Any easy way to fit hard panniers? (Again!)

[Snod Blatter]

Hi all, I have a trip to Slovenia coming up and am wondering if anyone has successfully fitted some hard luggage to their TRX? I've already seen this and it's quite amusing but I'd really like the panniers to be lower. I'm considering removing the rear plastic and bolting the brackets directly to the frame, has anyone done that?

Or am I better off finding a good NTV600 or K75? The oil consumption (and the space a bottle takes up) is quite a concern, but otherwise it's quite a well sorted bike. I can't decide what to do

[Rod.s]

This is how i did mine, although the side panniers are soft bags they mount onto a "C" shaped bracket. I mounted the frame under the plastic, but it's just as ease to use the top front bolts and the two under the pillion seat. The top box mounted directly to the pillion seat, works very well indeed!

[Snod Blatter]

Cheers Rod, I already have a top box on the pillion seat but need more room. What brackets are those for the panniers and what were they meant to fit, if not the TRX?

[Rod.s]

Cheers Rod, I already have a top box on the pillion seat but need more room. What brackets are those for the panniers and what were they meant to fit, if not the TRX?

I made the brackets, using a common plumbers pipe bender and a welder

[Snod Blatter]

That was the answer I was hoping wouldn't come up.. Oh well. On with the research!

[dandywarhol]

Pick up a cheap TeDiuM and come back with wrists/back and arse ready for work (stands back and waits to be shot down )

Slovenia is a stunning country - we entered from Croatia and took the long way from Ljublijana by the 102, 103, 203 and 206 to Kranjska Gora - great route and good roads. River Soca is crystal clear and icy cold - fantastic on a hot trip!

A little known trip to the mountains is by railcar from Most na Soci to Bohinjska Bistrika. Part of the trip is by tunnel into the mountain. We didn't do on the train but wished we had - looked great! Enjoy the trip

http://www.slovenia.info/en/prevoznik/T ... =432&lng=2

[Snod Blatter]

Ha, if only TDMs were actually cheap and didn't use oil just the same.. I know the 900s are better in every way too but they ain't half holding their value well, even with the ugly-as-sin clocks and dash you have to look at! I still can't believe that a TDM850 is more to insure than the TRX! Anyway, a Honda CX650 has appeared on Gumtree quite locally so maybe that'll be the answer.. It's a shame there's no easy way to tour on a TRX though, they're capable enough.

There's only two of us going, we'll probably head South through Germany to Austria, maybe dip into Italy and then out the side to Slovenia and wind our way back. Maybe even see the Czech Republic too, it depends where the rain is each day. The guy I'm going with is getting a little agitated that I don't really have a bike to take yet, the hunt is definitely on.. A BMW K75C with 18" wheels both ends and a rear drum brake is favourite but they all seem to have disappeared as of late. Ho hum!

[coxylaad]

I went to Kranjska Gora when I was about 10, my lasting memory is standing at the top of one of them ski jumps (no snow it was summer) and slipping over on some lama poo and sliding half way down it before I stopped

Ljublijana - think we went there too, is there where the lipica horses are from? near lake bled?

[dandywarhol]

I went to Kranjska Gora when I was about 10, my lasting memory is standing at the top of one of them ski jumps (no snow it was summer) and slipping over on some lama poo and sliding half way down it before I stopped

Ljublijana - think we went there too, is there where the lipica horses are from? near lake bled?

That must've been quite a different place during the communist regime. Slovenia hasn't embraced tourism like Croatia has since the 90s (and all the better for it IMO). It's somewhere I'd head back to in an instant - really memorable country in a simple way

However, we've digressed from Snod's OP......................

[Snod Blatter]

Ha, I don't mind! I've been Germany the past couple of years (by TRX, of course) but Austria, Italy and anywhere further are all new to me. Nostalgia away..

[Rod.s]

Yamaha XT600e/Tenere or Tenere XTZ750 are a great choice and still cheep enough, for a "go anywhere" bike that will cruse at 110K' all day

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... to-content
http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... to-content

[Rod.s]

A little known trip to the mountains is by railcar from Most na Soci to Bohinjska Bistrika. Part of the trip is by tunnel into the mountain. We didn't do on the train but wished we had - looked great! Enjoy the trip

http://www.slovenia.info/en/prevoznik/T ... =432&lng=2

From the web site!
It is not difficult to choose between the option of driving on a narrow winding road across a 1300 metres-high ridge and the simple, comfortable and fast mode of travelling by train through the Bohinj tunnel (6327 m). The car-train is also suitable for mobile homes and trailers.

Sounds like a very hard decision, ride the twisties or fat bum on a train!

[dandywarhol]

Good point Rod - ideal world would be ride up the by road and back on the train

[Snod Blatter]

The XTZ660 is quite interesting Rod but isn't it worn out with 48K miles on the clock? Also those engines seem to do a horrendous 50MPG, worse than the 'rex!

I'm looking for 18" wheels (17" is just too small for road use, they fall into things), a rear drum brake (fed up of rebuilding calipers), a comfy seat and proper handlebars. Twinshock rear suspension is favourable as it is basically maintenance free and doesn't have linkages to wear, final drive mechanism I'm not too bothered about. It would be nice if it could at least match the TRX's 80BHP and 55MPG but it seems too much to ask! And, of course, at least the ability to fit panniers and a top box, though it's better if it has them already. Answers on a postcard please.. And nothing over £1600, just the thought of that kind of money makes me feel a bit sick. Oh and it simply must have a centre stand, this is non-negotiable.

There are a few contenders, the CX650 stirs my soul the most (that eighties cool!) but there's also this and even this though the capacity and the name written on the tank sends insurance companies into a panic. There's also many NTV600/650s about, even lightly crashed/scraped 650 Deauvilles for similar money, and of course the venerable K75C which ticks almost all the boxes but has many idiosyncrasies of its own like insane switchgear and a clutch that could stop working at any moment. Weirdly all the K75Cs seem to have disappeared and there are only S and RTs left with silly rear disc brakes, which isn't so inspiring with the multitude of cylinders and complicated fuel injection taken into account.. I'm so hard to please

[Tarwetijger]

Had to look it up, but 50 MPG equals 21 km/l, that is not bad at all. It just that 55 MPG is really good!
And with the prices of that CB500s and the Ducati, seriously, you can not complain.. at all!
You 're spoiled.