KTM 990 bags are JUNK!

No, not terrible. I've had mine since 2004 and they've held up well. In that time two locks have broken. One got torn off in a spill and the other developed a stress crack. The one that got torn off did not bend anything and has no noticeable marks on it. Not sure the same would be true of a rigidly mounted aluminum case. In my view it's better that the lock popped and let the case go.

If I was looking to buy cases I'd look at them all, there may be better ones out there. When I bought my 950 KTM was giving them away so the choice was easy.

The OP already has these cases and they're good cases so why piss away even more money to replace them. $30 and 30 minutes of time every few years to replace a latch is one of cheapest maintenance items you'll have with this bike.

The aluminum cases bend if you apply too much stress to them. But you just bend them back and all is fine.

When I was fairly new to riding with my aluminum side cases, I was lane splitting between a stopped large truck and some SUV with a mirror that stuck out way too far and managed to catch a rear tire on the big truck by an inch or two while trying to avoid that big mirror. I went from 5 mph to 0 in about an inch. It bent the inside of the case out a little bit when it absorbed that energy. When I got home, I spent a couple of minutes with a rubber hammer and now you can't tell which case got bent slightly.

I like the toughness of the Touratechs.

When I was about to get the Hepco Becker Gobis (finally I decided to keep my waterproof Ortliebs) I was sure I would be ordering the more solid attachment HB sells as an option.
Cons are that you have to drill your Gobis (not a big deal if they are already thrashed) and you have to access the interior of the bags to unlock them, but that's not a deal breaker to me.

http://www.motorcycleadventure.com.au/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2524

More info on the H&B website, I tried to post a link but my antivirus says their page is infected with Trojans

No, they are not terrible. I've put the entire weight of the bike on them to leverage the 950 out of the mud with no damage. Never broken any lid locks but have broken the attachment locks due to falls. No worries, just ratchet strap them back on. The hinge areas may need repair soon but they are 7 years old and I use them all the time.

I feel much safer around them than the sharp edges of the metal boxes and have been around plenty of damaged metal boxes from hitting rocks and falls.

To each their own.


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No they aren't but their are just better options available.

I rode with mine for 5 years before swapping them for Jeese's. The Jeese's are just better that is all, don't have the sharp edge of the other metal boxes, hold more than the Gobis and aren't anywhere near as wide.

Yeap

Yeap

Yeap

But I am not bias , all the luggage stuff I have had over the years I rate the Jesses as totally top notch.

Even when you do this to them

I also have the Jesse bags. I have crashed many times. They are scuffed but still open and close just fine.

If you are going offroad much get the soft bags (but you probably already knew this).

DD

Yes.

Now I have to put in a word of defense my fellow German countrymen from Hepco & Becker, who are manufacuring those plastic boxes for KTM!

I used two setups so far, one grey set I bought for my F800GS and which I sold with that same bike, and one black set that came with my 990. No problems with any of those! I even crashed once, when I passed a tree too closely on a narrow trail. The left box came off (nice safety feature), I drove in the ditch, but nothing broke. Just open the lock and reattach the box.

However I can imagine that in hot sunny climate the plastic will age faster (UV radion is not good for most kinds of plastics) and something might crack/break after some years.

I sold those boxes again with the 990 last fall and now I am using soft luggage, which is much lighter, offers the same volume and also is totally watertight.

I am another Pro Jesse Luggage user. Yes they are $$$, but well worth it, plus they have great resale. I have had them on KLR's, Vstrom's, BMW's, and KTM 990's. I would not have anything else...

Smitty

Lots of good info.

The plastic is nice to walk into the hotel with at the end of your day. The bad is that the sun kills them. Laches are junk and you must always carry tie downs (straps) with you. This is 4 when the latch breaks it don't fall on the road.

It's good to here that the rivets come with the new set of laches.

I'm going to check out those Jesse bags. They look more narrow but deeper that the plastic crap I have now. Not sure about walking into hotel.

