Hepco and Becker soft bags

jackrotten said:

I managed to get Triumph to replace mine with a new set but I doubt they'll do it again. If I have any more issues with the zippers, I am replacing them myself with some YKKs.

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By broken do you mean the zipper tab broke off the slider, or something else?

maurice said:

By broken do you mean the zipper tab broke off the slider, or something else?

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The nylon rings (the pieces that interlock to "zip" together) broke off and got tangled up or half pulled off of the zipper-track AND the entire zipper piece (the cloth piece the zipper was attached to) separated from the bag in a couple of places. It happened in 3 spots on my left pannier.

jackrotten said:

The nylon rings (the pieces that interlock to "zip" together) broke off and got tangled up or half pulled off of the zipper-track AND the entire zipper piece (the cloth piece the zipper was attached to) separated from the bag in a couple of places. It happened in 3 spots on my left pannier.

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Wow. Mine not showing anything like that, just not smooth at spots. Tried wax.
Glad dealer covered yours!

maurice said:

Dropped oem bags off at luggage repair shop. Said problem is the sliders, not the teeth. Pick up Friday. 4 sliders= 60.00. If they work better worth it.
Love how easy to remove,add bags.
Will report results.

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No go. Not the sliders. Nice guy said no charge to put old ones back.
Looking for auto upolstery for steel teeth.

maurice said:

No go. Not the sliders. Nice guy said no charge to put old ones back.
Looking for auto upolstery for steel teeth.

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Yea I've been certain it's the ****ty nylon teeth. Brass or stainless teeth should increase the weight capacity of the bags too, as I think the nylon teeth are likely lowering the rating on them. You'll have to have the cloth zipper strip removed and replaced with an entirely new zipper strip. I'll have to hand stitch it when I do mine.

ruzzle said:

Weight limits on the H & B bags and the OEM bags are the same at 5 kg. Mount to the same underseat points. Look pretty good on the bike.

In Oz they are half the price of OEM, and bigger capacity. Both have zippers and internal waterproof bags.

Very interested!

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No they mount to the same points as the backrest unfortunately, not the same points as the OEM panniers so you can't use the same pre-holed underguard as the OEM, you need a solid one and then put in place and drill from the top. Not going to be as strong if you have a rack aswell as this mounts on the backrest too....

I do have them before you ask and also the 2 types of underguard.

Ah so!!

MrPix said:

No they mount to the same points as the backrest unfortunately, not the same points as the OEM panniers so you can't use the same pre-holed underguard as the OEM, you need a solid one and then put in place and drill from the top. Not going to be as strong if you have a rack aswell as this mounts on the backrest too....

I do have them before you ask and also the 2 types of underguard.

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My bike is in transit, so forgive me if I don't quite follow what you're saying- nothing for me to look at, yet. It's an R model, but does have the backrest and I'm planning on adding a rack. What do you mean about the underguard (2 types?), drilling, and being less strong? After what I'm reading about the Triumph bags I'm thinking HB might be a better option, but seeking all opinions.

How about this?
Waterproof hard shell cases (15 liter)

Hi Journeyman
What Mr Pix means is that there are a number of fixing options (4 times 8mm) into the rear frame that can be used for a pannier bracket . Triumph use 2 for their panniers and 2 for their backrest and rear rack. H and B use 2 for theirs but they use the backrest holes not the ones Triumph use for the pannier brackets. This means that holes in the under guard (the plastic cover that effectively acts as a rear mudguard (fender) would be exposed and let the crap get in. However when you buy the pannier kit you get an extra under guard pre-drilled for the bracket fixings. You can then use the original one for the H and B bracket fixings. If you haven't got the Triumph pannier kit then your under guard will not have any holes in it anyway. You are going to have to drill it for the H and B fixings.

The strength issue comes from the fact that with both the Triumph pannier brackets and the H and B brackets you are relying on all the weight in each pannier being supported on two 8mm bolts which fix upwards into the rear frame (by far the weakest type of fixing for load bearing). I believe that this is why both Triumph and H and B only rate their panniers at a paltry 5 kg load. Incidentally the huge Corbin bags only use 3 of the 8mm fixings and they do not specify a load for their bags (I know this because I asked them twice and they didn't reply!) I don't know how heavy the Corbin bags are but they must pretty heavy to start with.

I have H and B bags and fixing but I have added an extra support for the brackets using one of the free 8mm holes. It was quite a job to make the extra brackets, but I'm now confident that my bags will take a bit more weight without issue.

You asked about the Orbit bags, I have not seen those (I have the C-Bow Buffalo bags), What I can say is that the quality from H and B is excellent so I would imagine those would be fine (if a little small). I don't like the look of the C-Bow brackets and they get very scratched quite quickly taking the bags on and off. I like to have the bags on the bike all the time so it doesn't bother me.

Hope that helps

Steve