Ok, here are the pics as promised.
We'll be looking at my right pannier.
On a sidenote, notice the big gap between the inside of the pannier and the exhaust. Could fit more snuggly and reduce your width considerable. Same goes for the left side. Anyway.....
First picture is full view of the pannier as seen from the back of the bike. The lock that breaks (or has a tendensy to do so when falling over) is at the bottom left side of the pic where you see the jubilee clip.
Second pic is of the inside of the lock that is broken. The slit that holds the lock in place is fine. The actual locking mechanism however is sheared. Not sure if you can see that.
The next picture I have left the "hooking" mechanism open. This is the "hook" that grasps around the rack.
Next one, is after I have "hooked" the clamp to the rack, but left the locking mechanism open. Normally functioning, you will be pushing the mechanism into the pannier lock, and twist the key for safe locking. The locking does not hold the pannier itself. But if you open the lock the whole clamp will open up and you can release the pannier from the rack. This is the situation you want to avoid (the clamp opening up on it's own). To fit the jubilee clip, you must open the clip up completely and wrap it around the pannier fittings. The jubilee clip shown is a bit bent. Next step shows why.
The jubilee clip itself cannot apply enought pressure on the clamp to hold it in place. You can use a small rock (no joke. It works quite well) or a piece of rubbish metal like I did in the last pic. Tighten the jubilee clip, thus pressing it onto the clamp and closing it. Now the clamp is held in place, and will not open up unless you undscrew the jubilee clip. If you do need to remove your panniers (for instance while camping) a screwdriver and a few seconds is all it takes to release the clamp. There....all done.
You will propably notice that the clamp is not completely closed. This is due to the lock inside obstructing a full close. But it's closed enough to keep the clamp tight and on your rack without falling of.
The rack and the clamp itself did not suffer damage. Had the lock been extra strong and not broken, I wonder what would have broken in its place. As I said before, the weak lock could be a blessing in disguise.
Hope this made my previous explanation a bit clearer. Questions? Just shoot.
Best regards
Torsten
PS: Forgive the non technical words as clamp and hook. I'm the sort of guy that still uses words like "thingy" and "twirly bit" in my technical vocabulary. Hope you understood it none the less
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