What We Do is Who We Are: Triumph Tiger 800 with Caribou Panniers

When I bought the V-Strom 650 back in 2008, I bought Hepco and Becker racks and panniers online from Motorcycle Adventure Products and I did a bit of a writeup about fitting them. The racks were great though they took quite a bit of fitting - I really liked the quick release bolts because I could quickly take them off when I didn't need them. The panniers themselves were OK but the locks were very flimsy.
At the time, I looked at the Caribou panniers but the AUD vs USD rate wasn't great so it made them a bit too expensive. Caribou are based in Boulder, Colorado and make panniers out of what seem to be basically video/camera boxes and are pretty much indestructible. The exchange rate has changed for the better and so I ordered Caribou panniers and Hepco and Becker racks for AUD$995 delivered. They took 12 days to arrive.

Caribou panniers fitted to the Tiger.

Racks

For fitting the Hepco and Becker racks, decipher the German/English instructions and its pretty straightforward. Their fitting has changed a lot since the early days with less deconstruction of the bike required. Just lay out all the bits either side of the bike and fit in sequence as per instructions. Some points to note:

1. Take off the pillion seat so you can hold the nuts when removing the frame rail bolts. I found it easiest to use a ring/open spanner (12mm) to hold the nut because it has a flange on it - if you drop it inside the seat/mudguard tail, you may have to dismantle it all in order to get it back so be careful. I reused these flanged nuts rather than the provided nuts because they were easier to hold in the ring spanner - the new nuts have no flange and fall out of the spanner.

Ring spanner inside the pillion seat tail

Flanged nut inside the ring spanner.

2. All the other bits fit really well except the exhaust-side bottom mount - the bracket slides up into the hole under the footpeg but either the bracket is slightly too big or the Triumph piping had some stray weld dots, but the bracket needed a hammer to make it fit.

3. These were all the tools I needed - note that the Triumph nuts are M12 while the Hepco & Becker supplied nyloc nuts are for M12 bolts but have M13 heads.

12 & 13mm ring spanners - also need 4 & 5mm Allen keys

4. Once the quick-release bolts have their washers attached, they don't come off.

Quick-release bolt with lock washer on.

Panniers

Outfitting these with all the bits is straightforward with the assembly instructions supplied.

The plate inside will hopefully not tarnish and stain stuff

The finished product - LHS

The finished product - RHS

The lock and the crossover bar.

See an update on these panniers after a trip over to Adelaide.

Update 11th May, 2013:

The hinge pins holding the lids to the box work loose on long rides - the left hand side one was poking out 10cm before I noticed it and hammered it back in. It has come out again since and the right hand side one has come out as well. I haven't found a solution yet but it is very annoying. See photo below.
The stays which limit the lid opening are useless. The press studs simply come off when you open the lid and one of the bolted ends broke. I have replaced them all with chains now and they work well.
I wish the panniers were wide enough to take a full face helmet.