| Author | Message | ||
     Chadleys1 |
Sorry, but I am out in the shop mounting them right now. I will post pics as soon as I can. First impression? WOW!!! The Genuine Pelican Cases look to be of the highest quality, complete with O ring weather sealing, very heavy duty handles, hinges, and latches, integral locks, as well as locks for the mounting brackets. The bags are so weatherproof, that they even have a pressure equalization valve permanently mounted in them. Brackets--- Very nice quality. They look heavy duty and are finished out quite nicely with sound looking welds and a great black paint(powdercoated?)finish. More later with photos..  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
Link to manufacturer's site- Great Guy, Roger. http://www.adventure-motorcycle.com/store/?name=Ca talog&mode=i&item=000066 | ||
| Chadleys1 |
I am out testriding the setup. Mounting was easy and actually fun to see it coming together. I have a decent level of metal fabrication skill, and have to say that Roger from Caribou Cases must make a mean jig, because the fit and finish of the brackets was amazing. Fit was perfect. I took a million pics and will post them tonight or tomorrow morning, now to testride. Oh yeah, the whole kit, brackets, bags, and innerbags, together weighed in at 31 pounds, and the hardbags are BIG. | ||
| Jmhinkle |
I really like how clean and unnoticeable his rack system is. It goes with the lines of the bike and doesn't stick out so bad like the factory racks when the bags are off. The big downfall for me is that you can't put a helmet in the bags. Size doesn't mean anything if the shape isn't useful. While a giant square case seems like it holds a lot and still keeps the rear narrow, it actually loses a lot of function because of the lack of depth. My brother was amazed at how usefully large my saddle bags are compared to his Ultra Classic. I love the quality of the Pelican's, but they need to add some different dimensions to their lineup. Something with the depth of a 1620 but the size of the 1550 would be nice. | ||
| Chadleys1 |
When I am riding, I usually keep my helmet on my head, and to keep the helmet in the bag when you are off the bike means you have to leave it mostly empty while riding, or empty it when you get there to make room for the helmet. I guess that needing helmet room in your panniers is just personal preference. For me, storing helmets in the panniers is a non issue. I will just use them for storage on road trips. Here are the pics!!!!! So far I rate the bags 5 stars. I am fully satisfied with the purchase and can't wait to see how they hold up on the road. (Message edited by chadleys1 on February 25, 2007) | ||
| Chadleys1 |
This should be a better photo.  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
In my opinion, the racks look excellent, and appear very rugged.  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
I have ridden up to about 95 mph indicated with the bags on, and could not feel any vibration or undesirable movement either from the bike, or by reaching back and touching the bags. So far, so good!  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
My early feelings about this purchase are very positive. The pelican boxes are of amazing quality, totally overengineered just like I like it. The racks and mounting system are unobtrusive and very smart in their design. They are even designed to break away in an accident without damaging the racks or subframe. Very nice. I will report back on these bags after a couple of road trips. I will be going to Louisiana in March, and a few days in Big Bend in mid April.  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
Oh yeah!   | ||
| Chadleys1 |
The toughest, most durable hardbags ever.  | ||
| Windrider |
Chadleys, I have to agree. These bags are great! I just got a set and am still mounting them. The design and quality of the racks is excellent and I like the clean looks of the bike with the bags off much better than the traditional empty hoop design that almost everyone else uses. We have 8" of fresh snow today so I won't get to test them for a bit. : ( I like the shape a lot better than the factory Buell luggage as I think that they are too fat. I don't know if they will hold as much but I greatly prefer the thinner profile of the bike with the Caribou system as opposed to the Buell bags and they will certainly hold enough for me as I am a packing minimalist. In the end it is better for us all to have another choice! Thanks for posting the pics and BTW I really like your windshield black out job. Looks great with your black Uly. | ||
| Court |
I gotta say . . . those things look GREAT. I'd almost immediately mount some "way too big for a motorcycle" lights in the back and running light on the side. In fact, I've already got this very cool mental image of some killer driving lights mounted on the front of the boxes, just outboard your legs. Wonder if that would work. I am feeling weak. | ||
| Mizilus |
What kind of trunk can you mount with them on? | ||
| Road_thing |
Sir Chadley, those are a HUGE upgrade from the luggage you used on last year's trip to the ranchito!  rt | ||
| Az_m2 |
They look great  How do the cases lock to the rack? | ||
| Chadleys1 |