Ditched my Gobi's for this setup. Hardigg Storm cases, about $260 USD/pair compared to $800 for the Gobi's. You can easily fabricate your own mounting system with little additional expense or buy one from Caribou Luggage. I put about 50,000 hard miles on them without issue. They ride well and crash well. I'm sure there are better options out there, but these have done just fine for me.






While the Gobi's may be OK for some they didnt work for me. Way too wide to filter in heavy traffic or ride tight boulder strewn trails, mounting latches would break just from spirited riding on rocky trails and the most insignificant low speed drops. Its really fun to turn around and realize one of your bags is missing, then backtrack 40 miles to find it. :huh Holes would get punched in the outer casing making the water tank feature worthless, and a crash would deform the mounting surface as to make the box unusable without ratcheting tie down straps. I'm sure there is more not to like about them but I must have blocked it from my memory. I would expect a lot better from an $800 set of bags.

I think from the links that you guys have sent me. The Jesse bags are much better. More narrow will help in traffic. Made is U.S.A. makes me proud. And if you can pickup a car and the latch wont break. Sounds great to me.



http://www.jesseluggage.com/ktm950-990.html

Thanks Big Nasty for links.

+1 on the Pelican based solutions even though I've since gone to the Soft Side (Wolfman) and my legs, joints and wallet thank me at each tipover.

Another bonus of the Wolfman soft bags is that, IIRC, they are no wider, or not much wider than your handle bars. Huge bonus for splitting lanes in big Latin American cities, and squeezing between the truck you are passing and the oncoming truck on Colombian mountain roads with full confidence.

Had the new style Wolfmans been available before I started my travels I probably would have went with them.

They are about the same width inside (remember the Gobi's have that water jacket in them) and are much deeper, but closer to the bike, narrower than your bars. You can get heaps more into them.

I just looked at you first post, I note that you have what looks to be a CJ Aux tank. You may need to do some fiddling to as these can take a little more space than the stock exhaust. The Bottom of the Jeese racks is sort of under the exhaust. I think CJ has a solution for this - but let the guys at Jeese know as they will work with you to sort it.

They are not as good to walk into a hotel with as the Gobi's that is for sure, to get around this I pack the hotel stuff into a top box (I use the HB Journey box for this) and I was doing this prior to having the Jeese's anyway. When I do need to carry the bags I have a couple of little straps attached to box to carry them. If I get a chance I will take some photos.

I was always skeptical of the Jeese bags until I actually picked one up and felt how light they were and how much stronger than the likes of the Tourtech boxes they are (comes down to how they are folded). Al Jeese is a pretty smart guy and doesn't rest on his laurels, constantly seeking improvement.

Well I think this is what will be best for me.

http://wolfmanluggage.com/images/features/M1015_Rocky_Mountain_Saddle_Bags_OTHER_RACKS.pdf

I use a wolfman bag on the top and it is almost 5 years old. Looks like new. Works great.

Thanks, Ceasar

I think Wolfman Expedition bags are a good choice. I have always liked Wolfman products.

You might ask the Wolfman if his rack is more narrow than the KTM rack. I think it is. If it is, I would go with the full Wolfman system. Its more narrow and the bags will be better secured IMO. A narrower setup would be much better for all the filtering in heavy traffic. The KTM rack itself is a bit wide. However, You could have issues with the more narrow wolfman rack because of your aux tank, not sure though. You are riding in Latin America correct?

If you are considering softbags - check these out also. I have seen them in flesh and they look good. They were on Chris Scott's (Sahara Explorer) bike and designed by Walther Colebatch after he tried many others. They will work with your existing racks.

http://www.adventure-spec.com/default/adventure-spec-magadan-panniers.html

Crashmaster,
I have rode from the states to panama. I have rode in South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho. I now live in Costa Rica.

Here is the new plan. Next week my wife and I will leave from Costa Rica. Go thru Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and then hang out in Belize. Then off to Cancun and play there for a week.
Next part is to get to the U.S. and see some friends and meet new people. No real plan yet. Wait for some warm weather then head to B.C. and see my friend Ryan. Then Alaska.