OP
OP
Bear
2
I will probably order a set from Motorcycle Larry--we bicyclists stick together. Currently I am using canvas tote bags as pannier liners--seem to work OK--are also real cheap-$3.98. I have yet to test them on a tour. My chance will be the Killington Classic. Will probably look like some sort of a bag lady--never have been much of a fashion plate. I do have some white T-Shirts for formal wear.
+1 to that. been using it for years to hide the smell of smoking in the car!
also - i recently bought these bags as well, off of eBay. very reasonably priced and seem well made (to echo previous comments on them).
elizilla
Guest
My sweetie smokes in his car. When we go skiing he always cleans his car out and uses Ozium for the smoke smell because he knows I don't like it. I never skied, or encountered Ozium, until I started seeing him. Y'know how smells can be really evocative? Well, Ozium = snow, in my mind. It smells of cold and wet and utter physical exhaustion, and dozing off in a warm car on the way home. Good stuff! 
Mine fortunately didn't come with any chemical odor.
Chatty Kathy
Guest
I ordered liners from Bestem & I also found that the 2 liners were different sizes; the left side fit well but the right side was noticeably smaller; I contacted Bestem & they were helpful (I was OK w/ a partial refund)
I will be using them for the first time next week and I hope everything goes well; I am headed on a long trip and rain will surely come (it's already in the forecast); I read in another forum that someone used a backpack as a saddlebag liner (it had the same shape as the saddlebag)
I will be using them for the first time next week and I hope everything goes well; I am headed on a long trip and rain will surely come (it's already in the forecast); I read in another forum that someone used a backpack as a saddlebag liner (it had the same shape as the saddlebag)
OP
OP
Kathy,
That is odd, was one of them for a NT650?
That is odd, was one of them for a NT650?
Kathy,
Got my Bestem liners in August 2011, and the right one is smaller, and only 2 compartments vs. 3 on the left. I just pack other, mostly dirty, things around the right Bestem bag between the pannier and liner. Didn't think to call and ask for partial refund.
I bought mine thru MCL and the right bag is also smaller. He buys them from Bestem for resale. I suspect it is so one can fit them in to the right pannier. Since it does not open as wide as the left. Did Bestem ever give a reason why the right is smaller than the left bag.
OP
OP
I bought mine from Bestem, off eBay, and both bags are the same size in both the zipped, small stock pannier mode, or with the expansion zipper unzipped for use in my large pannier lids... Do you even have an expansion zipper on the right hand bag?
Great bags! Well made and makes packing a breeze.
I bought mine from a former member and like some of the rest of you, they're not the same size. Nicely made though and work very nice.
LL75
HA! Anyone catch that? You had to be fast!
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When Ken Mitchell was visiting me week before last, he pointed out that the two bags were different sizes. I'd never noticed it before. So I went and dug out my right bag to compare to the one I'd been using on the left.
Sure enough! They're different sizes. It still work for me, even though Ken thought I had them on the wrong sides. I wouldn't have bothered with a refund if I'd noticed the difference. Ken says that one pannier is smaller than the other. I'm not sure about that. He says the right pannier is shorter in height than the left to give clearance for the muffler. Maybe so, I haven't measured.
Sure enough! They're different sizes. It still work for me, even though Ken thought I had them on the wrong sides. I wouldn't have bothered with a refund if I'd noticed the difference. Ken says that one pannier is smaller than the other. I'm not sure about that. He says the right pannier is shorter in height than the left to give clearance for the muffler. Maybe so, I haven't measured.
You don't need to measure them Phil, just lay them side by side on the floor and eyeball them. Mine are really different, so much so that one can nest inside the other. That probably helps when shipping them. Hey maybe that's what's behind it all!
LL
Coyote Chris
Site Supporter
Hmmmm...I bought John Grinsel's and I dont know what I have. They work fine for my packing technique as I put other things in both big lids...but mine are only 9 inches high, look the same (dont know how to tell the left from the right) and each has an expansion zipper and a small compartment on the logo side. One is in the bike now for a one day trip to Clark Fork so I will remove it when I get back and measure them and photograph them. Can someone measure theirs from the bottom to the top (the side seem makes a big oval around the Bestem logo and the Deauville logo?
Bear
2
The saddle bags are quite different. My Nolan N-102 fits nicely into the left bag but not in the right. And, yes, the bags are very well made--wife who is a professional canvas maker/upholsterer said that those bags would probably cost over $100 each were they made in the US.
I had actully forgotten that the bags were different sizes. I use the left one frequently when I pack for week end trips. Usually shoes and other items go in there. I don't use the right one at all. I keep "bike stuff" in the right pannier. Bike stuff is my rain suit, tire repair kit and pump, bike cover, windshield cleaning kit, etc. All this is in there loose.
Coyote Chris
Site Supporter
Oh well, perhaps John didnt realize this before he sold his NT....I got a Cee Baily plus 2 in near new condition, a manual, peg lowering thingys, and the bags for $100. I am not unhappy. Got my bike loaded for the cascades rainathon next week. The odd things is that I have lots of left over room. That's pretty scarry for me.....I should bring the peg lowering thingys to the Rally and see if anyone wants them. I dont.
Now where's that kitchen sink?
Now where's that kitchen sink?
Okay - one more question for this thread.
I have already ordered the larger Deauville lids - and am about to order the Bestem bags for my new 2010 NT. Of course, I'm also adding a big Givi E55 top case. I don't like to have to leave "stuff" at home.
BUT - being new to having panniers on a bike, I wonder about the admonition by Honda to only carry eleven pounds in each pannier. Some of you guys sound as thought you carry a lot of weight in your panniers.
Any problems with weight?
I have already ordered the larger Deauville lids - and am about to order the Bestem bags for my new 2010 NT. Of course, I'm also adding a big Givi E55 top case. I don't like to have to leave "stuff" at home.
BUT - being new to having panniers on a bike, I wonder about the admonition by Honda to only carry eleven pounds in each pannier. Some of you guys sound as thought you carry a lot of weight in your panniers.
Any problems with weight?
In my opinion, as long as you dont put any undue stress on the hinges and latches, what's the harm?
I doubt anyone stays under those limits
I doubt anyone stays under those limits