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Outback Motortek Adventure Standard Pannier Racks + Nelson-Rigg Deluxe Adventure Dry Saddlebags

6K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  YYC-Wazzy 
#1 ·
Hello ATF,

I finally purchased some pannier racks and dry saddlebags to get my luggage carrying capacity to where I want it. Being a rider from Southern Ontario, we can often experience three to four seasons on any given day during the Spring and Fall, sometimes even in the Winter. I like to ride all year long as long as it is not snowing or freezing rain. Often the brine solution added to the road will create swing days between storms where I can't get on the bike. I am telling you all this because it was a major factor in my choice. I needed enough room to bring my massive lunch bag, extra layers or back up clothing, back up gloves, size 14 work boots, etc, etc,... I also try to do as much exploring as I can, this means dropping the bike while going through unfamiliar and familiar areas. As I have mentioned in other posts, I have had my foot ripped off the peg and into my soft saddlebag on my pervious bikes. I am a firm believer that having the soft bags allowed me to keep the bike upright and eventually get my foot back to the peg and keep moving, if it was a hard bag I would have pivoted the weight of the bike and the tree on my shin... probably wouldn't have had the same results.😬

For the reason stated above and me being excessively cautious about my purchases I went with the Outback Motortek Adventure Standard Pannier Racks and the Nelson-Rigg Deluxe Adventure Dry Saddlebags. I don't like buying inferior products and then only having to pay more for the good quality items you should have bought in the first place. With most items you get what you pay for, and everyone has different standards that they will be happy with (I am saying this as the Emgo top case is on my rear rack... hahaha). When I received the above items I was very happy with the build quality of both.

The racks took me about 2.5 hours to install. About 30 mins wasted on looking at videos of installation on Youtube... save yourself the hassle because I couldn't find one for a 1000 ATAS. Just download the PDF instructions and get started. The installation went smooth with one exception (another 30 mins lost messing around with this). The tail light plug and the license plate light wires need to be reinstalled in the exact same way or they wont pass each other when you re-attach the cross brace to the structural "U" bracket. To work in this area was somewhat cumbersome but obviously not impossible. Once everything was were it need to be, I cranked all the hardware tight and gave it a shake... man that is a solid rack. I was very pleased with how solid it mounted up.

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Crappy pic but you get the idea..

The Nelson-Rigg Deluxe Adventure Dry Saddlebags are excellently built, they appear to be way more durable than the Ortlieb bags I have had on previous bikes. The only thing I loved about the Ortlieb bags was the had plastic backing plate built into the back of the bags (it allowed me to bolt them to my racks from inside the bags). I was aware that the Nelson-Rigg bags did not have this when I bought them and I wasn't worried about it. At first I was a little worried about the straps just wrapping around the racks but once you get all four wrapped around the racks and tightened up they are not moving anywhere. They can hold 27.5 liters each and this is the magic number for me, not too small not too big. The straps all tighten down and hold very well.

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Overall I am extremely pleased with both the racks and the bags. Once I get a few more Kms on them I will let you know if anything pops up but I can see both of these items lasting me as long as I have the bike.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Matt
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Looks good Matt. Just purchased the same bags for mine, opted for the SW Motech Pro Side Carrier pannier racks and installed them last week. I’m anxious to hit the road and try them out. (y)
Thanks, how did you find the installation of the SW's?

Since I don't see any additional crash bars other than factory, let me point this out. It stiffens up the light bar

I added it and the lower bars on my dct.
I would love to know what you think about that support bar? I have been contemplating that purchase for a couple months now. Have you "tested" it well? I have even thought about making my own... I still don't have any of my welders hooked up.
 
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