Panniers & Top Boxes

Pannier Dimensions

  • Teton (9.6 lbs per pannier): 33-39L - 15" H x 18" L - Width options: 7.5", 9" and 10.5"
  • Cascade (12.4 lbs per pannier): 38.5 L 18"H x 18"L x 7.5"W - More volume without more width
  • Denali: 47L - 20"H x 18"L x 7.5"W - Most volume without more width
  • Imnaha (6.3 lbs per pannier): 13.8L - 12"H x 15"L x 5"W - Aluminum panniers for off-road, minimalist riding
  • Owyhee: 21.5-31.5L - 14" H x 16" L - Width options: 6", 7.5" and 9"

A 3/4" lip makes the opening on all boxes 1-1/2" smaller than box measurement. Detailed specifications for each pannier & top box is shown on it's web page.

Design and Construction

Our panniers and top boxes are TIG welded of .080” (2mm) aluminum, among the thickest in the industry, and no glue or rivets are used in construction.

  • Once installed, panniers are easily removable with a Quick-Disconnect located inside each pannier
  • All panniers are designed for two-up riding (riding with a passenger)
  • All have high quality hinge and lid features (see below)
  • All have Canyon Cut outside edges (45 degree bevel cut for safety and style - see below)

Quick-Disconnect

Panniers are easily removable with our puck mounting system. A couple of turns on each of the two knobs inside the pannier, and it is released. It takes about 10 seconds per pannier. See Installation Photos

  1. Open lid of pannier
  2. Loosen the two mounting knobs by one turn
  3. Old Style Only: Reach around to the back side of the pannier and rotate the two pucks that were just loosened with the knobs
  4. Pull up and out on the pannier, removing it from the rack

Lids

High quality cam latches give you the best gasket seal in the industry... our panniers and top boxes have no leaks! Each is lockable with two padlocks (not included). Lids come with footman loops for strapping on additional gear. 4 footman loops are standard on each lid.

Lid Racks

If you plan to carry larger items on your pannier or top box lids, our lid racks offer additional tie down positions. (Photo below.)

Hinges

All panniers and top boxes have our new Slot Hinge Design™ (photo below) an industry leading technology designed to meet the needs of today's adventure touring. The Slot Hinge Lid™ has a pivot hinge on the outside of the pannier. When running panniers with a top box some riders convert panniers to lift-off lids, easily done by removing the one hinge-screw on each hinge. All panniers and top boxes come with the hinged design for liability purposes... no exceptions are made.

Canyon-Cut

Canyon-cut is a term describing a 45 degree bevel cut on the bottom outside edge of our panniers. This is a safety feature. If you go down, a 90 degree angle will dig into the road surface. A 45 degree angle is more likely to slide, a less violent event for the box, the rack and the bike. Top Boxes are Canyon Cut to provide clearance for pannier opening. It also offers visual symmetry with the panniers and breaks up the square look of the box. We do offer a top box with no Canyon Cut for applications where square corners are more suitable.

Color Options

We recommend powder coating on our panniers to avoid the black oxidation that can form and rub on clothing and stored items. In addition, bare aluminum panniers will have imperfections and scratches in the metal from the manufacturing process. We offer two powder coat choices:

  • Hammer-tone black has a finish like a smooth orange peel with about the same level of shine or gloss
  • Textured silver is a matte finish that is close to the frame color on a lot of bikes

Color Tip

When choosing pannier/top box colors black is always a safe bet bevcause it always matches. Matching silvers and grays is more difficult.

Temperature: Our side by side test of the three finishes showed less than 10 degrees difference in pannier cargo temperatures. Tim says when it's hot out his candy bars melt in all of them.

SU Rack (Structurally Unique)

All our industry leading pannier kits feature our exclusive and thoroughly tested SU rack designed for use with soft or fixed luggage/panniers. The SU rack utilizes strong 5/8" round tubing for the arms and 3/4" square tubing for the SU loop. Racks are bike specific, with a three point mounting design and a bumper support bracket between the two sides. (Photo below.)

Pre-Mount

Pre-mounting consists of drilling four holes in the pannier for the pannier to be mounted in a neutral position. We define neutral position as comfortable for rider and passenger in normal riding conditions. All pictures of mounted panniers on our website show panniers in this position. All panniers are designed for two-up riding.

Puck Kit

"Puck" describes the attachment hardware that bolts to the pannier for mounting it it to the rack.

Clif-Cut

Clif-cut is a term describing a 1.5" exhaust cut-out used on bikes with wide protruding pipes to create a more symmetrical weight distribution when panniers are mounted and loaded. It keeps the load on the exhaust side box as close as possible to the center of the bike. Popular applications for Clif-Cut are: Triumph Tiger 2000-2004; BMW F800-650 Twin; Honda XR650L.