Hard panniers breaking ankles...how?

Purificator81

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Hi there,

As I am preparing a long trip in the atlas on mostly offroad tracks, I am still debating soft vs hard panniers from the injuries risk....I really want to understand how Yamaha OEM panniers can cause injuries to the ankles in case of crash as the panniers are not heavy duty, they will not be loaded heavily (most likely just the camping tent, inflatable bed, etc...). Is this risk imminent or just repeated a lot on forums and YouTube based on "hear say". I can't seem to invest on soft panniers without fully understanding the injuries risk..

Thanks for your help!
 

thughes317

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I put my foot down to "dab" once while riding a rutted dirt road, my foot caught up in a small rut and the hard pannier caught the back of my calf as the bike continued forward, almost pulling me out of the saddle. This left a very large and painful bruise on the back of my leg (which could very easliy have been a broken leg instead). Immediately switched to soft panniers for offroad. Other's experience may vary......
 

Purificator81

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I put my foot down to "dab" once while riding a rutted dirt road, my foot caught up in a small rut and the hard pannier caught the back of my calf as the bike continued forward, almost pulling me out of the saddle. This left a very large and painful bruise on the back of my leg (which could very easliy have been a broken leg instead). Immediately switched to soft panniers for offroad. Other's experience may vary......
Ameen! Debate closed. I did not think about this scenario and I thought hard panniers could leave the bike up so that my leg could escape a falling bike....
Thanks a lot
 

Fennellg

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I understand the argument. I found the hard case shielded my leg from injury. Although I would have to admit soft luggage would probably do the same. With an added bonus, no dented or leaking luggage to repair.
 

yen_powell

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I never saw any ruts in the Atlas mountains, it was all stony tracks or gravelled dry stream beds. I would recommend travelling as lightly as possible, two of my friends had bikes so loaded down with heavy luggage that most of their drops were due to over balancing at a stand still and the weight taking over.

One of the heavily laden bikes managed to deconstruct an alloy pannier (Touratech). It was ripped off as it swiped a car sized boulder when the rider shot past it and then crashed after hitting a smaller boulder. We had to use rocks as hammers to reshape the bits, then put the top and bottom plates back on to the now open square tube of aluminium and then use ratchet straps to bind it all together till we got to somewhere that riveted it all back together.
 

thughes317

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Ameen! Debate closed. I did not think about this scenario and I thought hard panniers could leave the bike up so that my leg could escape a falling bike....
Thanks a lot
Hard boxes do prevent the bike from falling down on your leg at a no-speed drop (stand still). Soft bags allow the bike to lay more flat on it's side and make it harder to pick back up.

The other major point was made by yen (above): hard boxes are likely to be severely damaged during a decent crash, soft bags usually suffer a bit of abrasion but otherwise end up no worse for the wear.

Security may be a final consideration (although security is always an illusion because anyone that wants to get in to your bags....will). That said, it's easier to lock/unlock hard bags when traveling in civilized areas, while security with soft bags during off road travel is usually not a concern. I tour with hard boxes and put the soft bags on when I'm planning trips involving off road excursions.
 

~TABASCO~

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There are certainly pros and cons to BOTH... Ive seen the good and bad of both.... I ride a lot of off road and now enjoy working on all the BDR trails... I ride with aluminum hard bags. When I fall I need the bags to protect all my stuff in the bags. I had a friend I was riding with in the Vally of the Gods.. This is a smooth road. I have NO IDEA how he fell on his bike, but he did at speed. He had soft bags. When I went back to find him his bike was on its side in the middle of the road, and all his shit was out in the road and blowing across the desert. Everything in the back was bent, broken, crushed, or just ruined.....
Like said, they both are good and bad for different reasons....................... Personally I'll stick with hard bags........ Probably always will......
 

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try not to fall .... if you're leg gets caught in the wrong spot at the wrong time , bags or no bags soft or hard , leg injury is a possibility . I think dirt bike guys are better at crashing than street guys . more practice.

