Hi folks,

Still mulling over the ideal pannier for what I'm doing. Has anyone used the new(ish) Siskiyous on the XT660Z? I'm wondering if the handles interfere with the section between the 2 bags. Still not 100% satisfied with the Magadans, and wonder if the Siskiyous are the answer.

Thanks!

Paul

In my experience there is no perfect luggage solution. Hard vs soft; loops vs throw overs; plastic vs aluminium; tote bag vs whatever. Each has advantages and disadvantages and different designs within each type have their own pros and cons. Best to work with what you have got, adapt it, add to it and work with it to make it suit you. Also adapt your packing, kit list and equipment until it fits.

For what it's worth I have an older model Giant Loop great basin. That is good but not without its limitations - mainly it most definitely is not waterproof and is a tad on the small side. I use light dry bags inside and have added a couple of bags to the daisy chains, and will also tie down something light on top of everything. I also add a tank bag and a couple of kriega US10s as tank panniers, along with some other small bags and tool tubes stashed around the bike for odds and sods. This works for me but is not at all secure - the biggest drawback of all.

Can't help with the specific question though other than to try USA based forums.


Sent from my iPhone with a smile

Nothing major - great quality, good capacity, tough (except for the pouches, which take the hit when the bike goes down - both of mine are now ripped).....

- I take my panniers off/put on regularly, when I'm staying in hostels etc. The need to strap them securely to the bike every morning is time consuming and fiddly. (A minor adjustment to this, making it easier to thread the horizontal straps behind the pouches and thus negating the need to unpack them, would be straight forward if I had an industrial sowing machine re-sow the pouches through the kevlar material - but I don't.)

- The top velcro straps are not well designed. Fine tuning the length of the straps when the panniers are on the bike is very awkward, but necessary to maintain a good fit as the volume of your stuff in the pannier changes day by day. I plan to improve on this by fitting new straps using a metal friction buckle, which will help so long as the buckle is able to remain secure. The Ten adds an additional inconvenience in the pillion handles - you can't simply adjust the straps to the correct length and then sling the bags over / lift off, as you have to feed through the pillion handles.

- When the bags are very full and thus 'deeper', they don't hang vertically but overhang outwards (does that make sense?!). I could rectify this by extending the depth of my frame to provide greater back support, but would prefer not to - more weight. (When the panniers are 3/4 full they hang better.)

- Not so easy to secure small roll bags etc on the top of the panniers, when extra load capacity is needed.

- And the inner WP bags are not so well designed - very sturdy, but there is too much bulk around the top section, which takes up space and prevents a really watertight seal. And when they are really cold, they stiffen up and become more unwieldy.

I reckon Siskiyous will solve all of this: quick to attach / detach at the pillion pegs; simple to sling over and lift off (hence the question about pillion handles); no adjusting of straps to fine tune the fit: they are designed to allow you to strap items to the top when you need more capacity; and it seems they are pretty waterproof (I'd back up clothes etc with additional WP stuffsacks). And I like the asymetric design to shift the weight a little further forward. After using a GL tank bag, I am confident they will be very well made and tough.

Of course, until I try them I won't know their flaws!! Such is life.

But like I said, the Magadans are good bags and could be improved with a few minor changes. Perhaps Adv Spec will amend for the Mk2s.

I must say that the flaws you mention on the Magadans have not bothered me so far. Except for your points on the inner bags. They are quite stiff and the role tip is more bulky than it could be. Partially because it is so stiff.

But then again, I never take the bags off. I lead the front strap under the seat and the rear strap under the top luggage plate. Combined with some pacsafes that provides enough security for me.
I align the place where the straps are attached to the bags with the top of the luggage rack, that way I don't have to adjust them depending on how full they are.
Combined with a small luggage role on the top plate they provide ample storage for my needs, so never felt the need to strap any additional roll bags on top of the Magadans.
With my SW Motech rack the bags overhang a bit, but not outwards.

No system is perfect though and everyone has different needs and expectations. So if you get the Giantloops, I'm curious to hear what you think of them.

If I could leave them on all the time, that would make a big difference to the convenience factor - probably enough to hang on to them. And because I sometimes need to stock up on several days of food (and no compact freeze dried stuff - loaves of bread, bunches of bananas etc and sometimes extra water when camping in the Atacama etc) I need the ability to create extra space in the bags at times. In the first part of the trip I was using TT Zegas, and one of the only things I liked about them was the abilty to strap 5L bottles of water and other temporary stuff to the top. (I carried a big rolled up Chilean poncho around for a week or two until I could find a post office from which to post it home!!)

One big problem, of course, if I want to switch to Siskiyous is I need to find �400+ from somewhere!!!!

Like Austin I've got the GL Great Basin but coupled with Ortlieb Rack Pack and Famsa Tankbag. As he has said the Great Basin is not 100% waterproof but it does the job for me even though a little pricey. Have you considered Ortlieb as they do the MOTO Saddle-Bag and MOTO Speedbag which look sort of similar to the Siskiyou Panniers.

The Ortlieb bags don't have as much capacity as the Siskiyous. And I'm drawn to the ease and security of the Siskiyou attachment system.