Himalayan Panniers and Set Ups

[TN_twowheeladdict]

Even with throwovers, I believe a basic rack or even just a simple bar is essential to stop them swinging about or sagging on to hot pipes, especially when banging around off road.
I've had or seen a few fires, large and small trying to make do without a rack.
Hitched high, the Kriega throwover never got near the Him pipe, but I had a long jubilee clip ready to bodge a heat shield, if needed.
On previous bikes I've levelled off similar upswept pipes to make room for bags.

Why I had to buy an '07 Ninja 650 the moment I saw it. It was the first bike I ever saw with an under bike exhaust. Should have waited a year and got a Versys 650, but I did end up with an '11 Versys. I understand the premise behind the high exhausts for water crossings and ruts, but the Versys 650 handled all that well as long as you kept moving.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

I bought the RE rack but sold it on BNIB once I realised how heavy it was as I was only ever planning to use slim Kriega OS 22s.
Got got some C-racks made instead to stop the bags swinging about. Worked fine once the strapping was sorted.
The great thing with the Him is giant boxes out back aren't essential as the front racks provide easily added capacity.

View attachment 268

I like the (hinged?) platform on those Zara rack too – they do that a lot in Asia.
Animal, vegetable or mineral, it means you can lash anything on and takes all the stress off vertical box mounting points (if used), plus fold up for lane splitting.
Chopped off water jerries + shopping bags is my kind of thinking, too. Light and functional.

I had soft bag stays from GIVI that were maybe 1/4 inch thick and were just there to keep the bags from drooping into the wheel. I mean, if you were looking for lightweight.

 

[Kiwiscoot]

I haven't weighed them but a couple of sites selling them list them at 20 pounds.

That is heavy. Guess all up with two on the front and two at the back you're talking of 60lb empty weight added to the bike and that is without any gear in them. That will have a profound influence of the overall performance and handling of the bike. Less weight on a bike is always more of the good stuff eg. performance, handling and MPG.

 

[Kiwiscoot]

Me personally, for soft Panniers I will go with Zana. The quality is excellent and I like the design with the flip down lip for the bag support. I have them, just not installed. I am still on the fence wether to go with soft or hard Panniers.

The Zana lip is not flip down but fixed (easily removed - just screwed on.). Donowyn panniers have the flip down lip.

 

[BuckeyeHimalayan]

The Zana lip is not flip down but fixed (easily removed - just screwed on.). Donowyn panniers have the flip down lip.

I don’t worry about the extra weight. I am not a large guy so I don’t have that extra weight to add. This is also not a motocross bike so the extra weight for easily carrying needed and travel items turns into a necessity. I take the highway where that would probably come most into play as little as possible, even it takes me twice as long. This works for me may not work for others, my theory of my Himalayan.

 

[Kiwiscoot]

I don’t worry about the extra weight. I am not a large guy so I don’t have that extra weight to add. This is also not a motocross bike so the extra weight for easily carrying needed and travel items turns into a necessity. I take the highway where that would probably come most into play as little as possible, even it takes me twice as long. This works for me may not work for others, my theory of my Himalayan.

I was actually not referring to the weight of the lips. I had to remove mine to fit my pannier bags.
In my post about weight I was referring to Xopher 's ammo cases as panniers. All up empty they would add about 60lbs of weight to the bike. That would have an effect on the bike.

 

[BuckeyeHimalayan]

I was actually not referring to the weight of the lips. I had to remove mine to fit my pannier bags.
In my post about weight I was referring to Xopher 's ammo cases as panniers. All up empty they would add about 60lbs of weight to the bike. That would have an effect on the bike.

Ok, I thought you were referring to added parts like pannier racks, Engine Guards and the such. My bad, and apologies for chiming in. You would be correct though in that instance. There is a difference in functional and manageable weight to functional and over weighted.

 

[Loadtoad]

Here is my pannier set up. OEM rack with Tusk Panniers.

Mounts are made from standard hockey pucks cut on a table saw. The left side uses only one puck, I wanted to have the boxes not touching metal to metal. The rubber is great as an isolator. The right side uses two stacked to get the boxes away from the muffler.

I also put a small spacer on the muffler mount to move it just a smidge inward.

The tabs are just simple strap metal with a 8mm x 125 bolt welded to it. The left side used 50mm long bolts and the right side 70mm with large fender washers inside the pannier. Total width is 34 3/4 inches, about 3/4" more then the handle bar width. One of the pannier tops on my last trip flew off cause I forgot to latch it. It was pretty dinged up and had been ran over by a car. Some bending, pulling and JB epoxy putty to tidy up the corners and it was as good as new. Recommend a method to attach the lids to the boxes. The Tusk powder coat is very thin, if I were to buy them again, I would put a couple coats of automotive two part clear coat on them. Without it the cans scratch very easily.

