Painting Panniers - R1200GS Adventure

[tonymarshall]

The BMW panniers for the Adventure are aluminum and made by Touratech (I think).

They are very difficult to keep looking nice. Does anyone have a good way of keeping them looking nice? A good polish or cleaner??

Has anyone had any luck painting them so that they are easier to clean?

Thanks.

 

[dwestly]

I'm picking up my 08 GSA next week, with the panniers. I'm planning on taking the panniers down and having them powder coated.

 

[108625]

Powder coating can be tough to touch up right, if you're planning any rough riding.
Are you just trying to preserve a nice bare aluminum look, or painted?

 

[jasontdi]

Any good fine metal polish will work. Get a flitz ball and go for it. Works GREAT for exhaust systems.

 

[TomBarnhart]

panniers

Take them off and use them for living room furniture.. Otherwise, ride the bike and get them dirty like most GS riders. Take a look at "Long Way Around" and "Long Way Down" and tell me if they appear worried about appearance.

Just my $.02 worth. Clean is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that can be cured by either drugs or confinement.

 

[dwestly]

Here we go...the infamous GS "We don't clean 'em, we just wash 'em off by fording a river" squawking. Since MOST of us aren't on a world excursion, and use our bikes (GS, whatever) for more mundane enjoyment, why can't I ride it, get it dirty and nasty, AND clean it up afterwards? Is there some unspoken manifesto that says my GS has to always look like I dragged it on its side through a gravel-laced mud pit? I would suggest riding it hard AND cleaning it are not mutually exclusive undertakings.

 

[oldhway]

I just painted a set of Hepco Becker Gobi bags this week. They are plastic but the same idea. I used plastikote truck bed liner paint and it worked great. i tried the stuff from walmart and it was a disaster. Once i got the plastikote stuff it was great! Nice texture and great durability and easy to spray. Rough up the aluminum and probably prime it first and it should look great.

 

[dwestly]

Oldhway, thanks for the example! They look great! This may be a good option...It looks like they are on a red/black GSA. Could you post an overall pic of the bike w/panniers? My GSA is r/b also...

 

[oldhway]

Oldhway, thanks for the example! They look great! This may be a good option...It looks like they are on a red/black GSA. Could you post an overall pic of the bike w/panniers? My GSA is r/b also...

They are actually on my V-Strom. My RT came with standard system cases and I hated the look of the silver bags on the Strom. Haven't shot any photos of the whole bike yet but it is quite an improvement in appearance. I was able to do the whole job in a day since you only needed to wait about 10 minutes between coats. I couldn't believe how easily it went. Only time will tell how it holds up but with the texture to it, and the fact that it's made to line a pickup truck bed, I expect it to be very durable.