About 3 years ago, I bought a city case just to carry a 5 litre petrol can on the outfit. It's proved very useful, as it means that I don't have to slow down when the red fuel light comes on, knowing that I have a supply if I don't reach a filling station in time. 

However, 2 years ago, returning from a camping weekend run out, I found that the case had jumped off the 'Z' rail and was hanging from the front latch but prevented from falling off completely by the sidecar. At the time I thought it was just a rare happening so I put it back properly and ignored the problem.

BUT, three weeks ago, the case jumped off the 'Z' rail again,this time wedging itself between the sidecar and the exhaust, melting a big hole in the back of the case. 


This time I had to think of a way to prevent this occurring  again. I didn't want to use bungees or a strap around the case and I didn't want to fix the case to the 'Z' rail permanently as it's necessary to take the pannier off every now and again. So I had the idea to use a toggle latch to keep the case in position.

After a false start (I couldn't get the pannier on the rail ), I had to make a longer strap for the latch and re-position the toggle latch body. As the city case is narrower than the 'fullsize' cases, I also needed to machine a suitable block to get the geometry of the latch to work properly. (Stainless steel sheet covered the melted bit)

 Although I've never ever had a problem with my 'fullsize' panniers coming off the rails, I thought it would be a good idea to add some toggle latches to them as well, and I found these long latches on e-bay from China.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301851487623?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

They are not stainless steel as advertised, but they are cheap and do the job perfectly.


The picture shows also the shape of the catch bracket that needs to be made to complete the job. I fitted the catches in the first notch on the 'Z' bracket lip of my panniers, but I had to cut away some of the internal plastic to give space for the fixing bolts. Fitting the catch to the second notch, would give clear space inside the pannier for the fixing should anyone wish to use this idea.

So there it is, it makes an extra operation when removing the panniers, but surely that's better than losing a case all together.

Paul.

What a great idea, thanks for posting and sharing.

Paul, I'm one of the lucky ones who has never had a pannier come off the Z rails and I have been a firm believer that you must lock the panniers onto the frames and that would do the job. This was based on the conversations with colleagues who had lost a pannier and admitted that they had not locked the catch.

However as the rails are getting worn over the years and hearing more stories of panniers jumping off, I decided about 12 months ago to apply my own version of securing them. I use inner bags in both my city panniers and touring panniers so I don't have a need to remove the pannier when on a trip (unless of course I had to do some repair work on the bike). My solution was to insert a 6mm nyloc nut into each end of the rail at the rear using two part epoxy. I then drilled the panniers to suit so that I could secure the pannier with a stainless bolt sealed on the inside by a fibre and flat washer.

So far I have had no water leakage.





At the same time I picked up on one of Charlie's ideas and fitted some rubber on the back of the pannier down near the latch to take up some of the wear and create a firm fit for the locking latch.

Cheers

Lock the lock to the Z rail.

I've lost one city case. It was on some very rough pavement at speed and it was unlocked. It was an old set with worn locks. I think it might have stayed on if it had been locked on or had a better Z rack lock.

I now lock them to the rail most of the time.

I fitted my panniers the other day and was looking at them thinking I need to lock them on. What a great post, both good ideas, mine are not watertight, I use 2 gear sack bags inside, they are waterproof and removable, so I have the option to mount them permanently. Wow sidecarpaul that is a hell of a melted mess, much stuck on the exhaust.

"At the same time I picked up on one of Charlie's ideas and fitted some rubber on the back of the pannier down near the latch to take up some of the wear and create a firm fit for the locking latch."

Charlie also put me onto that idea and it works very well. 

...and mine are always locked on.

duck wrote:Lock the lock to the Z rail.

I've lost one city case. It was on some very rough pavement at speed and it was unlocked. It was an old set with worn locks. I think it might have stayed on if it had been locked on or had a better Z rack lock.

I now lock them to the rail most of the time.

What's wrong with the cases this month?
Last week, I was riding on rough pavement and for the first time, the left case got off the Z rack. Luckily, I always lock them and it hanged by the latch. (I rode only a couple of 100ft before noticing it. No damages.
One thing that you should do is engrave or put a sticker with your phone # on the back of the case (Some people have a small engraved plastic plates glued on the back of the case). If you lose it, maybe somebody will find it and give you a call.

