Going a little crazy with the Pelican

Bigbore4

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Lots of folks, myself included have the Pelican IM 2600 cases as panniers. They are about 35 liters a side. I have had them on from day one (I have a nuclear bike, July 2011 delivery), they have served me well and so far have been bomb proof. AND BONUS, they're cheap! After I retired and was able to take longer rides covering more ground and more climates I found I wanted something bigger. So last year a scooped a set of 45L SW-Motech aluminum Trax boxes. Size good, but they are top open hinged on one end. With the huge Givi (great big roundish thing, 52L?) top case and the dry bag full of camping gear tied on, you cant get them open. So they are on the way to an ADVRider inmate in Utah and I am off on a grand experiment.

I like what I have for most everything except extended rides encompassing multiple climates. And I recognize I take too much shit. There's guys doing RTW with less stuff. I have worked on culling, getting smaller stuff etc. Fact remains I am not a small man. My clothing is bigger, my sleeping bag is bigger etc. And I would love to ditch the dry bag full of the camping stuff tied across the pillion.

So I went googling and decided on the Pelican IM 2700. 49 liters, 4 latches but no wheels. Slightly larger than the 2600 in all dimensions. I have the Twisted Throttle adapters on SW-Motech racks. They have discontinued their universal mount kit, so if you have them do not break anything! I really want the same mounts as I want to keep the 35L 2600 cases for routine use. If it aint a simple swap it wont happen. So tomorrow I am meeting with a fabricator buddy and former colleague that has access to a 5 axis laser, multiple press brakes tig etc. I am hopeful he can fab me up a couple duplicate mounts. If he cannot do this, I will resort to the Caribou mount kit and probably sell the 2600's.

If this all works out I will post up some pics. If I mount the cases with the bottoms in about the same position as the 2600's the top of the case will be about even with the pillion and the rear rack. In my ideal world I get all my shit into the side cases, leaving that huge top case for adding removing layers of gear and having room for groceries when camping. And all of this is unfolding now cuz I am FINALLY going to Alaska! Gear to cover from 100+ degrees on the plains down to freezing or sub freezing temps in the mountains.

If successful, I will post up pics of both sets of cases. I hope this works. The couple extra inches of dimension will let me fit the tent poles, my camp chair etc.

Stay tuned...
 

EricV

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Sounds completely ridiculous, I look forward to seeing pics!
 
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ballisticexchris

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Holy crap!! And I thought my super duper humongous Pelican top case was too big!!

IMG_3270.JPGIMG_3266.JPG
 

Checkswrecks

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Look good and I have a smaller top box like BallisticChris' for when not commuting. We had big ones on my son's Strom and they were tough as nails.

For what it's worth, Harbor Freight has Pelican knock-offs at a better price.
 

Bigbore4

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The Genuine Pelicans are so much less expensive than other forms of MC luggage I went with that.

@ballisticexchris I have one of those giants also, mounted under the license tag. Air pump and tire plugs always with me.

@craigincali I have considered replacing my Givi top case with another Pelican for the very reason I see in your pic. A decent flat surface to mount a Rotopax or similar fuel container to. Maybe we can the Pelican knock off folks to knock off the Givi Monokey mount and mold it into the pelican for quick on and off. Hmmmmmm.
 
B

ballisticexchris

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People make fun of my cases because they are "too big"..... thanks for joining the "functional panniers club".
All joking aside, that looks like a fantastic setup for traveling. I really like the handle and wheels for rolling it around when it's off the bike.
 

Bigbore4

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Progress!

Got my mounting brackets from my fabricator buddy today. Asked for one set and he made me an extra. WOO WOO! Original from Twisted throttle on the left, locally fabricated on the right.
20190329_154455.jpg
And here they are after paint. The dog-bone thingies are the reinforcement for the inside of the case.
20190329_171002.jpg

And a couple shots of the Pelican cases to get a feel for the size comparison and what I am hoping to achieve.
20190329_154647.jpg 20190329_154715.jpg

I have a couple other things to occupy me this weekend, but I hope to get the wheels back on the bike so it is stable enough to wrestle the luggage. Get the brackets another coat of paint and figure out what height I want to mount the new cases at. Then install the mounting brackets. and hang the cases.

I am also waiting for a set of lock cylinders from Twisted Throttle. I searched and searched and could not find anything like them on the WWW. When I went to Twisted Throttle, they are listed as we can't get any more and when these are gone they're gone. They are white metal and if you crash they break right off. I ordered one extra set, I hope that will give me time to figure out another latching mechanism or another source.

Here is a pic (from TT) of the latches if one of you all might know of an alternate source.
lock.jpg
 

kaalsb

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@navynuke Thanks for this idea, I just did the same thing with a slightly taller Pelican 1300 case that i've had laying around for a few years, Perfect tool box!
 

Clawdog60

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east central "ILL"
Progress!

Got my mounting brackets from my fabricator buddy today. Asked for one set and he made me an extra. WOO WOO! Original from Twisted throttle on the left, locally fabricated on the right.
View attachment 53972
And here they are after paint. The dog-bone thingies are the reinforcement for the inside of the case.
View attachment 53975

And a couple shots of the Pelican cases to get a feel for the size comparison and what I am hoping to achieve.
View attachment 53973 View attachment 53974

I have a couple other things to occupy me this weekend, but I hope to get the wheels back on the bike so it is stable enough to wrestle the luggage. Get the brackets another coat of paint and figure out what height I want to mount the new cases at. Then install the mounting brackets. and hang the cases.

I am also waiting for a set of lock cylinders from Twisted Throttle. I searched and searched and could not find anything like them on the WWW. When I went to Twisted Throttle, they are listed as we can't get any more and when these are gone they're gone. They are white metal and if you crash they break right off. I ordered one extra set, I hope that will give me time to figure out another latching mechanism or another source.

Here is a pic (from TT) of the latches if one of you all might know of an alternate source.
View attachment 53980
What model number are both of those cases? I would like to setup a smaller set of pelicans for day use with my HT brackets.
 

Bigbore4

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What model number are both of those cases? I would like to setup a smaller set of pelicans for day use with my HT brackets.
The smaller ones are Pelican Storm IM2600. They are the common one Caribou sell and Twisted Throttle sold. They are about 35 liter capacity. I can go for weeks with the 35's and a top case. The larger ones are Pelican Storm IM2700. They are about 49 liters. FedEx lost my locks, hence the project delay.

The search for something larger was driven by my desire to get my top case mostly empty. Looking for someplace easy to stash and retrieve layers as the temperature and conditions change. Also a place to stow some groceries etc when heading out to a more remote camp.
 
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