Sunday, May 5, 2013

May 04, 2013 - Red Girl's Big Fat Pannier Lids


One of the nicest features about the Honda NT700 series is its built-in panniers. [aka “saddle bags”] For running around town doing a bit of shopping or picking up a few groceries they’re to die for, you can haul a gallon of milk & a fair sized bag of goodies. There’s also enough room for rain gear and that briefcase for your office biz [in case you’re unfortunate and still involved in the work thing.] Sigh…

The NT's original panniers

The stock panniers are nice enough but when it comes to longer trips, i.e. touring you really need a bit more capacity. Enter the Big Fat Pannier Lids. Available only from Honda dealerships abroad the NT700 owner is not going to find them in the USA. I checked with our local shop, Honda World, and after digging through their parts lists my Internet information was deemed correct; they couldn’t get them. Seems a bit odd doesn't it, you’d think those of us living in the colonies would at least be able to special-order the damn things but no, not so, we have to shop elsewhere. Phooey.  

So, moving right along I contacted Honda of Bournemouth in England where low and behold they would be more than happy to furnish a set. Aside from that they offer accessories for nearly every Honda sold so they’re now permanently marked in my Favorites list. Ordering a set was dead simple, choose the model and color of your bike, fill out the order form, hand over all of your money plus your first-born and you’re all set. Frankly I was prepared to wait several weeks for delivery so imagine my surprise when they turned up nine days later. That’s faster than a lot of companies here in the USA manage; very good service indeed. Here’s the link to their web site: www.hondaofbournemouth.co.uk

Seriously, do these new panniers make my butt look fat?
Size is everything...with panniers anyway

Installation of the new expanded lids is dead simple; you need only remove 4 hinge screws and a retaining strap from each of the original ones, and then mount the new lids in their place. Finally you must transfer 2 small latch attachments from each of the old lids to the new ones and that’s it, done. The entire process takes only a few minutes and you’re ready for the road.

My setup went smoothly just as above however there was just one slight disappointment. During shipment one of the lids was banged hard enough to crack an interior lip, knocking out a small triangular piece of plastic. It’s less than ¼” long and rather than crab to the shipper I took the easy way out; I covered the hole with a combination of black electrical tape reinforced with super glue. Since it’s out of the way there’s no harm done and the repair will surely function as well as the original piece.

Just as I finished my phone rang and it was Chuck Bruce checking in to see if I’d be up to a ride, do lunch, that sort of thing. Talk about timing, I said sure and 30-minutes later I headed over to his place. From there we rode north through Bandon and took the back road west to Charleston, a small fishing town replete with 100’s of boats and the occasional tourist.

Charleston, OR

Our lunch stop was centrally located adjacent to all the docks; a small mom & pop operation catering mostly to fishermen and the odd biker gang [like Chuck & me.] The food was good plus Chuck sprang for lunch which always enhances the flavors. He opted for the Halibut fish & chips while I went for the Cod version. I happen to like Cod the best; maybe because of the oil but that’s how it is. My joints never squeak!

Food...feed me!
Hey where's Larry? Am I getting stuck with the bill again?
I'd own this sign but they take it inside at night...
Mmm, mmm,  oily Cod fish, my favorite!

While we were there one of the owners showed up in his home-built hot rod so we were treated to a lengthy description of the entire build history, etc. Boy there’s a lot parts and pieces that go into one of those things, it’s amazing. 


Have you ever noticed you never see kids driving hot rods? It’s always us old geezer-type guys reliving their lost youth. There’s probably a message there somewhere but I doubt it’s important, we just know how to have fun.

So be it, done for another day and ready for the next farkle.

LL

2 comments:

  1. How much deeper are the new covers? It looks like maybe 3 more inches... Extra space sure comes in handy.

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  2. That's a pretty good guess I'd say. It's enough to make a big difference in what you can haul along on tours, my main reason for getting them. They don't seem to have any impact whatsoever on how the bike rides, handles, etc., so that part's good. You might have to pay attention if you're lane splitting but that really only applies to California.

    I've already got the waterproof liners that you store your clothes in and take into motels. They're pretty cool, like a lot of soft luggage they're expandable so they fit both the regular panniers and the fat ones.

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