Has anyone toured with the extra wide pannier lids fitted yet? I bought the wide lids new with the bike and am heading to the Alps in the summer. Got them out the box and WOW they look wide! Not sure how much filtering I will do with them on..... Not sure at all about using them, should have perhaps gone for a top box but dont like them much either.
I cant remember where I got these pictures but they have been on my photobucket for ages. Bike is not mine. The girlfriend and I went touring for a week with topbox and normal panniers and had plenty of stuff. She would have taken more shoes if I had fitted the bigger panniers! I dont think they look too bad on. Although filtering is out!!!
Bought a setthis month not used them yet, Off to the Severn Valley Rally in 2 weeks Camping 2up so will come in handy,then WDW June. When fitted they are about an inch wider than the mirrors so will have tomodify my filtering. Have you fitted them yet? took me a few min figuring the drill guides for the catches.
No not fitted them as yet, am still 50/50 about selling them as unused. As the mrs now has her own bike I think I may prefer riding with the standard panniers and just use a tailpack and rack for the few long trips.
Must admit, I was considering these until I saw a picture of them Not for me I'm afraid Can't imagine u could do any filtering without the chance of an accident...?
I've toured extensively with these (my better half insisted we got the larger panniers!!) - have also done plenty of filtering, just have to be careful!
Hi guys - what is "filtering"? Is that we in North America call "lane splitting" where you ride between the 2 lanes of traffic? Just curious. I bought the regular side panniers and the top box. I prefer not to have a top box but that being said I think it will be useful. We'll see how it works out this year... thx, Des
A bit late to the party for which I apologise. I have toured with the large lids fitted to my panniers since day one, 4 1/2 years now. I have yet to hit anything with them when filtering but I am very selective about filtering at all times anyway. The benefit of having the larger capacity for me is that they take all of our textile kit when we want to go for a wander. To be fair my grlfriend is petite and her kit goes in the pannier on the exhaust side whilst I was born in Brobdignag so appreciate the bigger side. Top box takes the helmets at a pinch so we can wander unencumbered. The only drawback I have found is that as I am not flexible enough to step through the seat to mount the bike, the panniers get in the way when you throw your leg over the bike and after you have got on and off 5 or 6 times during the day, each time gets harder but then I'm an old fart any away. Andy
I've got both sets of lids - takes about 10 minutes to swap them over. Even though I'm rarely in cities, I do prefer to have the narrower lids on - on a recent tour of the Outer Hebrides, the capacity was most welcome, but at significant touring speeds, you really did notice their effect on handling - partly load, mostly (I think) drag. And, as previously noted, it's much easier to get your leg over ;-) - my big lids are a bit scratched up from my boots.
I just remember following someone with the large lids along an Alpine road and seeing how close he was to brushing the little walls at the sides of the roads when he went through a set of bends... not a nice sight
