Washed out and broke the side case

[dragonflyTN]

Anybody ever done this?

I have the Yamaha side cases.

Off on a fire road this weekend, I come down a sharp right-hander and the front gets away from me. I slide down on the right side. No injury, not even a bruise, but the side case is completely busted. I would have thought that just the mounting points would break off and the case would remain intact, but instead the entire box broke up.

I've ordered a new case, but would like to avoid spending $425 every time I drop the bike.

Any recommendations?

 

[BravoBravo]

I have wondered how crash-worthy the OEM side cases were. I can tell you a bit about my experiences with Trax cases. My last bike, a Moto Guzzi Stelvio, was thrown on its side (while parked) in a motel parking lot when a violent windstorm moved in. The right side case was badly dented, but a friend of mine, who is a licensed body man, was able to pound it back into shape and it was just fine thereafter. It is still on the bike with its new owner. The Trax mounting frame was undamaged. I wanted the OEM luggage for my Super Tenere, but it was backordered when I bought the bike, so I have Trax cases instead. They will dent, but they won't break.

Bruce

 

[~TABASCO~]

A friend and I road out to UT before the Colorado trip this last summer. He fell a few times and busted his case all open where had stuff falling out and the bag broke off the bike... We strapped it all back on the bike and finished the ride... At the end of the day I felt we could fix it. We got several packages of JB weld and headed to the camp ground.. We washed all the dirt out of it and unscrewed the whole bag... The bag is just a bunch of panels that are screwed together... I JB welded a few broken parts and "popped" back other broken parts, then JB welded those.. We did all this at the camp site... Later in the night and the next morning we screwed the bag all back together and worked great... we continued on the UT trip off road and then headed over to CO for the rally...... He is still running the same back.... Its probably stronger than new now..... LOL

I don't know what your bag looks like but I BET you can fix it for about $10.... ::012:: Some of the screws are kinda hard to find... just take your time....

 

[BaldKnob]

Anybody ever done this?

I have the Yamaha side cases.

Off on a fire road this weekend, I come down a sharp right-hander and the front gets away from me. I slide down on the right side. No injury, not even a bruise, but the side case is completely busted. I would have thought that just the mounting points would break off and the case would remain intact, but instead the entire box broke up.

I've ordered a new case, but would like to avoid spending $425 every time I drop the bike.

Any recommendations?

Dragonfly, if the ol' bag is beyond repair, consider the Caribou Cases. More capacity and lifetime replacement for those unexpected fireroad naps. Cases, locks and mounting kit came to $600 via the website. Roger was very easy to deal with and he is a vendor on this site. Good luck with the stock box.

 

[BravoBravo]

Dragonfly, if the ol' bag is beyond repair, consider the Caribou Cases. More capacity and lifetime replacement for those unexpected fireroad naps. Cases, locks and mounting kit came to $600 via the website. Roger was very easy to deal with and he is a vendor on this site. Good luck with the stock box.

BaldKnob, where did you find these cases for $600? According to the Caribou website, the side cases are $835 and the mounting brackets and hardware are $329, which is actually very reasonable, but quite a bit more than what you have quoted.

Bruce

 

[echo_four_romeo]

BaldKnob, where did you find these cases for $600? According to the Caribou website, the side cases are $835 and the mounting brackets and hardware are $329, which is actually very reasonable, but quite a bit more than what you have quoted.

Bruce

$825 for 35L Pelican cases, uses Hepco Becker racks and you assemble it in your living room. That what I did. What site are you looking at that it costs that much. Maybe we are looking at different cases.

 

[Psyduck]

The top loading, 25l Pelican case (im2435) case can be replaced for about $140. Google Pelican Cases. If you manage to destroy one... which I doubt you will... $140 is ok . I have 2 x Im2435 bolted directly to SW-Motech racks and washed out as well the other day - very slight scratches which add character to my bike was the result. Perfect setup for people who expect to fall over every now and then in the dirt.
If you go down that route and bolt them directly to the racks you are looking at $375 (SW-Motech-Rack) plus 2 x $140 --> $655. (plus so a few bucks at the local hardware store for bolt, nuts and washers) If you feel you need a quick release it is a bit more. But the SW-MOtech racks can be taken off in 20 seconds - so I am fine with that...

Edit: Actually you can get the im 2435 for $120 each... (the no foam option). So around $600 for the whole setup sounds reasonable.

 

[BravoBravo]

$825 for 35L Pelican cases, uses Hepco Becker racks and you assemble it in your living room. That what I did. What site are you looking at that it costs that much. Maybe we are looking at different cases.

Okay, you are right. It was the Caribou website I was looking at, but must have been a different case. Here is the link to the $600 ($580 actually) side cases:

http://cariboucases.com/Side-Luggage-for-Hepco-Becker-Racks/36-Liter-Pelican-TOP-LOADING-Caribou-Side-Luggage-Panniers-for-Hepco-Becker-Racks.html

Bruce

 

[dragonflyTN]

Here's what the case looks like. Repairable, maybe, but the case is warped too. I will try, but I'm guess not. :'(
:'(

 

[bikerbampi]

Could have been worse, case looks junk but can be replaced. ::021::

 

[dragonflyTN]

Could have been worse, case looks junk but can be replaced. ::021::

Bikerbampi, it could have been a lot worse. The bike was about a foot from a 500 foot drop when it stopped sliding, so I'm really lucky. Note to self...slow down!

