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Keeping Panniers closed

982 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Steve Ford 
#1 ·
Cruising back home yesterday on a cold sunny day, I managed to hit a big pothole – it was enough of an impact that I feared a blown tyre or bent rim. No problems there, but I did notice shortly later that both pannier bags had sprung open. They were full with a weekend’s worth of kit, but fortunately the only thing missing was a bread roll 

Got me thinking – I’ve never been really happy with the latching mechanism on the standard issue triumph panniers, which are held closed by only two small plastic tabs. I’d like a bit more security for just this kind of situation. Putting a strap around the cases is the obvious solution, but that won’t look pretty. I’m thinking of rigging some sort of safety latch inside the pannier so that it can only open a small amount until the latch is released. Something similar is used to prevent toddlers getting into kitchen cupboards.

Has anyone done anything similar? I’d need to glue the latch to the inside of the pannier, so would be interested to hear what sort of glue has been used successfully on the plastic surface.
 
#5 ·
I find it ridiculous that the pannier popping open issue not only got through Triumph QA in the first place but was never corrected throughout the model run. I lost a bunch of tools, clothes and my lunch a few years ago because of it. Ironically, the money I had to spend in order to replace what I lost would have been better spent on a Givi system instead. Actually I've now got a Givi top box mounting system on back order waiting for the Italians to finish their Summer siesta and go back to work so I can use a top box that won't pop open and forget about the dodgy Triumph panniers for good.
 
#6 ·
I lost a weekends worth of cloths on the way to a rally because one OEM bag popped open on me back in 2010, or so. My cure was to fab up a mount system to make a set of Givi's excellent V35 bags fit. Unfortunately, no one has made an "off the shelf" kit to fit them to the last gen Sprint STs. Shame, because I think it was a perfect upgrade. Bigger, more secure bag. That doesn't flop around. I've been happy with them ever since.
 
#7 ·
A bit of googling has turned up an alternative approach - pannier bag liners. You can get ones which are purpose designed for the panniers so presumably fit properly and therefore don't waste space. Here's some for the OEM triumph panniers

http://shop.kenma.com.au/products/Pannier-bag-liners-%281-pair%29-for-OEM-Triumph-Sprint-1050-side-cases.-.html

Solves the problem of losing stuff, as the liner can be held in place with the standard elastic straps fitted to the panniers if the lid comes open for any reason. Also helps to keep things dry - saves putting anything I want to keep dry in ziplock bags as I do now.

Not cheap, but could be a good solution.
 
#8 ·
I haven't had a lid pop open but I use Triumph's pannier liners.
That way I can lose everything all in one shot and be really pissed, ha, ha.
The Triumph liners look to be a real high quality item, by the way, and put an end to the Harley riders at work talking about their bikes classing up the place. They see the Triumph liners and start kicking rocks and cigarette butts around.
 
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