, shop around and it will be a steal.

The panniers provide 30 litres of storage capacity in total, with each pannier capable of holding 15 litres. The panniers include an internal drawstring divider in the main section, a zipped inner pocket and a mesh Velcro-closed pocket in the pannier lid for those smaller items.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


I had no problem with a fitting a weeks worth of gear (for warm weather, but including some long johns and a light sweater) in the two bags, including a quart of oil, a small spray can of chain lube, a bit of extra tools that I wanted quick access to, two tie downs for the ferry, and a water bottle. For longer trips, I can see just doing laundry at a hotel once a week, no problem.

I also had a small 15L dry bag for my sleeping bag, a pair of shoes, and a towel. This made a very nice lumbar rest, and the mounting frame for the panniers gave a very good lashing point to bungie the dry bag across the seat. If you need rain gear in addition to your normal riding gear, you would likely need to have additional storage for that from your panniers. I ride mostly in a Klim Badlands Pro suit, so that was not an issue for me.
The kit comes complete with a Rain Cover for riding in harsher conditions and all necessary mounting hardware.

I lost one of the elastic closing covers after about a half hour at 70ish mph, so I am not impressed with them. However, one of the five days of the trip was steady hard rain all day, and while I had packed almost everything in the panniers in large Ziploc bags, there was no water ingress whatsoever. Which is more than I can say for my boots. I was very impressed with their weather proofing, and I would not hesitate to use them in inclement weather without the covers. Next time, I will just give them a good spray with Scotchguard as insurance.

The panniers were very straightforward to set up, and Triumph claims 18 minutes for install on the Thruxtons, which I believe, since they provide all the hardware (metric) to do the job, and it is only four bolts per side.

For the Commando, you need to slightly enlarge the mounting holes for 3/8” bolts and the brackets will then bolt straight up to the outside of the upper shock mount and the inside of the pillion peg (which I don’t have on my bike since I have a solo seat now). Since I have a big drill press, this only took a few minutes. I think you could leave the bottom one, and mount it to the muffler bracket, but I didn’t like the idea of traveling long distance with that additional load on the muffler iso’s, which are already prone to failure.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


As you see, you will have to replace the knurled seat knobs with a nyloc nut, however, since the pannier bracket has a spoon shape that would foul the knob. I used a nyloc nut I had on hand, as I felt that should the nut work loose then the nylon would catch on the outer lip of the seat bracket as the split pins would. The flat spoon shape of the top mount of the pannier bracket allowed me to not use the outer lipped washer as well. If you want quick access under the seat, and don’t want to pull the tools out from the side cover (if you have them there) then what I did was use one of the mesh pocket to keep a 9/16 box wrench. Which I never needed, of course.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


The bags have a separate detachable mounting harness featuring a quick-release system for your convenience that runs under the seat. It really takes about 15 seconds to get them on/off the bike. They are very secure, and at ~80 mph they were stable as.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


I used some 25mm p-clamps to attach them to the seat loop at the rear. Because of the length of them, and how they would mount on a Thruxton, I had to angle the clamp quite far down to take up the slack a bit. However, this was fine and not really apparent. I had hoped to do this on the front as well, but as you can see this would not work due to the shock mount gussets. My hump seat sits right on the frame rails, so they ended up resting on the harness, not ideal, but no biggie. I think they would likely not do this with a stock seat.

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


Ride Report: Nylon Panniers


I wanted a day to ride them to/from work on the motorway and I had literally two days after I received the panniers before I had to leave for the rally (NZ post was the slowest I have ever had a package come from the US, and they had them for a month!). So, I did a 11pm solution and used some heavy removable zip ties to secure the front mounting points. This worked very well. I lashed them together across, and also around the frame plate at the rear of the spine tube. They didn’t come loose, but I would probably look at fabricating up some sort of metal bracket attached to the inner of shock mount for the next ride.

Hope this is useful info for someone looking for an excellent storage solution.
 
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Nice report thanks.
The bags and brackets might be viable option, with a little work, for the 961.
 
Thanks, i'm not up often on 2 wheels, will be in touch.
 
I am getting ready for another long run to the South Island, and thought I would update this with a more elegant solution that fits very well for a stock bike.

I am going back to my old Interstate setup, and the grab rail lines up perfectly for use as attachment points for the pannier mounts.

IMG_20210214_170925.jpg


On the front mount, I had a heavy steel powder coated shelf bracket laying about that was perfect. All I had to do is bore out one of the existing holes to fit the inside of the upper shock mount bolt, and trim the length down, and touch up paint on the ends , et voila.

And the seat goes on with no interference. Yeah!

