Farkling with rubber tubing...

[Freeloadeur]

They're doing fine, the only tine they bent was when Mr Stahlkoffer grabbed hold of them at a show thinking they were far more solid steel tubes. So I just bent them back again. I think the key is the bits that come straight out from the side of the bike, with throw-overs pushing against them they're in compression and so good and strong.

[Shotgun]

... Or how to make a pannier rack when you can't weld and don't have a tube bender.

Worried that my new panniers would melt onto my exhaust I decided to make up done support to hold the exhaust side away and balance up the look of the bike. But, as I'm hose-sitting in France I didn't don't have much in the way of tools and anyway I don't have much in the way of metalworking skill. So this is how I did it.

First I got hold of some 8mm stainless threaded rod, and some 10mm internal diameter fuel hose.

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The bits, total cost £4.75, tool kit not included[/center]

The rod slides inside the hose fairly easily, a bit of washing-up liquid helps ease things along. Then, the point of no return, the first bend. A lack of pipe-bender meant I ended up clamping everything in an old vice, hardly nice radiused curves, but I figured the fuel hose helped a bit.

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high tech it wasn't
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A few more bends, a bit of head scratching and lots of offering up to the bike and I ended up with this.

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Ready to attach
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Having screwed a Nyloc nut onto each end, I simply took out the two 8mm bolts holding the exhaust and indicator on, the reason I choose 8mm rod, and replaced them with the new pannier supports.

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One down[/center]

The other side annoyingly had nothing to bolt onto, but a look under the plastic revealed a support welded onto the frame with bolt holes ready and waiting, luckily a rummage around my parents'garage revealed a shelf bracket. Unluckily the holes were 6mm and I only had a hand-drill.

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Twenty sweaty minutes later[/center]

A bit of tweaking to get everything to line up and my panniers are now secure, and cool.

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Looking almost powder coated steel[/center]

The whole thing took about forty-five minutes, and about £5, so I'm quite pleased with how good they look.

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Panniers well supported and fastened on, and hopefully cooled[/center]

Now, wouldn't a tool tube look good in that great big space on the nearside.

Sorry to say that there is no strength in that at all. Screwed rod is very very easy to bend and of course the rubber tube is the bendiest thing you can get.

[devon john]

that a great way to make a template But I would not trust them on a journey
uses these to make a set out of solid bar 3/8-1/2inch then they should stand up to it!!

john

[ZX Raziel]

Well done , champion .
Cheap way of making some extra support if you need it .

[Freeloadeur]

Sorry to say that there is no strength in that at all. Screwed rod is very very easy to bend and of course the rubber tube is the bendiest thing you can get.

Well I'll admit they're not super-strong Teutonic panzer racks, but having had them on the bike since I posted this and having travelled several hundred miles on several occasions with full throw-overs I'm pleased to say they haven't bent yet whilst riding (stahlkoffer guy not withstanding).

You wouldn't want to hang a load off them, but that's not their purpose, they're there tho stabilise a supported load and keep it off the exhaust and this they do perfectly. Drop the bike on them and they'll bend (but bend back) and if they break I spend a couple of quid and make a replacement. Eventually I might find someone who can weld me up steel tubular versions, especially if I'm planning long distances on rough roads, but for now they'll do fine.

So no they're not steel girders, but experience tells me they ain't cheese-strings either.

[Simon_100]

You've been an inspiration to me too, although my idea is more crude and in theory nowhere near as strong it withstood a fall on its first outing - last photo, I fell right over into this rut after a loose strap locked the rear wheel solid!

I used a few bits of steel bracketing (not Meccano!) bolted to a couple of spare lugs on the rane to support a Tool Tube.

In future the idea is to use a Giant Loop rather than throw overs. The silencer is well shrouded on the other side and should hold the GL away from the wheel equally as the Tool Tube - in theory . . .

Regs

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[Freeloadeur]

Still fine despite numerous people grabbing hold of them and wiggling and me dropping my bike a couple of times.

They just seem to spring back.

[Brenhden]

I am so glad I just seen this post. you have filled my mind with ideas just when I needed them!

Many thanks for posting

[Far canal]

"as I'm hose-sitting in France"

Are they so valuable in France that they need guarding? Bloody French - will nick anything.

[Simon_100]

"as I'm hose-sitting in France"

Are they so valuable in France that they need guarding? Bloody French - will nick anything.

Ha ha, well spotted that man :laugh:

Here in Spain it's almost that way, 'they' keep nicking the overhead live electric wires from the railways - kilometres of the stuff at a time! - causing more chaos than the wrong type of snow by a country mile

Regs

Simon