 

[BuckeyeHimalayan]

Here is my pannier set up. OEM rack with Tusk Panniers.
View attachment 292View attachment 295
Mounts are made from standard hockey pucks cut on a table saw. The left side uses only one puck, I wanted to have the boxes not touching metal to metal. The rubber is great as an isolator. The right side uses two stacked to get the boxes away from the muffler.
View attachment 293View attachment 294
I also put a small spacer on the muffler mount to move it just a smidge inward.
View attachment 296
The tabs are just simple strap metal with a 8mm x 125 bolt welded to it. The left side used 50mm long bolts and the right side 70mm with large fender washers inside the pannier. Total width is 34 3/4 inches, about 3/4" more then the handle bar width. One of the pannier tops on my last trip flew off cause I forgot to latch it. It was pretty dinged up and had been ran over by a car. Some bending, pulling and JB epoxy putty to tidy up the corners and it was as good as new. Recommend a method to attach the lids to the boxes. The Tusk powder coat is very thin, if I were to buy them again, I would put a couple coats of automotive two part clear coat on them. Without it the cans scratch very easily.

How well or easy were the Tusk hand guards to fit? I like the look of those.

 

[Loadtoad]

How well or easy were the Tusk hand guards to fit? I like the look of those.

I bought mine last year and really got the wrong ones. They didn't work with standard bars, when turning It would hit the windshield, I put on risers and that solved the problem. Another issue, the ones I got didn't use the bar end wts. I think if you order the proper ones that are made for the Himma, you will not have the issues I did. When I got my bike, there wasn't any 3rd party stuff like there is now.

 

[BuckeyeHimalayan]

I bought mine last year and really got the wrong ones. They didn't work with standard bars, when turning It would hit the windshield, I put on risers and that solved the problem. Another issue, the ones I got didn't use the bar end wts. I think if you order the proper ones that are made for the Himma, you will not have the issues I did. When I got my bike, there wasn't any 3rd party stuff like there is now.

Got it thanks, barkbusters are just too damn expensive.

 

[sqeeezy]

I noticed you guys talking about handguards. I got these. Cheap and good and no hacksawing or filing needed on my standard Himmie bars/risers. Still got the bar end weights fitted. https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01CNHEB5W/ref=pe_3044141_185740131_TE_item

Fallen over about eight times with them fitted. Mirror broke. They didn't.

 

[Sidequestadventure]

I actually bought those two, It was probably you but somebody mentioned having them installed. I figured for the price why not.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

For anyone wondering, I can totally attest to the quality of Vibhas’s products. It is all top notch and the prices are outstanding.

Don't see any for sale in the link.

 

[AZ Mtn Girl]

Don't see any for sale in the link.

Items for sale by vendors must be posted in the Vendor's thread. Check there for the ebay store post by Vibhas Gupta

 

[AZ Mtn Girl]

I've decided to get the Hepco-Becker side carriers for the Himalayan. I'll be using soft throwover bags so I am getting the HB side racks for three reasons. One is because they are the only racks other than Royal Enfield that are made to accommodate relocation of the rear turn signals. Two is because of the manner in which they mount seems sturdier utilizing 3 mounting points. And three is because of their size and weight. Although I could not find dimensions for the RE racks, in pictures comparing them, these HB racks appear smaller and slightly closer to the sides, which is good as I am only using small saddlebags. And the HB racks weigh 3.7 kg (just over 8 pounds), whereas somebody said the RE racks weigh about 20 pounds.

 

[Leyprest]

Those should serve the purpose well. Have you decide which throwover panniers you're going to use? Those Hepco-Becker racks look to be about the same size as the RE racks and just like the RE racks have three fixing points which is good. I'd estimate that my RE racks weighed about 5kg (11 pounds).

 

[AZ Mtn Girl]

Those should serve the purpose well. Have you decide which throwover panniers you're going to use? Those Hepco-Becker racks look to be about the same size as the RE racks and just like the RE racks have three fixing points which is good. I'd estimate that my RE racks weighed about 5kg (11 pounds).

Getting a set of small saddlebags from Naz Bags in Australia.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

I've decided to get the Hepco-Becker side carriers for the Himalayan. I'll be using soft throwover bags so I am getting the HB side racks for three reasons. One is because they are the only racks other than Royal Enfield that are made to accommodate relocation of the rear turn signals. Two is because of the manner in which they mount seems sturdier utilizing 3 mounting points. And three is because of their size and weight. Although I could not find dimensions for the RE racks, in pictures comparing them, these HB racks appear smaller and slightly closer to the sides, which is good as I am only using small saddlebags. And the HB racks weigh 3.7 kg (just over 8 pounds), whereas somebody said the RE racks weigh about 20 pounds.
View attachment 395

I believe they were talking about the metal ammo cans weighing 20 pounds.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

For soft bags, take a look at these brackets also. I like the folding ledge that will keep the bags off the muffler. I think i saw somewhere that the price was 3500 rupees which is about $ 50 US dollars. Plus shipping costs of course.

Donowyn Custom Saddle Stays | Donowyn Customs

All metal products are made of Stainless Steel (and not Mild Steel or MS) They had a flat base, which could be folded Powder coating for lasting finish

donowyn.com

I got a quote from donowyn for their stays. $345 delivered! Oh well. Back to the decision process. For $345 I will buy a welder and take some lessons.