IMG_20210214_170813.jpg


Full broadside pics after I get the MOSFET regulator in and the other little bits done, and the tank on.
 
I do loose the Mk3 style tool tray, Again. Grrr...

Have to find a new home for the spare plugs, headlamp and signal bulbs, fuses, slip-on springs and a rag.
 
I am getting ready for another long run to the South Island, and thought I would update this with a more elegant solution that fits very well for a stock bike.

I am going back to my old Interstate setup, and the grab rail lines up perfectly for use as attachment points for the pannier mounts.
snipped

Full broadside pics after I get the MOSFET regulator in and the other little bits done, and the tank on.
Do you think using the grab rail would work on a Roadster? Or would you need to install an Interstate grab rail? [Great excuse to buy an Interstate tank and seat]

What happened to those broadside photos with the new solid state rectifier/regulator setup???

Awesome job on the installation and write up!
 
Do you think using the grab rail would work on a Roadster? Or would you need to install an Interstate grab rail? [Great excuse to buy an Interstate tank and seat]

What happened to those broadside photos with the new solid state rectifier/regulator setup???

Awesome job on the installation and write up!
Yes, I do think a roadster grab rail would work fine. I head to loosen my four mounting bolts a bit, and slide it forward slightly, so I anticipate that a roadster rail would maybe need to move a bit as well. I could measure the distance from the upper shock mount to the front grabrail mounting bolt and then you could see how much movement there would be on your setup.

I just received the MOSFET reg today, and wont have all the other small jobs done for a while, so I am thinking sometime this weekend for the other pics.
 
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Yes, I do think a Roadster grab rail would work fine. I had to loosen my four mounting bolts a bit, and slide it forward slightly, so I anticipate that a roadster rail would maybe need to move a bit as well. I could measure the distance from the upper shock mount to the front grabrail mounting bolt and then you could see how much movement there would be on your setup.

I just received the MOSFET reg today, and wont have all the other small jobs done for a while, so I am thinking sometime this weekend for the other pics.
A measurement would be great. My Mk III Roadster project has a grab rail with a bit of rust. Moving it rearwards will probably require a bit of bending inwards. That will probably tip the decision towards re-chroming my present grab rail, rather than buying a new one. Love the alloy fuel tank and other custom bits.
 
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The pannier mount bolts are 142 mm (5 5/8") on center.

I did just note the angle bracket is bolted onto the shock bolt at a very slight forward cant. There is quite a bit of leeway in how these are mounted, since the bolts I used were 1/4" and the holes in the mounting tabs are quite a bit larger - something like 3/8 or suitable for a M10 bolt (they are covered up by the fender washers, so I cant measure them quickly).

But that should give you a good idea.
 
Oh, and the rail is flexible enough , so old or new I dont think it would be an issue, They just have to be bolted up on one side, and then the rear hole on the other side. Just a gentle tweak in or out would do it. I didnt even have to do that, I did it with the rail already installed, just loosened and moved.
 
Do you think using the grab rail would work on a Roadster? Or would you need to install an Interstate grab rail? [Great excuse to buy an Interstate tank and seat]

What happened to those broadside photos with the new solid state rectifier/regulator setup???

Awesome job on the installation and write up!
In linking to this today, noticed I never attached the broadside pic you wanted.

Ignore the shape of the top corner of the panier - it is not full and was just a bit squashed in the cupboard.

Interstate w_pannier.jpg



Or, if you were looking for pics of the MOSFET mounting, is is visible on a few pics here - https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/muttster-a-long-slow-74-resto-mod.21051/post-550468
 
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my poor boy panniers...got these for $25 plus free shipping on amazon added 2 bungees $5 stiffened bags with pieces i cut from corrugated plastic political candidate sign the bags have D rings on bottom i strap bags to either shock or frame tube with strip of velcro..they fit all my bikes look ugly on all my bikes but do pretty good in a pinch for carrying tools/sweatshirt/beer/wine here they are on my 72 T120 OIF
Ride Report: Nylon Panniers

Ride Report: Nylon Panniers
 
They look fine. Maybe a tuck in the x-strap, so you can run it under the seat? But you need bags that big, just to carry your sidestand puck! :D
 
In linking to this today, noticed I never attached the broadside pic you wanted.

Ignore the shape of the top corner of the panier - it is not full and was just a bit squashed in the cupboard.

View attachment 84080


Or, if you were looking for pics of the MOSFET mounting, is is visible on a few pics here - https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/muttster-a-long-slow-74-resto-mod.21051/post-550468
I see you have rearsets, but if all stock footrests installed, do the bags interfere with going 2-up?
 
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