Hard luggage and weight

[Derivative]

I'll be getting a bike soon and as part of that, travelling to/from uni. (six times a year, duvet and canned food/kitchenware in storage, everything else comes with, renting 27 weeks a year.. glorious).

Not too concerned about bulky stuff as that'll be going by courier, (clothes etc).

What I am worried about is loading up panniers with too much.
Let's say I get some big box ones like this and there's no worry about the pannier itself splitting or whatever.

https://www.gutsibits.co.uk/prod_img/lrg/AluStandard.jpg

Anyone have experience carrying heavy loads on the back? I carry about 20-30kg on the train, I know the bike would have no problem carrying it, it's only like having a pillion after all.

We're talking dense stuff like reams of paper, btw.

I'm a bit unsure about how hard luggage actually works. Do these things bolt onto the subframe somehow, or do you have a bar across the pillion seat, or what?

[Kingstondavo]

I don't know what course you do but surely you can dump the reams of paper? It's been 2 years I graduated but 95% of my stuff was electronic based? You can get pretty much any textbook as an ebook now....
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Current Ride - 2010 Hornet 600

[Werny]

When you buy hard luggage you also need the luggage rack. The rack bolts to your bike - usually where your grab rail does and on the subframe, or thereabouts. The rack provides side mounts for the panniers and/or a top box mount.

[ninja_butler]

[Ariel Badger]

I once carried a gearbox in a rucksack, do not do what I did.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Derivative]

[Amreet]

Doing hard luggage properly is EXPENSIVE for most bikes, plus some racks have a tendency to snap if you weigh them down too much, you may be best off learning how to economise on packing and then luggaging strapping a big waterproof sack to your pillion seat, add in a tank bag and throwover panniers and you can carry quite a lot of stuff.
I can get more on my bike with no racks or hard luggage and ride for 120 miles with it than I can carry by hand in 2 trips ( when taking stuff from the bike to my flat )

Buy some ratchet straps and see what you can do. bit of faff but if its not too regular then doesnt matter.

[Derivative]

[Amreet]

[Amreet]

what bike you on?

[TheSmiler]

One of my cbt instructors had these on his Bmw adventure bike, he uses a basic box frame that he made himself that hooked over the back of his bike and attached them onto that. Believe it cost him £300 all in (£250 for the luggage).
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CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet

[Derivative]

[daemonoid]

[Teflon-Mike]

I did two and a half terms YEARS of uni, with an AR125, a pair of cheap throw-overs a couple of cheap sports bags, and lots of bungees!

BOY, was the invention of the 'Cargo-Net' a life changing innovation!

KIDS TODAY, eh!

Everything has to be manufactured, designer kits, intended for the job they have in mind, provided on a plate, neatly goft-wrapped, on demand, with no hassle or effort!

E-Books? Lap-Tops? COURIERS!

Duvet, pillows, bed-linen, laundry, stuffed in variouse bin-liners and compressed with spare 'belts' until they were small enough to squash down and stack on top of everything else!

Throw-overs went on first, my ONE dedicated bit of kit; second hand, and they were CRAP compared to modern offerings, just PVC satchels, and I had to glue a tab on the bottom to be able to tie the bottoms to the pillion footrests stop them swinging into the wheel! WHICH was why I actually invested in them; a sports-bag had slipped on one journey and got a bit 'minced'...

Unloaded in a lay-by, found a bin-liner, wrapped it up, , moved stuff around, strapped it tighter.... carried on.

Heavier stuff like books would go in throw-overs, then sportsbag would be bungeed accross the pillion, that full of cloths. Another one begind it, probably full of cooking pots & crockery... I had the one big saucepan & frying pan in the house!

TOP: Always check your saucepans before you pack, that That DRUNKEN IDIOT hasn't decided to fill it with vehetable oil and cook some CHIPS the night before you leave.......

Bedding, as said, squashed down into bin liners, bungeed over the top.....

EVERYTHING, packed down into bags that went on to one of the lightest lightweight 125's made!

OK, its NOT ideal..... but then its all part of the 'Fun', and 'improvising'..... and you don't do it very often....

Later, I got the VF1000, and after getting past being the office 'grunt' expected to stay late to wait for print-offs of data-base queries, or whatever, and prepare stats for who-ever had a 9.am meeting the following morning.... and could leave the sill o'clock offing to other lower members of the food-chain... I bought a two-box system.

Oh the LUXUARY! chucking stuff into BIG suitcases and just clipping them to the bike and riding off....

Used to do 'Jail-Break's from wrok on a Friday afternoon, so pack boxes on a Thursday night, clip them to bike in the morning... go to work, and by sun-set was looking for somewhere to camp for the night and have a beer.....

And I realised that it was RATHER indulgent.... just a little TOO easy....

When I got the CB750, I looked to see if I could adapt the rack to fit new bike.... but in the end, after a bit of improvisation, re-discovering the techniques I'd used at Uni..... never bothered...

HAVING to 'wing it', improvise, made me more selective about what I took.... made me pack light. NO you DONT need five Cameras AND a walkman AND a radio, AND ten cassettes.... (What we had before MP3 Players for you teenagers!) and it was 'rather' fun; more 'REAL' biking.... boxes? Was just like taking the car! Having to pick and choose, not having so much space, traveling 'light'? THAT is the 'old' ethos of biking; keep it light and loose, and see where the road takes you!

BAGS AND BUNGEES KID, Bags & Bungees! And a bit of imagination. ALL you need.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[herulach]

Where the fuck are you renting that you have to tart around emptying it out over the holidays?

FWIW most I've had on mine is a full set of hard luggage, a laptop bag underneath the topbox (its a wingrack so plenty of room) a 2ft square box with a server in and a big tankbag. I've had more pleasant journey's but you'd be amazed how much you can fit on.

However, If i had to do it with any regularity, I'd be seriously considering a maxiscoot. Most have about 3 lids worth of space under the seat, with a topbox, a set of throwovers and a roll bag I reckon you could fit anything in there.
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YBR 125>FZS600

[HJM]

-Completely off topic-
hey mate just wondering were you study? (also study phys @ uni)
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"90% of all statistics are made up"

CBT-18/04/2013

[Derivative]

[HJM]

Very nice mate, York myself!
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"90% of all statistics are made up"

CBT-18/04/2013

[Derivative]

[P.]

I'd have that sort of rear weight and them even it up with some heavy tank bag setup.

[UnspeedySam]

What tef said:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/155898_487500059920_4638669_n.jpg
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Riding: BMW R1150RT `02 bought mildly crashed
Fixing: Also the BMW as I get less broken bits
Gone: ZZR600 '00, TRX850 '97, RXS100 '93, JS125-6B '07, BMW R1100RS '93, Kawasaki ZX-6R-J2 '01, Honda Bros NT400 NC25 '88

[HJM]

[herulach]

Do Oxford do physics? I thought you had to do natural sciences? Or is that just the other one (I did theoretical physics @ Leeds)

I genuinely wouldn't worry about it. To be honest, don't take notes, assuming you have some form of scanner, run through the scanner, print when you get home. Or get a space in a house, IME bikes get nicked from halls.
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Derivative]