A couple of years ago, a friend was riding to the dealer to trade in his motorcycle (R1150). When he arrived at the dealer, one case was missing... Oops!
This was the case where he had the check to pay for the new bike. He went back home trying to find the saddlebag on the side of the highway without success.
Later that afternoon, somebody had found it and called him home. The only problem was that this person had to break the latches to open the case and find the name of the owner.

I read a lot of these posts over time and looked at the latches too. Weak points were water entry, hinges splitting, panniers jumping off. The RT came with these BMW panniers in pretty good order and it was my first experience of them.

But my LT had come with Krauser K2 panniers on and I had gotten quite used to them, especially the fact that you can only lock them on. You must use a key to remove them and you have to use the key open the latch to fit them, close latch and remove key. Waterproof and robust enough to use as a seat when camping. Even better was 40 litre capacity.

So I replaced the ones on the RT with a new set of Krausers, bought very cheap brand new in a clearance sale, fully intending to paint them to match the K Baja Red. The LT met a rear end shunt when I was on it the RT met one when it was parked [found it was easier to replace the panniers with Krausers than do the lock/seal/hinge/repairs] and the many comments that the new panniers were very visible from the rear decided me in leaving them for visibility.

Definitely put a sticker on the outside with contact details. Bike reg will probably do in your home country as police will find you, most of the time you will get one back. Bikers are used to finding panniers on the roadside!

I love Sidecar Paul's ever so sensible and practical solution, completely retaining the quick release option for when its needed.

Its not that BMW panniers might fall off. They WILL, just a matter of when!.

I had one of my panniers fly off and nearly decapitate my mate rob on our way to the karuah rally as I took the left hand corner off the main drag
I could not find rob anywhere and went back to find him rooting around in the bush:face:
The pannier itself hardly had a mark on it, cannot say the same for robs undies 

I now strap mine on with ugly orange velcro straps but I really like both of these suggestions

GaryK100 - The seals for the BMW panniers, both City Cases and Integral touring style, are available from Motorworks in the UK (maybe elsewhere too). If you are interested check this link.

Pannier seals

Cheers

Thanks Gaz, 
yes they have the seals but have probably shrunk or flattened out, should be able to get some from Munich here in oz.
so?there is a seal on the mounted part of the pannier, is there supposed to be a rubber edge or something where the hinged pannier fits into the mounted pannier or just the raw plastic/fibreglass edge, and are the z racks all the same on 8v as the 16v, cause the right z fits ok but I need to pull it so slightly back to fit to the peg holder, but the left needs to be pulled back 4 to 5mm and the top is 3cm away from the mounting point under the seat, I used a bush so it does not twist the z.
Gary

The seal is just an O shape and any type of reasonably compressible seal should do it. I think diameter is about 6mm. I also used some of it for the fairing pocket covers......I think you may do better in a good diy shop!!

The seal goes in the groove on the mounted part and sharp edge of the hinged part just presses into it. If you can't get it some of the compressible door/window seals will do just as good.

Do the hinges while you are at it.

As far as I see type 1 2 3 panniers are interchangeable on the Z rails.

Gary go to Clarke rubber they will probably have something, a hollow rubber tube or a soft foam round section. They have an amazing range in their catalog and will order in short lengths regardless of the roll size.

A buddy of mine who works in the medical field uses surgical tubing as the seals for his city cases.

I've picked up more than one parts bike where a prior owner had added a rectangle of hard rubber to make up for Z rack wear.

The original BMW rubber seal on the early cases is 5 mm diameter but replacing it with 6 mm diameter expanded neoprene strip (search e-bay) compensates for any distortion in the cases that may have occurred over the years and improves the waterproofing. Well worth doing.

Paul.

Thanks for the replys, so am I to assume the zeds are the same on all models, with the left z should I take bush out and push it in to the frame under the seat, maybe I have a bent Z, Gary

Here's another option for securing panniers:


Not as fancy as the latch method, but cheap and easy. It makes installation and removal of the panniers more of a process, but that's fine by me. I don't put them on all that often.
  -Jon