 

[gmtech]

whatya have in the boxes when it happend? when i went to the rally or anytime off road that i can i leave the boxes at home.
I know this isnt alwys possible but if there not on they dont break. I went the whole week of the rally with my boxes at camp sept for a top bag because i didnt want that to happen.
anyway bad luck mate :-[

 

[Mark R.]

There is a reason many ADV types use soft saddlebags - they just take the hit and keep on going. I bought these, with racks, for $700 total, and they can take many, many hits without any damage. Soft saddlebags also reduce the chances of injury to the rider's legs in a fall. The contents also do not bang inside hard cases, reducing damage to contents. Might want to consider these:

http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/index.cfm/product/312_10/rocky-mountain-saddle-bags.cfm

 

[BaldKnob]

BaldKnob, where did you find these cases for $600? According to the Caribou website, the side cases are $835 and the mounting brackets and hardware are $329, which is actually very reasonable, but quite a bit more than what you have quoted.

Bruce

I purchased the 40L cases and mounting kit for Givi racks July 2012. Roger looks to have updated his website and is providing the HB frame in the new package so the price reflects that addition. $835 includes the brackets and all hardware. While still a big hit to the mastercard, much less than stock or any of the aluminum offerings out there.

 

[BravoBravo]

I purchased the 40L cases and mounting kit for Givi racks July 2012. Roger looks to have updated his website and is providing the HB frame in the new package so the price reflects that addition. $835 includes the brackets and all hardware. While still a big hit to the mastercard, much less than stock or any of the aluminum offerings out there.

That is a very good deal! ::008::

-Bruce

 

[Salmon Sam]

I like the design and integration of the OEM bags, but they are as fragile as s**t, especially the clasping mechanism which is plastic (should be metal). About a month after I brought home my ST, it accidently fell over onto the plastic electric lawnmower n the garage. Not a very hard fall. Shattered the clasping gizmo and was not repairable (well it might have been with JB or plastic welding). Convinced the dealer that this was nuts for an adventure bike to be this fragile and Yamaha replaced it free! Props to Yamaha for that, but I hope that these are updated and toughened WHEN the 2014 comes out. For short day forest service road rides, I usually only put on the top box. I think aluminum or soft side bags are the only way to go for serious off-roading. If I was to do this again, I would invest in the Touratech ones - as expensive as they are.
Was thinking of trying to make some sort of lower bumper loop that would project a little out of the corners and sides of the box and fasten to the bike frame somehow, to take the brunt of the force instead of the box. Any of you mechanical savants ever thought of that or try to come up something like that? The object would be to keep the force pushing up on the clasping mechanism to a minimum in the event of a fall.

 

[dragonflyTN]

whatya have in the boxes when it happend? when i went to the rally or anytime off road that i can i leave the boxes at home.
I know this isnt alwys possible but if there not on they dont break. I went the whole week of the rally with my boxes at camp sept for a top bag because i didnt want that to happen.
anyway bad luck mate :-[

I had my cold gear in the side box that got ripped off. Overnight kit in the other one. When we started out it was 27* F , but warmed up to over 60* F before the day was over. We started before dawn and got to the hotel around sunset so I didn't have a chance to dump the cases before heading into the woods. Bad planning maybe, but when you are riding with a group, sometimes you are at the mercy of the ride planner.

 

[dragonflyTN]

There is a reason many ADV types use soft saddlebags - they just take the hit and keep on going. I bought these, with racks, for $700 total, and they can take many, many hits without any damage. Soft saddlebags also reduce the chances of injury to the rider's legs in a fall. The contents also do not bang inside hard cases, reducing damage to contents. Might want to consider these:

http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/index.cfm/product/312_10/rocky-mountain-saddle-bags.cfm

These are great and probably what I would have done if the bike didn't already have bags when I bought it.

I think the Yamaha bags will work fine when my wife and I are out touring the countryside, maybe hitting a farm road now and then. But longer term I'm going to have to do something different for off road. It'd be nice to find an "cheaper" option than the Wolfman bags even though I've heard they are fantastically tough bags.

 

[Ramseybella]

::026:: For Trax, saved my leg when I got T Boned on my Triumph Tiger.

 

[fredz43]

These are great and probably what I would have done if the bike didn't already have bags when I bought it.

I think the Yamaha bags will work fine when my wife and I are out touring the countryside, maybe hitting a farm road now and then. But longer term I'm going to have to do something different for off road. It'd be nice to find an "cheaper" option than the Wolfman bags even though I've heard they are fantastically tough bags.

I have a set of these Ortleib Dry Bag saddleabgs that I used on my KLR. I still have them and figure that if I do any off roading on the S10, I will put these on over my Trax brackets. Here is a link on the Aerostich site that also has a link to a comparison chart showing that they have the same capacity as the Wolfman Expedition saddlebags. I found them to be very useful when I had my KLR and used them for all the touring I did on that bike. 100% waterproof and a good price. Mine are black.

http://www.aerostich.com/ortlieb-dry-bag-saddlebags.html