Jump off the bike like a cat ! LOL
 

TenereJourneyMan

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You could also get something that runs over your leg for you!
94DC0222-ECC8-439B-8EDB-96F4B68AD65A.png

Until last week, I didn’t know Yamaha made the tragic mistake of putting out a three wheeler. I thought it was just a Honda thing. This might be a pretty rare little toy, for sale currently:)


My neighbor had a few of the Hondas back in the 1980s and of the five brothers, three of them got pretty badly injured. Mostly because of the obvious tipping hazard and whiskey throttle combination.
 

Sierra1

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. . . . Until last week, I didn’t know Yamaha made the tragic mistake of putting out a three wheeler. I thought it was just a Honda thing. This might be a pretty rare little toy, for sale currently:) . . . .
My brother had one. Never saw him ride it. I might be wrong, but I got the impression that the Yamaha had a longer wheelbase. Probably didn't help much though.

1675817858676.png
 

tntmo

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I think hard cases or soft cases could lead to breaking an ankle in the right conditions. I like hard cases, my current bike is using soft cases but I'm on the lookout for a hard set even though it will make all my buddies wonder why.

And Yamaha made some great three wheelers.
1675818841581.png

As did Kawasaki!

1675818895293.png
 

Sierra1

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I put my foot down to "dab" once while riding a rutted dirt road, my foot caught up in a small rut and the hard pannier caught the back of my calf as the bike continued forward . . . .
Similar here. Bar lock turn, put the foot down 'cuz it was falling. On the KZ1000P, and the ST1300PA, there are saddle bag crash bars. If one's not careful, they will grab the back of your leg. I've done this on both. The R1150RT-P has higher crash bars, so they didn't get me.
 

Cycledude

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I actually bought one of those 3 wheeled 2 stroke Yamahas brandnew, it was the worst machine I ever owned.

View attachment 98773

Until last week, I didn’t know Yamaha made the tragic mistake of putting out a three wheeler. I thought it was just a Honda thing. This might be a pretty rare little toy, for sale currently:)


My neighbor had a few of the Hondas back in the 1980s and of the five brothers, three of them got pretty badly injured. Mostly because of the obvious tipping hazard and whiskey throttle combination.
 

Purificator81

ride until the end of endless road...
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Thank you all.
I will have my top case and passenger seat bag only then...neither soft no hard side panniers..and the crash bars can do the work of keeping the bike a bit higher to let my leg escape a fall...
I had a similar set up on my old versys 650 when I never cared about weight...
 

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Purificator81

ride until the end of endless road...
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I never saw any ruts in the Atlas mountains, it was all stony tracks or gravelled dry stream beds. I would recommend travelling as lightly as possible, two of my friends had bikes so loaded down with heavy luggage that most of their drops were due to over balancing at a stand still and the weight taking over.

One of the heavily laden bikes managed to deconstruct an alloy pannier (Touratech). It was ripped off as it swiped a car sized boulder when the rider shot past it and then crashed after hitting a smaller boulder. We had to use rocks as hammers to reshape the bits, then put the top and bottom plates back on to the now open square tube of aluminium and then use ratchet straps to bind it all together till we got to somewhere that riveted it all back together.
I have been to the atlas several times but planned to go through a specific track which is the most challenging apparently: it is called "cirque de jaffar"..many youtube videos are there and it is indeed a track without rut...
I usually travel very very light with only my topcase...the only reason why I need a bag in addition to the topcase is the camping gears only
 

Purificator81

ride until the end of endless road...
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Hard boxes do prevent the bike from falling down on your leg at a no-speed drop (stand still). Soft bags allow the bike to lay more flat on it's side and make it harder to pick back up.

The other major point was made by yen (above): hard boxes are likely to be severely damaged during a decent crash, soft bags usually suffer a bit of abrasion but otherwise end up no worse for the wear.

Security may be a final consideration (although security is always an illusion because anyone that wants to get in to your bags....will). That said, it's easier to lock/unlock hard bags when traveling in civilized areas, while security with soft bags during off road travel is usually not a concern. I tour with hard boxes and put the soft bags on when I'm planning trips involving off road excursions.
Indeed. The entire atlas mountains are generally very very safe...small villages where everyone knows everyone and people are extremely friendly...that is why I love traveling there and never thought about safety risk
 
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