I had a closer look at the Yamaha luggage system for the Z yesterday. I like that it fits neatly on the bike and is fairly slim. Has anyone get any feedback on the strength of the system, in particular has anyone dropped a bike yet with this on ?

I do know someone who used the top box key in the side pannier by mistake and as it was the wrong key the key snapped off, is this good or bad?

Good as it means it did not open, bad in that the key seems weak?

I need some luggage for an offroad trip and if I thought the Yamaha system would stand up to the bumps I would go for them.

Any thoughts

I'm debating much the same thing Scottnet...

I think it depends how far you want to go 'off-road'... I'm sure it would hold up to the odd dirt road or trail to a campsite, but day in day out on washboard piste (for example) is hard on any luggage, and looking at the Yamaha boxes, the mounting system (and the main carcass of the cases) is plastic, and I reckon would soon start to wear and/eventually fail? or at the very least rattle like a ba*tard? I love the way it connects to the bike though, like you say...

Yes the Yamaha set is warrantied of course, but the warranty is of little use if the mountings fail a thousand miles from anywhere?

On the whole, overland travelers tent to use 'proper' aluminium boxes (ie. not plastic ones skinned in aluminium) or soft (and waterproof) Ortlieb style bags and panniers...

Having felt the weight (and seen the price!) of the Metal Mule pannier system, while I have no doubt it would hold up well overlanding (as opposed to primarily road touring), the additional weight and substantial cost really doesn't convince me... not unless security was of paramount importance.

Alternatively Touratech boxes are lighter weight (in both senses of the word), but as yet they don't have a rack for the new Tenere... likewise the Hepco Becker rack system doesn't seem to be available just yet?

Personally I'm going for soft bags for my next jaunt - keep it simple, keep it light...

JennyMo xxx

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"Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

JennyDakar.com

Maybe this is the right place to ask this. Does anyone know if the Yamaha top box will fit an Arai Tour-X, I just cant seem to get a look at any of this Yamaha stuff.

I took both panniers & top box (although Yamaha say you should use one or the other) 8146 miles, everything from Fast forest gravel to bl00dy awful Romanian (war zone like) roads, and like everyone else I was worried about it's ability to stand up, had Touratech had a carrier I wouldn't have even considered the Yam OEM stuff. I did drop the bike, on gravel at about 30km/h, happy to report that the only damage was a slight scuff to the hand guards (Yam OEM ones) and some marks to the pannier. I'm quite suprised by the durability of these, and would certainly give them a go off road, although I would make some modifications and fix a stabiliser bar across the back, and I will as soon as I get chance (got my Fazer in a million bits right now, and there is still too much daylight available for some green lanes).

Yes it does, but it's tight.

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

I have commented the oem panniers here, here and here. Love the mounting system in theory but I wouldn't recommend them.

Hi, re the yamaha side cases.....

My key snapped in the lock on the first trip and in the first week. That was nearly a month ago and I'm still waiting for the second fix as the first failed and didn't make it out of the dealers.

My view is a set of soft bags or a Givi set would have been a better alternative given the price and availability af the other aluminium cases.

My view is yamaha have got quite a bit of work to do before their boxes can be taken as serious contenders for the type of riding the tenere is meant for.

Think carefully before splashing the cash on the Yamaha kit.
still waiting!