I have been toying with the issue of panniers of late. Hard luggage is brilliant for tar road travel in that it is secure from the elements as well as from thieving hands. It also stays put. What I mean is that it doesn’t shift around while you ride, giving you total peace of mind.
Travelling on dirt, however, is another story. The vibration inherent in off-road riding can play havoc with hard luggage. It also becomes a liability in the event of the inevitable spills that will happen if you ride off-road a lot. The luggage can damage you, and itself. A dented or broken pannier presents a difficult-to-solve problem. Around the world, travellers have almost exclusively gravitated to soft luggage.
When considering soft luggage you have to decide on rackless panniers or those that affix to pannier racks. Again we have pros and cons. The biggest issue that I have had to contend with is how to secure the panniers in such a way that they do not shift around. I travelled with a buddy to Vic Falls years ago. Near Palapye in Botswana I checked my rear-view mirror to check that he was line astern, only to see his bike trailing a plume of smoke.
I initially thought that his motor was giving up the ghost and that the exhaust was billowing smoke. As it turned out, his rackless soft luggage had shifted, allowing his pannier to rest on his exhaust and ignite. His blow-up mattress was still the rubberised variety so it smoked like a steam train on an incline. Watching him stop and try to detach the burning pannier before his bike caught alight was something to behold indeed. We had a good chuckle over our first St Louis Lager that night as he relived what was actually a harrowing experience. Ever since that episode I have preferred affixing soft luggage to a pannier rack, as that does a better job of making sure it goes nowhere.
The GoGravel Trans Karoo’s are their latest version of soft luggage. I had the opportunity to test them thoroughly on a recent trip to the ‘slowveld’. I fitted Givi Pannier brackets to my Suzuki DL650 XT V-Strom. Givi stuff is proper! I have used their quality products over the years and have always been happy with how they worked. I watched the handy GoGravel video on how to secure the panniers to the bike and found it simple and easy to follow. The design is brilliant. The securing straps are easily adjusted to any pannier bracket, and once tightened they are properly secure. The pannier body has loops which allow you to tuck excess straps away without subjecting yourself to flapping strap ends.
Typical of most soft panniers there are two broad straps which go across the bike, either over or under the saddle. If you have a passenger it is better to route the straps under the seat so that they do not have to be sat on. These are the main weight-bearing straps. Now, this is where the Trans Karoo’s are fiendishly clever. They have a rigid back, bottom and front. This allows them to keep their rectangular form, which makes them easier to pack and maintain their form.
As for packing, here is their other huge benefit. The panniers themselves are made from a tough rip-stop material with re-inforcing at all the stress points. The ‘lid’ zips closed so they are pretty weather and dust-proof but it is the ‘inner’ bag that they supply that is the kicker. Two of GoGravel’s excellent 30-litre stuff bags do duty as inner bags for the panniers. These are designed to do duty as independent bags with tie straps, air valves and tie points. With their velcro roll tops they are totally water and dustproof, so any dust ingress you may suffer into the outer pannier will not get into the inner bags. I have used the previous GoGravel travel bag for years now with brilliant results.
Our trip required us to take clothing and food, so the bags were pretty chockers’ when we left home. Two adjustable exterior straps attach to the seat straps from the outside of the bag, which is clever because it negates the bag’s tendency to sag inwards under load. In addition, these straps spread the load across the bag and not just on the inside strap. The end result is a neat, secure and totally weatherproof soft luggage solution which stays exactly where it is mounted.
Travelling behind me, my son, also Dave, reported that they do not move an inch, but remain mounted, at all speeds. As the classic ads go, “that is not all!” With a removable inner bag, you simply take your luggage to where you require it and then fold the sides of the pannier inwards and up, bringing the floor flush with the backing plate whereupon you fold the lid down over the fold floor and side, tuck it in and secure it in place with the two side clips. Your pannier is now flat and flush with the pannier bracket and totally out of the airflow.
I picked up a couple of extra groceries the next day. I simply undid two clips opened the pannier, popped the grocery bag inside and zipped the lid shut. Sorted. There is thus no need to remove the panniers at all. You just fold them flat when not required and pop them open when you need them. Brilliant.
The next day’s riding was with the panniers folded and totally out of harm’s way. The GoGravel logo on the lid looks classy, with the folded panniers in no way detracting from the looks of the bike, but rather bringing an extra cool factor. We rode home into a severe headwind. I found that my panniers were pretty empty, so I packed all my kit, plus the other empty inner bag into the other inner and put it on the back seat, secure and out of the wind. The panniers could then be folded up for a sleek, wind-cheating profile.
Kudos to the fellow who designed these chaps. I was totally won over by the amount of thought and subsequent clever design that has gone into every aspect of these panniers. The real mind-blower is that they retail at a mere R5000 (suggested). Two state-of-the-art motorcycle all-weather travel bags and the panniers for that. Bargain!
I am so impressed with every facet of the performance of these bags that I will pay them the ultimate compliment. I am going to buy a set. There is no more meaningful endorsement than that. Good job GoGravel, good job!
GoGravel “Trans Karoo” Soft Pannier System
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