JTWY
New Member
Howdy Folks,
Well , I promised that after I got my Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Panniers and Top case in and had them mounted that I would give a review on them. So here goes. I love the Caribou luggage 35L Pelican Panniers and the way they fit the bike , I have also soaked them good with a garden hose and not one drop of water got in them. I also took the bike down a few bumpy old dirt country roads and the Panniers and top case stayed on and I’ve had no trouble with them at all. The 35L Pelican Panniers and Top case fit my needs well and I’m glad I didn’t go with bigger ones , I have ample room for my things. Both the Panniers and Top case are very easy to take off the bike.
Now for the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Top Case . Again , the 35L Caribou Top case is a great waterproof case and suits my needs well.
However , the Bracket Plate for the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Top case is no good for 2 up riders . If you are planning on riding 2 up , then your going to run into comfort problems until Caribou gets this solved. The problem is that the Top Case isn’t adjustable backwards and with the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Back Pad it sticks over the passenger ( Pillion ) seat by almost 3 inches ( see photo’s ) . This pushes the passenger forward in her saddle and in turn pushes you forward in your saddle , making for an uncomfortable ride when riding 2 up. If you remove the back pad your passenger’s back with be rubbing and bumping up against the hard plastic Top case and that’s not comfortable for her either.
I e-mailed Roger at Caribou Luggage and showed him the pictures. He tried to come up with a way I could drill some extra holes and “Maybe” gain an inch or room , that wasn’t going to work for me and my wife. As of right now Caribou Luggage does not have a solution for this problem and they can’t not offer much help with it. However , Roger assures me that he is taking this issue seriously and wants to get a Yamaha Super Tenere so they can work to solve this problem.
So , what can you do ? Well , I went to a local machine shop and purchased a piece of 3/16” thick Aluminum Plate ( the original plate is 1/8 thick ) to add extra strength . I had the machine shop cut the plate to 15 1/2” x 15 5/8” ( 3 inches longer than the original plate ). Then , using the original plate as a template I marked out the plate mounting holes and drilled them. Then I marked out the Top case mounting bracket all the way back to the rear of the plate. This now puts the top case and back pad where it’s supposed to be. ( see photo’s ) . I used a jig saw with metal cutting blades to cut out the curve in the front of the plate. Now all I have to do is prime and paint my new plate and I’m good to go.
Position of the Top Case with the Original Caribou Luggage Mounting Plate. As you can see the back pad is almost 3 inches over the passenger seat.
New plate next to the old plate.
Tracing out the 3 mounting holes.
Original plate on top of new plate moved all the way to the back to trace the top case mounting brackets.
New longer mounting plate made.
Top Case re-installed and now it sits where it should be.
If you have any questions , I’ll be happy to try and answer them.
JT
So Long and May the good Lord take a likin' to ya!
Well , I promised that after I got my Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Panniers and Top case in and had them mounted that I would give a review on them. So here goes. I love the Caribou luggage 35L Pelican Panniers and the way they fit the bike , I have also soaked them good with a garden hose and not one drop of water got in them. I also took the bike down a few bumpy old dirt country roads and the Panniers and top case stayed on and I’ve had no trouble with them at all. The 35L Pelican Panniers and Top case fit my needs well and I’m glad I didn’t go with bigger ones , I have ample room for my things. Both the Panniers and Top case are very easy to take off the bike.
Now for the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Top Case . Again , the 35L Caribou Top case is a great waterproof case and suits my needs well.
However , the Bracket Plate for the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Top case is no good for 2 up riders . If you are planning on riding 2 up , then your going to run into comfort problems until Caribou gets this solved. The problem is that the Top Case isn’t adjustable backwards and with the Caribou Luggage 35L Pelican Back Pad it sticks over the passenger ( Pillion ) seat by almost 3 inches ( see photo’s ) . This pushes the passenger forward in her saddle and in turn pushes you forward in your saddle , making for an uncomfortable ride when riding 2 up. If you remove the back pad your passenger’s back with be rubbing and bumping up against the hard plastic Top case and that’s not comfortable for her either.
I e-mailed Roger at Caribou Luggage and showed him the pictures. He tried to come up with a way I could drill some extra holes and “Maybe” gain an inch or room , that wasn’t going to work for me and my wife. As of right now Caribou Luggage does not have a solution for this problem and they can’t not offer much help with it. However , Roger assures me that he is taking this issue seriously and wants to get a Yamaha Super Tenere so they can work to solve this problem.
So , what can you do ? Well , I went to a local machine shop and purchased a piece of 3/16” thick Aluminum Plate ( the original plate is 1/8 thick ) to add extra strength . I had the machine shop cut the plate to 15 1/2” x 15 5/8” ( 3 inches longer than the original plate ). Then , using the original plate as a template I marked out the plate mounting holes and drilled them. Then I marked out the Top case mounting bracket all the way back to the rear of the plate. This now puts the top case and back pad where it’s supposed to be. ( see photo’s ) . I used a jig saw with metal cutting blades to cut out the curve in the front of the plate. Now all I have to do is prime and paint my new plate and I’m good to go.
Position of the Top Case with the Original Caribou Luggage Mounting Plate. As you can see the back pad is almost 3 inches over the passenger seat.
New plate next to the old plate.
Tracing out the 3 mounting holes.
Original plate on top of new plate moved all the way to the back to trace the top case mounting brackets.
New longer mounting plate made.
Top Case re-installed and now it sits where it should be.
If you have any questions , I’ll be happy to try and answer them.
JT
So Long and May the good Lord take a likin' to ya!
