Need pelican panniers mounting ideas

[hotrdd]

Trying to mount some pelican cases as panniers and need some help. Over the past couple of weeks I have been wondering around the hardware and surplus stores looking for a solution but just haven’t found anything that will seem to be clean and work without building one of those huge aftermarket subframes. Assuming that I can weld to the frame to support the pelican cases.

- On the majority of mounting systems I see online they have a square subframe that sits a few inches away from the bike that is permanently mounted. Do you think this is a must have or can just two upper attachment points on the cases be strong enough to handle the loading? I’m actually more concerned with the long term vibration and bouncing.

I thought about using a locking socket extension by cutting it in half. Mounting one side to the bike and the other side to the case. But this doesn’t really count as a locking to prevent theft. Thoughts?

The other option was to chop up one of these ball hitch locks. Attached the chrome locking arm to the cases and the locking side to the bike. But the locking system isn’t metal so I would need to bolt it to the bike instead of welding.

- Must be able to quickly remove the cases to take into the office.
- Would love to have an integrated lock / latch that just stay on the bike.
- If I can keep it looking clean when the cases are off even better.
- The lock needs to be accessable. Some of my ideas put the lock in the wrong position.

 

[aaronrkelly]

For longevity.....Id want the steel "subframe" structure to mount to. I have no doubt the vibration and loading stress would bust the case eventually without it.

 

[hotrdd]

I was planning on using some flat bar on the inside of the cases to distribute the stress on the attachment point. And if I need to I can use two mounting points on the top and one at the bottom rear corner. The front bottom corner there is nothing to mount to until I build a new swing arm next year.

I'm trying to keep the cases as clean as possible so that when I bring them indoors I can lay them flat on a desk or the floor without any issues. Ideally I'd love something that didn't make the bike look ugly when the cases were off of it. Though once there are mounted I'm not sure how often I would ride without them. I do about 100 miles a day when I'm riding to and from work.