Category: Adventure Bike Panniers

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Steel Pony Panniers

There used to be another Australian made offering for canvas panniers: Steel Pony Panniers. The Gascoyne panniers were listed as 37 x 23 x 44 = 37 litres which makes them very similar to our Big Fella Panniers. Steel Pony Panniers are mentioned on many a blog and forum from times past. I am not sure what happened to the business but the website is no longer available.

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Panniers for a Royal Enfield Himalayan

Customer question: Do your pannier bags work well with the standard RE pannier racks?

Our answer:

They sure do. A lot of the pictures of our Himalayan on the group and our business page and website have the panniers on standard racks. We have the Large Panniers on ours, which do take some care to ensure that they do not get near the exhaust. For that reason I recommend cutdown jerry cans in them, which makes a great semi-hard shell that if you add a rope handle means you can pull them out at camp. 
That said, the Standard Panniers fit great / better and are a bit smaller. They don’t sag as much due to the less depth. You cannot fit the cutdown 20L jerry cans in them but some people have used other things. Much of it is in the way you pack them. 
Gary, on the Royal Enfield Himalayan Australia group, has the Stubby Panniers. I didn’t recommend them due to extra depth so they sag but he has the cutdown jerry cans in them and they seem to be working well. 
Our panniers, as far as fitment goes, are made to fit most bikes / racks. They are generic, in that the throwover straps are adjustable and there are 6 loops at the back so you can work out how to best fit them. A pair of small flat straps is my recommendation and are an option with panniers. But we also provide 4 double sided velcro loops that you can use to attach them to the racks so they don’t move about whilst riding. 
I hope that helps. Always happy to answer questions and you are welcome to call, during business hours, if you like.

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Making Inserts for Panniers

Many people love the idea of having soft panniers but still having some form to them… Semi-hard panniers.

Naz always had cut down jerry cans in hers when she was travelling. They had rope handles

From the kitchen pannier

and one side was the kitchen which she could simply lift out at camp. This idea works well for our Big Fella Panniers and Postie (or large) sized panniers. You can get 20L plastic jerry cans cheaply then you simply cut the tops off, drill or burn holes for handles and attach rope handles.

For smaller panniers such as our standard size motorcycle panniers or small saddlebags another idea is to construct boxes from coreflute sheets. The sides can either be taped or you can use the angle joiners that are used for sheeting in bathrooms (see the picture in the gallery).

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Custom Panniers on a Quick Mount System

These panniers were developed with an initial enquiry via email about a set of Big Fella panniers without straps. Over a number of emails a design evolved that allowed a sheet of ply to slip inside the back of the panniers and a sheet of pvc on the outside. Mounted to these are the fittings of a quick mount system as many have on hard panniers.

The flap was shaped differently to cover the rolldown more than our standard panniers and there is a pocket inside the front for a piece of corflute for stiffening.

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Adventure Riders

I am not doing well with the blog posts but I have been busy-ish. This week I have had two Advrider inmates visit the workshop. I am starting to think Adventure bikes will be my biggest market as the guys often know of me from my time on the forum and following my big ride around the place.

One that came out today took this awesome shot of me and I look forward to taking all of my range in sometime to his studio to be photographed.

I really miss having an adv bike. Lately I have been thinking about the Royal Enfield Himalayan. It would be similiar to a dr650 but its a 410cc single. But for now I will just keep riding my cafe racer and watch everyone else’s adventures.

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Custom Canvas Panniers

This last week has been custom and new product week. Often a custom order turns into a new product that I have been considering for a while. One I have finished today is the second set of our new Big Fella Panniers. This set has pockets for water bottle on the back of each and has one side narrower than the other. They also called for a longer throw-over strap which I will keep in future sets. It will now cover a 600mm distance between bags. The finalised template for these large 25 – 35 litre panniers is now done, which mean it won’t feel like reinventing the wheel every time.

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Adventure Bike Panniers

Our adventure bike panniers  have been designed as throw-overs that should fit almost any adventure bike or road bike. They are very adjustable with hook and loop tape on strong webbing that can go over or under the seat. There are also tabs at the rear base that can attach to various spots via straps or zip-ties and a loop on the end of the front buckle straps that could have a strap ran through it.

So far we have sold them to a KLR owner (with custom pockets) and a KTM690 rider. Both are very happy with the fit and adjust-ability.

The panniers are suitable for adventure bikes as they are made from 11oz ripstop canvas with a water resistance rating of >200 mbar. We both use them and have never had anything wet inside. This is probably due to the roll-down top (sealed with hook and loop tape) and flap over the top.

The standard panniers are about an 18L capacity.

*Note: The newer and specific adventure bike panniers called the Big Fellas have different features such as molle webbing front and back to hold pouches or water bottle holders. They are also now 20 – 35L capacity and made from 18oz ripstop.