Guest beemer bunny Posted July 18, 2017 Report Share Posted July 18, 2017 (edited) Quick set of photos of the install I did of 1 x water and 1 x gasoline Rotopax packs (1 gallon each) underneath the OEM panniers of my 1200 GSA for my 6 month trip next year in USA + Canada. The reason for mounting them this way was to keep the weight as low as possible on the bike (the packs will not necessarily always be full in any event) and to avoid them getting in my way. So far, I have had no issues while riding, even on very tight and/or very curvy roads. In case of a fall, both panniers have been reinforced to be able to take the additional strain. Although I don't necessarily expect them to survive a more severe crash on asphalt. Rotopax are heavy duty. So no, I am not too worried about falls when off-road, or even on-road to a certain extent. And don't expect to go up in flames either. Should one Rotopax end up being damaged enough, I will simply replace it So here goes. 2 aluminium plaques were cut out to reinforce the bottom of the panniers. And were installed on the inside. Holes were drilled in the plaques to be able to access the rivets at the bottom of the panniers. Aluminium spacers were also cut out, to be fixed on the outside of the panniers. The black plastic corners on the panniers would have caused the packs to rest on them and therefore put more stress on the pack mount and especially the screw used to tighten them. Didn't mind drilling holes in the panniers. Which were never waterproof to start off with anyway ^^ And turn into swimming pools whenever it rains. And no, I was not unlucky with this set of panniers. I have another set with exactly the same problem (even drilled holes at the bottom of each pannier of the 2nd set to help evacuate the water). Pack mount and spacer mounted. View from inside the pannier. The pack mount, spacer and inner aluminium plaques are all held and tightened together. Everything can be removed in a matter of minutes. Gasoline Rotopax on. Water and gasoline Rotopax on. They are centered underneath the panniers and do not stick out from them. No chance of the right one ever touching the final drive either. Edited July 19, 2017 by beemer bunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted July 18, 2017 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted July 18, 2017 can't see the pics for some reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beemer bunny Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 should be ok now, i hope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motopreneur Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 Nice job. Not the first time I've seen the Rotopax packs mounted like this either. I would have perhaps mounted them slightly more to the inside, as by the looks of it the wouldn't even hit the ground in case of a call in that case. But that's nitpicking to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted July 19, 2017 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 I seem to recall this on your Instagram. I get a little nervous with gas on the bottom but I've had that bike and I think there's a good chance you'll be fine. Looks good in a side tip over and it's not likely to touch anything from the bottom unless you were going through some really rocky technical stuff which I know you won't be. No issue from the swing arm either. My main question though is will you really need the extra fuel with an 8.7 gallon tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beemer bunny Posted July 20, 2017 Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 there is a very good chance i will be replacing the gas rotopax by another water pack, to have 2 gallons of H2O instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted July 20, 2017 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 That makes sense. In the heat, I'd advise you to try and drink your 3l hydration bladder (if that's what you have) completely. One before lunch then one after. That's 1.6 gallons per day plus whatever you need to brush your teeth, cook with, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted July 20, 2017 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 I also will put a tablet of the Nuun stuff in my hydration pack as it helps reduce cramping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emdebeer Posted July 20, 2017 Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 Done about 15000km through Africa with a similar setup. No problems despite a few "off's" in the sand... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted July 21, 2017 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 Dude, you rode Africa in sand like that on that bike with those tires?!!! Bravo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emdebeer Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 Hahaha. I only rode sand where I HAD to. We were 2-up (wife on the back) and rather heavily laden with my sand riding skills sadly lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beemer bunny Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 never ride with the hydration bladder in my jacket - well i did try once. can't stand to have the weight and pressure on my back. so i stop regularly instead. thanks for the tip about the nuun tablets. going to look into these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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