Windrider- I agree, it is great to have choices. The stockers were a little too bulbous for my eyes, and I wanted a little more rugged setup because I have been known to slide around a little on the "calichi" (Texan for gravel.) Court- You are reading my mind. If I don't custom LED light them, I will at least run some reflective vinyl stickers on them to increase visibility, as I think the tailight might be partially obscured from the side view with the bags mounted. I kinda like what one of the KLR guys over on ADVrider did with some used Pelicans he got cheap off of Ebay. They were used military issue versions that had fan holes in them for venting computer equipment. Check this pic.  What do you think? Mizilus- Why, a Pelican Case trunk, of course. I will leave that up to somebody else, because I like the beavertail, and will use it to help secure a couple of kayak drybags containing my tent, pad, bag, and cookstove. This is an extension of my tried and true dualsport camping setup I use on my "serious off road" bike, a Husqvarna 610. RoadThing- You are the coolest. I got a huge laugh out of that picture, It took me by surprise. I needed that one hahaha. The last time a pic of my S1 camping setup ran, I was accused of having a huge back tumor (backpack under raingear.) That trip was the first time I had test ridden a Uly. Remember when they said;"Be careful, we are not supposed to be letting people ride this bike," so I took off down the muddy trail around Lake Roadthing on the big orange bike? haha  I will be embarrassed the next time I talk to Blake, because late that night around the campfire, I must have spent an hour explaining to him how I was going to modify my spare S1 to run a set of Uly forks and Uly rear shock/swingarm. He was trying to help me with the engineering, but I am sure he was chuckling on the inside. When I see him next I will have to tell him that I gave up, and ask him if he wants to buy a set of Uly forks and Uly rear shock. haha- more spares... PS When is the next Ranchito Ride?? Az_m2- I will have to take some pictures of the mechanism. It is brilliantly simple and looks like it will crash well. I like it. | ||
| Windrider |
Az_m2, The bags lock to the racks with a single 1/4 turn compression lock. It takes just a few seconds to put them on or take them off. They lock to the bike and the cases can lock shut as well. It all works with one key. You can see the compression lock mechanism in detail on the Caribou luggage website. http://www.adventure-motorcycle.com | ||
| Brat |
I don't like to insult you but they would have to be the ugliest add-ons I have ever seen, they do not compliment the curves of the Uly at all, plus the extra length (weight) behind the rear wheel would make my "ever ready to mono' Uly even more prone to wheelstanding! No thanks! | ||
| Az_m2 |
I checked out the link. Looks like the locking mechanism is nice and simple. Thanks . . . Chris | ||
| Chadleys1 |
(tongue in cheek tone, but serious) Brat, I am not insulted at all. I think what you said is funny. Knowing how important your personal view of your motorcycle might be to you, I would never call the Ulysses ugly. I would however say that complimenting the "curves" on the Ulysses was even lower on MY list of priorities than storing helmets, when selecting my hardbags. This particular bike to me is more a tool than an aesthetic statement, like a dualsport bike for the pavement. I have a custom S1 that I do my "looking good" on. This Uly is the bike that I will ride on the long distance runs. To put it truthfully, I like the looks of the bike even better with the bags. I also like looking for Uly's with the stock bags, and running straight at them in a new type of "chicken" that I invented. I call it pannier jousting. We run the bikes straight at eachother, and then at the last second we swerve just enough to let the bags collide as we pass... great fun ... for the Caribou Cases owner. haha I am just having fun, Brat, I like the stockers too, but for my needs, durability was the number one issue. By the way, the picture on your profile is AWESOME. There has got to be a cool story behind that one. } | ||
| Snowscum |
What does the setup cost Chad? Ok went to their page duh! Not a bad price. Might have todo that before I go on my trip. Or it just might be cheaper to do the trash bag gig..... (Message edited by snowscum on February 26, 2007) (Message edited by snowscum on February 26, 2007) | ||
| Brat |
Thanks Chad  (I'm the one being beaten!), I have the standard bags and continually wish they made a set with the same length and width but where made deeper, they have heaps of ground clearance. As for strength I sideswiped a mini-van in Laos and then decked the bike on the bag! Only put a bit of a scrape on my bags seriously dented the van! A year ago i miss-judged my width splitting traffic and clipped a car, the Uly jumped sideways, broke the tail-light and dented the car. The only sign on the bag was a bit of paint off the car! My profile pic is from a trip to Thailand which we repeated recently with the Uly, trip report still being written. Hopefully we'll be touring the USA next year and I'll tell you the background to the pic!  | ||
| Chadleys1 |
Sounds like the HepcoBecker's are tougher than I had thought. Maybe I should think harder before challenging people to pannier jousting? hahaha. Oh my gosh! You got to ride Laos and Thailand? On a Ulysses, no less?? WOW! That is outstanding. I cannot wait to read the ride report. If you are not posting it in BigBadUgly, you should at least post a link to it here, so none of us will miss it. My motorcycle travels have not yet led me out of the U.S., but I am definitely interested in it. My big trip this year, in addition to several smaller trips, will only be about a week and a half on the TransAmericaTrail from New Mexico heading West over the Rockies, all on dirt. I do the more technical dualsport rides, like this one, on my Husqvarna TE610. About your pic, I look forward to hearing about it. I hope your U.S. tour comes through the Hill Country of Texas. Within a day's ride, you can access an incredible variety of riding areas from the scenic up and down rollercoaster roads of the "Three Sisters"(Hwy 335,336,337),  to the breathtaking vistas and stark beauty of the Big Bend Region,  it would be worth your while. I am trying to decide which direction to head for first on the Ulysses, North to Deadhorse or South to Patagonia?  (Message edited by chadleys1 on February 27, 2007) | ||
| Lowbuck |
Dragged from the dead... Good looking set-up. Any chance to use these with a passenger yet? | ||
| Lowbuck |
Dragged from the dead... Good looking set-up. Any chance to use these with a passenger yet? |
