Hello everyone.
Plenty of you probably want to carry more luggage on an off-road bike.
Adventure bikes have three-box luggage (top box and side panniers) available, but you rarely see that kind of kit for 250 cc off-road bikes.
I think most people use soft side bags or strap a bag to a rack.
But once you've got used to how handy a top box and side panniers are...
For the record, I currently have a 43 L top box fitted to my Honda XR250 BAJA (the Japan-market XR250 / MD30).
This is how it looks from the front.
And this is how it looks from behind.
This is just my personal opinion, but I don't like big top boxes on off-road bikes.
The reasons are that they don't look great, and they raise the centre of gravity, which makes the bike harder to ride.
In corners especially, the bike tips in easily, but it's harder to pick it back up.
So I started looking for a way to fit side panniers, and I found one!
A company in Ukraine makes side pannier racks for all sorts of bikes.
The company is Mmoto: https://www.mmotoracks.com/model/xr250.
I'd like to buy one, but ordering from abroad is a bit more of a hurdle.
I also keep wondering whether, with this rack fitted, I'd have to take it off every time I remove the battery.
Let me sort out my thoughts a little:
Pros of side panniers
• More luggage capacity
• Lower centre of gravity than with a top box
• More convenient on long tours
Cons of side panniers
• Cost (rack: 30,000 to 40,000 yen; cases: 30,000 to 40,000 yen)
• More total weight
• I might have to remove the rack to change or charge the battery
Hmm, it's a tough call either way.
I'm glad I found it, but I'm going to think it over for a while.