Touratech Panniers for the R1200GS

Tourenkoffer Motorradausrüstung

Long time motorbikers all remember Vetter. The Vetter line of motorbike accessories brought the idea of aftermarket fairings and panniers to the mainstream. Back then stock motorbikes came unadorned, just frame, engine, and wheels. The only stuff you could take with you was the stuff in the pockets of your coat.

First generation GoldWings could be seen in the late 1970s cruising down the road with a full Vetter faring and luggage holding that extra helmet and your bag lunch while blaring Led Zeppelin from the console mounted “Cycle Tunes” motorbike radio — it was all very new.

BMW’s were the first bikes in memory that came stock with some kind of fairing and panniers. Pannier is a word from Middle English that roughly means “a pair of woven baskets” slung across the back of a beast of burden. While better than a pair of woven baskets, BMW luggage has had a mixed history. There are many stories of BMW Integral Bags inexplicably “going missing” somewhere along the road. They are legendary for their stellar aerodynamics and good looks, but limited capacity.

The BMW “Vario” line of panniers for the current edition of the R1200GS have an almost foolproof system that assures they will not fall off in transit. They also have a nifty feature that allows the bags to fly in low profile, or expand to a larger size, adding about 30% more volume. But their construction is primarily plastic with a brushed aluminum trim that gives only the illusion of robustness. The lever system that enables the expansion mode has that feel that quietly says, “push me too hard and I’m definitely going to break.”

There is a universal truth that all two-wheeled vehicles will, sooner or later, fall over. When the R1200GS with Vario bags falls over, the bags are a major point of contact with the ground — the other being the cylinder head. Suffice to say that the cylinder head fares better than the Vario bag, especially if the bag is in the full-capacity expanded mode. One or two minor spills and the injured bag lists like it’s had a minor stroke, on spill #3 it snaps and will no longer function.

Criteria for a suitable replacement: The panniers must not break. They must be lightweight. They should be large but not barn door large. And they must look good.

The debate: Jesse Bags vs. Micatech vs. Touratech. The hardest part is deciding on obscenely expensive panniers knowing that you can’t really know how well they’ll work until you’ve already shelled out major bucks and have them mounted on the bike. You ask around, you surf the web, you see a few types at rallies and at your local dealership and then you roll the dice.

The choice here is the German-made Touratech “tourenkoffer” which translates to English as “suitcase for a go around-the-world.” The panniers arrive from Touratech wrapped in enough corrugated paper and bubble wrap to thwart even the most aggressive Silver Back parcel handler. Ripping into the packaging like a kid at Christmas the motorbike owner-turned-accessory-installer quickly faces the Tourtech puzzle.

First challenge: The assembly instructions are in German. In bold letters the first instruction is Alle Schrauben zunachst nur ansetzen und erst anziehen wenn alle Schrauben angesetzt sind. Using a German to English translation website you later learn that this means, “Don’t fully tighten any bolt until all the bolts are installed,” or something to that effect. This is valuable information to have before installation, but completely worthless after.

Luckily the instruction book has pictures.

The instructions also do not tell you that you’ll need #25 and #30 Torx drivers and a set of metric hex wrenches, not even in Deutsch.

The hardest part is that the entire tail section of the bike must be disassembled to add a supporting bar in the rear fender. And, the hardware bag is filled with a dizzying array of hex-head bolts and washers, but the instructions do not specify what goes where. If you like puzzles, you’ll like spending the two hours it takes to figure it out and install the panniers. If you don’t like puzzles, pay your local BMW mechanic to do it.

Hint, hint, the Touratech panniers are very German. Well constructed from high quality materials they exude quality but are not fancy. They’re built for durability and function. The 41 Liter per bag capacity is big, but not too big. The top loading feature means you can fill the bag to bursting and open it without having stuff spill out into the mud. The mounting frames are exceptionally sturdy, but lightweight and engineered to fit at high tolerance. Locks? These bags are set up for padlocks.

With the panniers mounted and road tested — you hardly know they are there — all that’s left for the packer is to contemplate the space available, the stuff that should go into that given space, and how to do it. Einige Menschen lieben Rätsel (some people love puzzles).