F800GS Pannier design considerations.

I’ve been obsessing over the width of pannier systems; trying to decide how important width is.
Other questions include capacity, top vs. side load, ability to remove without opening.

On my KLR I have Moto-Sport 26 L cans with overall width of 33”. I never had complaints about the width by sometimes I didn’t have enough capacity.

My KTM950 had the Gobi bags; they were 42” wide. I felt that they were pushing too much wind; I never did a serious fuel mileage test but it actually didn’t seem to affect the mileage much. They sometimes got in the way when parking.

These are the pannier system width specs I have collected for the F800GS and F650GS:
35.25” MotoSport w/26 liter cases
40.25: MotoSport w/37 liter cases
39” Caribou 35 liter cases
40” Caribou 36 liter on SW Motec EVO racks
40.1” TourTech 29+35 liter cases
40.8” TourTech 34+41 liter cases
36” HappyTrail 61 liter total, cliff cut (other sizes/widths available)
33” Jesse 8” Safari 68 liter total
37” Jesse 10” Odyssey 90 liter total
36.2” BMW Vario, collapsed, 47 liter total
40.6” BMW Vario, expanded, 67 liter total
42.5” BMW Aluminum , 82 liter total

Jesse’s are definitely the winner on liters per inch of width.

How important is width? I’d like to hear your experiences and opinions regarding pannier width, and other factors you considered in choosing. For me, price is the least important factor.

Thanks,

Metal Mule system for the F8 seems to be pretty narrow also.....

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=413009

I've got the 36L Caribous mounted to EVO racks on my F800, and I was still able to comfortably lane split when I was down in California over the Thanksgiving holiday. Even running between two big rigs in the rain wasn't difficult. FWIW.

David

Ben,
I have the 8" Jesses on order for my F8. My concern is that I may not enough capacity but I also want to keep the overall width as narrow as possible for a TAT trip I have planned.

I'm glad you started this thread. Its interesting to see the dimensions and liters per inch compared side by side. The responces should be interesting.

RedHawk:

Very nice summary... so now I suggest a punishment

Did you happen to collect the prices also?

Thanks if you did & can post!
Jim

May as well add the respective weights, including racks, as well. That'd be service!

And can you get me a beer too? Thanks!

David

How often do you ride in tight woods?

I don't like my bags to stick out further than the handlebars so I can use them as a guide. If I'm on a trail so tight that I have to turn the bars to fit between trees, I know I'll have to probably walk the bike thru, leaning hard to clear the bags.

My considerations for bags on a street bike have a different set of priorities, concerning size, wieght, durability etc. How do you plan on using yours?

Well, curiosity got the better of me, so I unmounted my EVO racks and the 36L Caribous, and stacked them up on a bathroom scale. The verdict? 31 lbs. That includes the internal and external ALS hardware on the cases, the Givi adapter hardware, and the cheapo JC Whitney liners. But it doesn't include the two short, forward brackets and the little bracket under the license plate. Those three pieces of metal probably add another 1 lb. at most. So figure on ~32 lbs. total weight for the whole bag system.

I have no idea how that compares to Zegas, Jesses, or any other pannier system. The bag vendors seem strangely reluctant to let us know how much their systems weigh.

Edit: I paid US$788.46 for the whole assembly.

David

I pick up my varios tomorrow. I'll weigh everything before mounting them up. I bet mine weighs more errrr...

I have expanded my list of the pannier system specs I have collected for the F800GS and F650GS to include price and weight. Because I am obsessing on the width issue I have also included my calculation of liters capacity per inch of width. Most manufacturers don't publish the weight:

35.25” MotoSport w/26L cases, 52L total, $960, 1.48 L/in
40.25: MotoSport w/37L cases, 74L total $960, 1.84 L/in
39” Caribou 35L cases, 70L total, $770, 33 lbs, 1.79L/in
40” Caribou 36L on SW Motec EVO racks, 72L total, $788.46, 32 lbs, 1.80 L/in
40.1” Touratech 29L+35L cases, 64L total, $1190, 1.60 L/in
40.8” Touratech 34L+41L cases, 75L total, $1699, 1.84 L/in
36” HappyTrail 61L total, cliff cut (other sizes/widths available), $823+/-, 1.69 L/in typical
33” Jesse 8” Safari 68L total, $1250, 2.06 L/in
37” Jesse 10” Odyssey 90 total, $1150, 2.43 L/in
36.2” BMW Vario, collapsed, 47L total, 1.30 L/in
40.6” BMW Vario, expanded, 67L total, $?, 1.65 L/in
42.5” BMW Aluminum , 82L total, $?, 1.93 L/in
?? Metal Mule, 38L cases, 76L total, $2250 including muffler required for narrower width.

Jesse’s are definitely the winner on liters per inch of width.

If you have more info on these systems or other systems please post to this thread or PM me.

Just to toss a wrench into your neat calculations, RedHawk47, but it may be a bit misleading to quote a liter/inch width spec without noting that several of the case systems in your list achieve their narrowness by utilizing cutouts into the interior of the bags. This can reduce the USEABLE space, and in some cases, notably the Jesses and BMW aluminums, can reduce it considerably. I'm not sure how to compare apples to apples here, but one of the reasons I sprang for the Caribous was their clean, rectangular shape.

David

Good observation David, particularly if you want to use full sized liners for loading your panniers. The left Jesse and the Happy Trails Cliff Cut are narrow at the bottom and wider at the top. The right Jesse has an intrusion that provides clearance form the gas tank. The BMW Varios have very irregular insides.
There are a lot of trade-offs: The top edge of the Jesse and HappyTrails are probably stronger due to the lip that intrudes and makes the opening smaller. The Touratech, MotoSport and BMW aluminum don't have that lip so loading is easier, but the case is not as strong. (I need to straighten the MotoSport on my KLR - top edge bent in a basic tipover.)

buy the jesse i have mine on order

Tim Cullis over at UKGSer provided these widths for the Metal Mules, RedHawk47. I've added the inch measurements:

With Metal Mule's Scorpion exhaust
2 x 31 litre... 920mm (36.2")
2 x 38 litre... 1000mm (39.4")
2 x 45 litre... 1080mm (42.5)

With standard exhaust
31+38 litre... 1020mm (40.2")
38+45 litre... 1100mm (43.3")

Lots of good info from our UK cousins about panniers in this thread.

David

Does anyone have info on what the bmw and jesse 8" bags weigh?

Hey,
How about these? http://www.mo-tech.de/sonstige_dokumente/trax.pdf They are pretty new so not sure how many people have them yet, but I sure do like what I see. Seems to be very similar to the BMW Adventure bags. Thanks to the UKGser's (http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146379&page=3 see post #47) here are some stats for you converted to US measurements and with $ available from Twisted Throttle. Price includes bags+SW EVO racks

TRAX 37L+45L (Standard set up) $815.00 43 3/4"
TRAX 37L+37L (Balanced Narrow) $790.00 42"
TRAX 45L+45L (Balanced Large) $840.00 45 3/8"

F800gs handle bars 32"

anybody have any experience with these bags please chime in.
Thanks
TreeFarmer

I've seen that figure here and elsewhere, TreeFarmer, but when I measure my handle bars, I get 34.25", and that's not counting the extra width from my Touratech hand guards. My mirrors are 36" wide.

David

That sounds more correct to me. I converted from TimC's post and got a diffrent width than he posted. I believe the other info is all correct though.
TreeFarmer

Yeah, I'd like to hear more about those Trax bags as well. Multi-angle pics on an 800GS maybe....