PANNIER MARKET
Would you like some luggage capacity, custom-built to suit the style and size of your classic? Dave Blanchard suggests a perfect lockdown project…
Would you like some luggage capacity, custombuilt to suit the style and size of your classic? Dave Blanchard suggests a perfect lockdown project…
Ialways thought that those quadrantshaped steel Rodark panniers were superbly attractive but just a little too deep for motorbikes with a slim profile. Fitting could sometimes be affected by higher silencers, those originally mounted for more cornering clearance as well as upswept style like Velocette fishtails and Norton Commando pipes. Early sprung hub and pre-unit Triumphs suit Rodark pannier sets particularly well because the pannier opening lid is based on the centre-ribbed Triumph rear mudguard. This blends really well when all is mounted inline.
Rodarks were originally manufactured in Cornwall and they’re a very desirable period accessory – although an original set is extremely expensive. Craven Equipment now offer brandnew items made to the original patterns, so you can buy a set off the shelf. But if you have time on your hands… how about making your own set in the shape of your choice, in the revolutionary material called glassfibre?
If you are reasonably useful at practical crafts then using glassfibre should be a doddle. Laying up resin on sheets of woven or chopped strand fibreglass mat is no harder than building a papier-mâché model, although it’s much more sticky and messy when cleaning up afterwards.
My plan was to make some Rodark-style panniers in fibreglass, with smaller overall dimensions to suit my Velo Viper and BSA Golden Flash. I used flat sheets of cardboard, cut into the Rodark quadrant shape and held against the bike’s rear wheel, adjusting the shape with scissors until I was happy with the profile. I made sure it had the required clearance and was not positioned too close to a hot silencer.
The depth was set at ‘not too wide and cumbersome’, but wide enough to squeeze in a small Thermos flask, a few tools and waterproof oversuit.
When I had calculated the dimensions required, I needed to make a wooden plug which would be identical in size and shape to the finished pannier. Carpentry skills learned at secondary school came in useful! From this plug, female fibreglass moulds would be made, which could be split into halves so that removing the fibreglass panniers would be possible. You can buy a releasing agent for the inside of the mould to help extract the panniers, or you can polish the inside of the mould with Carnauba Wax, but about six applications are needed. I found the blue liquid release agent you can buy was more successful and less labour intensive.
If your carpentry skills are lacking, then a thick slab of polyurethane foam (as used for building insulation) can be carved into the desired shape. Either way, the surface finish must be smooth, because that will be imprinted on the female moulds you are going to make. So lots of filling and rubbing down will be needed with either material to get the plug surface smooth. If you don’t achieve perfectly shiny and blemish-free panels on the finished panniers, don’t worry too much. You can buy polishing kits for fibreglass and plastics which are used in the same way as an alloy buffing kit.
After completing the wooden plug / main body of the pannier, I needed to make an opening lid. This was made in hardboard because it would bend into the curve needed to follow the outline of the quadrant shape. I did not want to copy the Triumph centre rib exactly, as on the Rodarks, so used some off-cuts of PVC trim that are normally used to hide joins between double glazing frames, fixing these to the outer edges of the plug lid.
The trims are about an inch wide and, from an engineering point of view, would add much needed stiffening (corrugations) to the finished lids. I used one trim on each outer side of the lids. It worked fine and two outer corrugations must be stiffer than one central one.
Another difference on my panniers was that the lids would open forwards. Cheapish cam locks with keys bought online were easy to position and mount. For the hinges I cut lengths from a stainless steel piano hinge which had been kicking around under the bench for more years than I care to remember. Never throw stuff away... for if you do you will find a use for it the very next day!
Laying up the resin (known as wetting out) to the chopped strand mat which is placed upon the wooden plug is quite straightforward really, not a lot different to pasting wallpaper. Cheap paint brushes can be used to thickly apply the resin, working it into the corners – and watch out for trapped air bubbles which appear lighter coloured than the rest of it. Special rollers can be bought or even made from penny washers
(similar to paint rollers) for rolling out the air bubbles, ensuring strength and uniformity in the finished product.
