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Bags and Fairings for a /5 trip

ebeeby

Member
I've been looking at bags and fairings for my R75/5 Alaska trip. I really like the look of the Avonaire.....and have liked both Wixom and Bates period bags.

Anyone have experience with an Avonaire on a /5 or with Bates versus Wixom bags?

Thanks.
 
Wixom here!

I had the Wixom's on my '72/5 and there were ahead of their time, imo. I liked them and still do, if I were to have another /5. Boy, these would be hard to find, I would think. Very classic. I think the Bates were cheaper looking. You can still get Krauser originals from Hepco/Becker, I think and these fit /5 frames, I think. About 375$ for the bags, no frames. I don't know where to get the frames, except maybe BMW still has them available. Randy13233
 
While I have nothing against the Wixom, you'll have a tough time finding one. I suggest instead, a GIVI windshield, a small one that provides a bit of chest protection, but doesn't add a lot of weight to the front end or impede your view. For rough roads, it's an advantage to not have a heavy fairing attached to the handlebars. Check out different GIVI windshields at your local dealers (including brand X)

IMHO the best BMW bags for an airhead would be the "Touring Cases"--the ones with the clamshell lid, and molded in grooves along the lower edges. These are decently water and dust resistant, but for lumpy roads they do need some additional support to keep the mounting tab from tearing out. A stainless steel strap can be fabricated to attach to a slotted fitting held by the upper shock bolts. Or, you can add a fabric strap around the bag--attached to the seat frame.

If you want extremely solid and dustproof panniers, I suggest Happy Trails with the "canyon cut", and lids hinged on the outside edges so the tops open outward. HT bags secure to a large alloy rail with big screw knobs. It shouldn't be a big problem to fabricate whatever attachment hardware you need for a /5 if HT can't provide what you need.

You might be able to score a pair of vintage Craven "arrow" "glass fibre panniers" if you look around. They would probably need refurbishing, but are otherwise light and strong.

pmdave
 
I fit a Wixom Ranger for cold weather and a Memphis Shades windscreen (similar to Givi) for summer. The Wixom was robbing me of 2 MPG, as of the conversion last month. Also, even though my used Wixom came with mounts, I found it desireable to drill and ream it to utilize the more substantial Memphis handlebar hardware along with the original brackets.
 
Avonaire /2 on a /5 ??

One fellow told me that the Avonaire for a /2 has its own extensive mouting brackets and that the primary mounting bracket for a /5 Avonaire is a crash bar. He further stated that the two fairings were NOT interchangable for the /2 and /5.

The seller of a /2 Avonaire tells me that he "heard" that the /2 Avonaire can be made to fit the /5.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,
Eric
 
ebeeby said:
One fellow told me that the Avonaire for a /2 has its own extensive mouting brackets and that the primary mounting bracket for a /5 Avonaire is a crash bar. He further stated that the two fairings were NOT interchangable for the /2 and /5. The seller of a /2 Avonaire tells me that he "heard" that the /2 Avonaire can be made to fit the /5. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I do. There are two models of Avon fairing. I've owned more than one example of both sorts of Avon fairings. One is one piece and the other has removeable lowers and is three pieces. IIRC, both were referred to as "Avonaire."

The one piece will fit a /2 and can be made to work with a /5. The three piece was made for the /5 and absolutely will not work with a /2. (Which really only means that I have never seen anyone successfully fit one to a /2.) The mounting systems are very different.

The three piece fairing, which I am more familiar with, requires Avon crash bars, which are similar in appearance to the stock BMW crash bars. Only the Avon bars have a hole through them with a bushing welded in. A strut mounts through the crash bar and goes up to support the front of the fairing. The light on the three piece job is the stuff removed from the stock headlight and will absolutely suck unless you get the /5 H-4 conversion kit. In that case, it will only mildly suck. Aftermarket add-on lights would be suggested, if the electrics were not so wimpy.

The one piece Avon fairing... IIRC precludes the use of crashbars. (Either that, or else you have to mount the fairing first, and then the crash bars. But since the bars attach to the frame which is now behind the fairing, it is a HUGE pain in the ass and while possible, not worth dealing with on any sort of regular basis.) A friend of mine had a one-piece mounted on his R90/6.

If I were gonna try to ride a /5 at night these days, I'd get the H-4 conversion kit (which I had) and stick an HID conversion in THAT.

Here's a photo of my R75/5 "back in the day," nearly 35 years ago...
 

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flash412 said:
Here's a photo of my R75/5 "back in the day," nearly 35 years ago...


"I ride a GS Scooter with my hair cut neat....." :D

I saw a new bag from H-B in Milan last year that I think I'll get for my /5. They work on all H-B mounts, so I can use them on my F as well, they're call "Strayker" and although plastic, have a leather look to them:

strayker_3.jpg


strayker_1.jpg
 
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