paniers

["Leatherbiker" <leatherbiker@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Scott,
re paniers  ...

I just changed from the Trophy to the Sprint and automatically
went for the paniers.
The reason is that I have no car and am totally dependent on my
bike for socializing, touring, holidays, shopping and work.
As a result, I used my bike to transport just about everything,
including my laptop and mode, a change of clothes for parties
where oily leathers are frowned upon, and so on.

In addition to this, all of which can be planned, I keep a
waterproof jacket and/or suit and gloves in the panier as well
as a spare helmet for pillions (well, you never know when you're
gonna get lucky, do you?).
On the sprint, there are no "glove compartments" like the handy
ones on the Trophy in the fairing, so I also keep my disc lock
and/or shackle (U) lock plus chain spray and any other stuff for
bike maintenance.
I think it's madness to say that the paniers are ugly or
unaesthetic - I find them very consistent with the overall lines
of the bike and a perfect match - OK, not quite so integral as
other bikes like the Pan-Euro for example, but nonetheless.
And removing and replacing is a cinch - only involves sticking
the key in one lock, flipping up the catch and sliding them off.
Couldn't be simpler, or safer.
They hold a fair bit - like two full carrier bags of shopping
from the supermarket or two full-face helmets and other gear.

Downside is that they do scratch pretty easily and given the
extra width you're taking on board when you ride with two of
them, you're much more likely to graze cars and walls (specially
in London, filtering through the traffic), for the obvious
reason that the back then becomes wider than the front, so you
tend to misjudge breadth. I have felt a kind of soft, plasticky
scrape against car bumpers as I weave through the traffic and
thought "Oh shit, wish I'd removed them today", but no great
harm done and the motorists don't even notice (besides which
they're stuck in the bloody traffic and have no way of catching
you!).

As somebody who doesn't like lumbering stuff round, I'm happy to
leave stuff securely stashed in the paniers - like shopping, and
come back to the bike later. With throwovers, you'd need to
carry the stuff with you. In fact, I don't know how I ever
survived without paniers on earlier Jap bikes. What do you do
without when you park and leave your bike in a spot that's out
of sight?
Even before, I always had to make sure that my bike was within
viewing range when I stopped for a pee or a cup of coffee at a
motorway service station for fear of stuff being unhitched and
nicked. After all, no matter how many cargo nets, bungees and
straps you put on luggage, it's going to be removable, surely,
unless you padlock it all up.

OK, the cost is pretty high - I think the paniers cost about
£400 for a set - but hey, I don't own a single suitcase, and
what would a good pair of those cost?

Tim


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