When you have made the female moulds in clear resin, you could use the same for the finished panniers and then paint them to match your motorbike colour scheme. Alternatively you can buy coloured gel coats and resin pigment additives of your choice, so that painting isn’t necessary. Gel coat goes onto the female mould surface first before the chopped strand mat. But… It is best to use a thin fibreglass tissue, resin bonded against the gel coat when it’s almost set. This fine tissue will help prevent cracking of the hard but brittle gel coat in future. Then you can build up the layers of chopped strand mat or maybe use the more expensive woven fibreglass cloth that is available.
The more layers of resin impregnated mat you apply, the thicker and stronger (but heavier) the finished product becomes. Make sure the pannier floor and mounting point areas have extra thickness for strength. My plan was to mount the panniers on flexible rubber mounts with a stud each end, not unlike generator mountings. There are several other ways of mounting, so research the catalogues to decide.
You’ll find much more advice about using glassfibre online, including sensible H&S information. It’s very wise to wear personal protective equipment when using any industrial materials. Avoid chemical absorption through the skin by always wearing protective gloves and work in a well ventilated space. Do your own research before you begin.
The biggest problem I had was removing the panniers from the female moulds. They were really snug and didn’t want to budge due, I think, to my corners being sharp 90-degree angles. If I had made all the corners more radiused by using beading on the wooden plug then I am sure the mould and panniers would have parted as easily as the Red Sea. Another technique I learned is to drill some small holes in the flat surfaces of the female mould. Sellotape across these holes to stop the resin oozing out. When the laying up is finished and all resin is set, use a compressed air blow gun pressed against these holes to separate the finished product from the mould. Useful to know and it works well... mostly.
Another mistake I made was to spray the wooden plug with a lovely ‘fashionable grey’ gloss paint, which gave a smooth shiny surface. I was hoping for a great finish to the inside of the female mould. Unfortunately the enamel paint was incompatible with the resin, which pickled the paint, ruining the smooth finish of the mould surface. This wrinkled finish was mimicked on the outside surface of the first pannier I made. Lots of rubbing down and polishing was needed afterwards.
Originally I had made the female moulds in two halves bolted together, and tried to make the first pannier body in one go, by laying up matting from the inside, through the aperture. It was much too small a hole to get my hand and brush in easily, with resin sticking to my wrist and sleeves. I decided that making one pannier half at a time then joining these together with overlapping matting on the insides, would be easier. It was!
I made a lot of mistakes and learned lessons on this first attempt. An old mate of mine said that it is best to make the second one first. Wise words indeed, but time travel is necessary!
I wasn’t quite finished because I needed a carrier and frames to mount the panniers on. Many of us will have bent copper plumbing pipe in those pipe benders you can buy at DIY stores. I used mine to bend some cheap, seam-welded steel tube ordered online. You need measuring tape, files, hacksaw, drills and a pipe bender of some sort. As with the panniers I made some mistakes.
The pipe thickness I used was 2mm, but 1.6mm would have been easier to handle. The 2mm was a little too thick for my domestic pipe bender and the cast alloy quadrant broke about three-quarters of the way through. I managed to finish by heating the steel tube with a propane gas gun and pulling it around a pulley fixed in my bench vice. Originally I made an up-stand on the carrier so that my passenger had a handhold. It was too tall and too close to the dual seat. This was uncomfortable when my passenger’s derriere overhung the back of the seat, so it had to be modified. My experiments are generally termed ‘suck it and see’ in modern parlance…
Gas welding is very controllable when butt welding thin tubes, but I don’t have access to oxy-acetylene bottles. My ancient 140 amp electrode welder (rescued from a skip) is fine for thicker metals. When welding up thin tubes with the so-called ‘stick welder’ it’s very easy to blow holes right through. I am now expert at welding up many blow holes, but it is time consuming and I am getting older every day.
Hopefully I have encouraged some of you to have a go at making something, if you haven’t done so already. Even making a small metal bracket for your P&J is rewarding. Attempting any project, no matter how small, brings satisfaction and furthers your knowledge... which might then lead onto bigger and more adventurous projects. Happy days ahead!