The factory stuff....... They are offering 2 "kits" one with side luggage and a windscreen and a second with luggage and the immobilizer and something else lame. I am checking to see availability of the first.
Nev, Does anybody in brisbane or Gold coast sell wolfman luggage? We are visiting there soon , wouldnt mind bringing some gear back Nz cheers
Wolfman Great thread nev! Here are Wolfman Expedition Dry Saddle Bags. If you have some light welding skills and some tenacity, I believe you can build the racks to install them. If you only have a torch kit, you can heat and bend and then gas weld them up. Or you can have a welder of any kind and make the bends by cutting the tubing with a hacksaw at an angle and welding back up. As some of you know, Ken Web and I made some and we would be happy to share any info or help with details for anyone who wants to try it. Just send a PM. A lot of the details are here in the TERRAFORMERS thread. You can get by without all the tooling we used. For example, for the top mount, you could weld a piece of angle iron on and cut a piece of tubing for a spacer and then add a longer bolt. We built ours with a tail section support, but these racks have been built by others without it and they seem to be doing fine....I think. I don't know if anyone would post if they failed!? The materials can be sourced at BR Moto with half the work already done with pre made mounting hoops. 3/4" tubing can also be purchased through them. Here is a link to the "do it yourself side racks". The pre made hoops will cost you $65. http://brmoto.com/racks/diy-side-rack-parts.html
adventuremoto.com.au is the only authorised Australian Wolfman distributor I think. I have bought a few things from them but always through their website. They are in Sydney. Just a heads up for any Australians, the Giant Loop Coyote Bag and the Great Basin bag are currently 25% off the normal price at AdventureMoto. This brings the $AU price for these down to almost the same as the $US retail price. I just ordered the Great Basin.
That's them Coffee, but the cost is for the set! I got lucky and found them here at Performance Cycle in Denver for $190 on Black Friday.
Is the reason for the quick release to be able to take the items somewhere? Either for use (as in hotel room) or to protect from theft? Because to me, the subframe needed would not be something I would want to look at when the bags were not installed.
Yes to both above. I found that I always keep my bike in view though. I always seek places to eat with window seats or a patio. Avoid anything like a Walmart completely. Support small local stores where you pop in and out. Most theft jobs I have heard of are when you let down your guard and leave the bike during a long meal and leave it out of view. My Buell has hard bags and I still follow the same rules. I know what you mean about not wanting to look at the racks all the time, but all in all this is a utility bike and the racks make it look even more so and they are there to remind you that you need to hit the road and go somewhere! Nice protection for the pipes and rear of the bike too. The Giant Loop Great Basin or Coyote look brilliant if you still do not like the idea of the racks. I may get a Coyote for the TE 250, but from what I understand from users that Ken Webb knows, they are sort of a pain when it comes to gear access.
I use pacsafe steel mesh against occassional theft. Just make sure it fits tight. And I use anti-rain cover to keep it concealed if needed. http://pacsafe.com/pacsafe-55l-bag-protector
Touratech now have a pannier rack system on their website, http://shop.touratech.com/stainless-steel-pannier-rack-black-for-husqvarna-tr650-terra.html. Not immediately available by the looks of it but shouldn't be too far off.
I sent Berg a message earlier today about the Wolfman racks. He said he would like to offer them. If someone is near him in Wyoming and wants to let him use a bike he may get them out there soon. http://brmoto.com/
My Giant Loop Great Basin turned up today. Fits great even with the tail bag on, but would probably be a bit more comfortable on a longer ride if it was a bit further back over the rack, to give me more room to move back on the seat to stretch a bit. Taking the bike out for a 600km run this weekend to the Australian edition of the Adventure Travel Film Festival before it's first service next week.
Learned something new about the bike which anyone else thinking about strapping luggage like the Giant Loop bags on might like to know. I went away for the weekend. 350km trip away and another 350km back. After the trip out, the bag worked great. Halfway home on the return leg I found that the heat shield on the left side had melted into the exhaust pipe. I figured it wasn't going to get any worse, gave the bag a minor adjustment on that side, and headed home. The heat shields on the exhaust are held on by two torx screws at the top, and a rubber stopper at the front, on the side, to hold the heat shield away from the pipe. Here's the cause. The rubber stopper has gone missing. This allowed the shield to bend more than usual and hit the pipe and melt. Looks like an alternative solution to the rubber stopper is required here.
Did the rubber stopper/grommet just go missing maybe due to the weight of the luggage bag? Or did the whole shield just bend in against the exhaust pipe?
The stopper went missing. I can only guess that this was due to the luggage being there, because there is no reason for it to fail without any external assistance. I suspect that the stopper broke at it's weakest point, and this allowed the shield to bend far enough to hit the exhaust. With the stopper in place there is no possibility for the shield to bend far enough to hit the exhaust. I don't know whether the heat had any influence on it. The temperature during the day until that point was between 25c and 35c (75F-95F), although the temperature of the exhaust pipe (and the metal tab which holds the stopper) would have been far in excess of that. I also rode some gravel roads which would have caused a deal of vibration. I think I will replace the rubber stoppers with a small bolt that won't go missing.
I'm planning on the exact same bag and found that Giant Loop offer metal heat shields that simply attach to your cans with band clamps. I was wondering if they would be needed... Question answered!
How odd. I run the Giant Loop bag and strap it down quite tight. I did a few hundred mile trip on 90% off road a few weekends back and didn't have an issue. I'll know to check the rubber bumpers before heading out now.
If you like soft panniers, a friend of mine tested famous Magadan panniers. He said those are the best DS panniers he has seen in his entire life... I believe him as he travels a lot across Asia on his bike. Those are larger than Wolfman's dry bags (2x25ltr), supplied with internal waterproof bags, very much durable Cordura-built. They are designed to be used with any rack system that keeps the bags away from the rear wheel and the exhuast, they are not rack specific. They say they dont have US dealership but they do ship to the US almost every day and have a tracked courier servcie. Typical delivery times to the USA are 48 hours to the west coast. NOTICE: I'm not selling this product and have no intererest in this company. Only showing interesting luggage option to fellow riders. http://www.adventure-spec.com/default/adventure-spec-magadan-panniers.html
For any Aussies (or anyone else who has Andy Strapz expedition panniers). I had an email exchange with Andy this week and he advises that so long as his local husky shop doesn't sell their demo bike in the next few days, he will be borrowing it and sending it to his fabricator to design a set of pannier racks which suit his bags. I am off on holidays next week to NZ, but if he hasn't borrowed a Terra by the time he gets back I'll probably send mine down to him for a few days. He already has a 3 or 4 Terra owners on his waiting list for these racks.
I suppose one should worry a bit about a thief getting into their luggage, and I did too when first using the Wolfman bags. It really depends on where you travel and whether you just get unlucky. I removed my bags to start with on the TAT, but after once or twice, just left them on and removed whatever clothes I needed in the evenings. 'Stayed at motels all across the country, parked in store lots, etc., and never had anything molested at all. I would remove my tank bag at night as it had my valuables (to others). Unless I am in a high risk area, I will leave the bags on. For foreign travel in poorer coutries, some defense is definitely needed. I like the Magadan bags and wonder if they could be fastened to the Wolfman frames. Probably. I'm used to seeing the frames on and they are just one more piece of adventure gear. Plus, they provide some protection in a fall, with or without the bags.
