JDChico89

I made a sling pack for my panniers.

I'll tell you, being almost 50, with self-diagnosed carpal tunnel (i.e. numb wrists), this thing has been a LIFESAVER! It's not a cruise control by any measure, but it really helps.

Who want's to start a business? I think there's an opportunity here!!!

Thanks @dazzler24! I'll try...I mean, MY FRIEND will try those out!

Put on a one of these thingies!

What are your thoughts on improving chafing in the nether regions? Asking for a friend.

So, was it worth it? Hmmm...I think yes. I learned the internal functioning of a mystery, made some new friends, and got them to laugh. All in all, I'd say it was WELL worth it! Ride safe friends!

MISTAKES WERE MADE PART VIII Countdown to completion. or All good things come to an end. With the inner rack complete, my wife had the great idea of making the rack removeable in case we went on an overnight trip. But in my home, I’m THE MAN! She's not the boss of me!! (Please don’t tell her I said that). I’d actually had grandiose ideas of using weld nuts and knurled bolts to set up the rack to take it out at will. But it would take some awkward angling to put them in and take them out each time, so I decided to pass. The next time I rip apart an expensive pannier, I’ll go with that plan. It took a while to rivet the original parts back in place but in the end, they functioned as if they had never been molested by some hack with a drill. The magic was happening!!! I went to the store and got some black-adhesive-sauce, akin to the ridiculously horrible rage-glue Yamaha tried to foil my original plans with and got to work. The question remained: Would the panniers shells slide back together? Would they fit?? Would they come together as one, never to part again??? Alas, with some tape and time… the heavens opened… the angels sang… ...and the panniers shells slid together like sweet, sweet lovers!!! With the pannier shells joined, there was one final concern. @Wintersdark tapped into this deep menacing fear in an earlier post. THE HANDLE! The little monster that prompted this whole “adventure.” It was time to find out! And so, my friends, it is with humble heart, and proud tear-brimmed eyes, I can now share the following announcement with the world… The handle… Now only… KIND OF sticks up!

Thanks @Wintersdark. I just used some plastic I repurposed from a bag. Never underestimate the value of a janky freezer bag full of gear!

MISTAKES WERE MADE Part VII Whilst waiting for some parts to arrive for the pannier’s organization rack, I decided to make something to fit in the bottom left space. Now, my wife LOVES when I use her sewing machine, and practically BEGS me to use it for heavy-duty projects! With that in mind, I figured I’d do her a favor and make some sweet stuff on it. Having been a Paramedic in an earlier life, I decided to make up a First-Aid/Trauma-Kit. I’ve needed similar kits in the past, and who knows but that someday it might even save MY life! Complete with magnetic enclosures and a cool red pull-handle, we were on our way! SAFETY FIRST!!! (…or at least in the top five).

I literally just found out what OP means. Who knew? I mean besides you, @koth442. If you ever some around, let's go for a ride!

Now that the pannier had opened its flower to mankind, it was time to get in there and make some improvements! What would make things better? A massive speaker to blast hippity-hop music at stop lights? A foldout hammock system for naps on long rides? Oversized peanut brittle can coiled snakes to punish thieves who try to steal my stuff? The possibilities were ENDLESS!!! I meditated deeply on the project, and whilst traveling the astral plain, my spirit animal (a trash panda) provided the wisdom to organize the pannier, so my sweet gear could be nestled gently in portioned alcoves. The astral plain had no peanuts, or in-flight movie. Three stars at best.

I got mine here for $32 bucks. It's a bargain at half the price! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P1QGY4L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Excellent!!! Chico just had a quick moving fire. Let's hope they settle that and there's no more in the Bucks Lake area.

MISTAKES WERE MADE PART VI Working title: Love fixes all. - or - If this is love is wrong, I don’t WANT to be right!!! After a few days of psychological abuse by Amazon (What do you mean, you cancelled my order? The new order is going to be here today by 10? What do you mean it’s delayed? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S GOING TO BE HERE TOMORROW???), my magical heat stapler arrived!!! So, the heat stapler is obviously cheaply made (my style), but not POORLY made. I have never fallen in love with a tool so quickly! By simply inserting a staple, and pressing a button, the magic of induction causes the staple to become melt-worthy within just a few seconds. Give it a few more seconds, and the staple is RED hot! 5 out of 5 STARS!!! Here’s a few pictures to show the progress of rebuilding the 6-million-dollar pannier. There’s obvious work to be done, but I think she’s mending well. I have one hole left, because I ran out of Kydex. I guess it's time for another Amazon emotional rollercoaster!

@Wintersdark Still working on the project. You've tapped into my darkest fear.

Dear Friends, I thought I might just end here, letting the masses wonder what ever happened to that one guy from that one web forum who jacked up his panniers? Forever cursing you to wake up in cold sweats, crying woefully into the darkness, “PANNIERS! NOOOOOO!!!” But, alas, no. I couldn't leave you there! The first step was to repair the holes somebody put in there. If this is the first post you’ve read, somebody, who was totally not me, drilled holes in my pannier in a poorly conceived plan to fix a stupid bent handle. The perpetrator was never found, but I pulled it together by focusing my Gandhi-powers to forgive his foolhardiness. With forgiveness bestowed, it was time to make things right. The first step was to clean up the ragged holes left by my sweet Dremeling, then heat-mold a piece of Kydex to match the gaping expanse. The next step was to search the internet for ways to make the said Kydex patch stay where it should. I initially tried “black adhesive,” which I believe is closely related to the demon-sauce which held the pannier together in the first place. While this WAS effective, it was ugly…and looked stupid. ‘Twould simply not do! After hours of carving out the black muck, it became apparent I would have to try something else to hold the plastic pieces in place. Now, I learned early in my marriage that when things broke, I got to buy tools to fix them. It’s “necessary,” I told my wife. AND SHE BELIEVED ME!!! I’m not saying I’ve “accidentally” broken things in my life just to buy tools, but I may have taken more trips to the hardware store than might have been required. So, off it was to my favorite hardware store, “Harbor Freight!” Cheap tools sold cheaply to cheap people! One plastic “welder” coming up! P.S. I also ordered a sweet hot stapler from Amazon, but the first order was cancelled and the second order delivery has been pushed back since 10:00 this morning. It's almost 6pm and I’m slowly dying inside!

@maximo I just KNEW we could make that jump!

@ Home Alone Never GIF - HomeAlone Never - Discover & Share GIFs Click to view the GIF @betoney

MISTAKES WERE MADE: PART V Title: "To err is human…to Dremel is DIVINE." Goo-gone failed. Random drilling failed. Worldview…shaken. Is it possible Yamaha has some type of adhesive heretofore unknown? Could it be that the one place I didn’t look (directly between the inner plastic and the outer sheath), was bonded together by said mystery bonding agent? Retrieving the Dremel from its sacred shelf, I knew it was time. Let... the... Dremeling... BEGIN!!! One piece broke away...then another. A corner was turning. A dawn was…um, dawning. Dawning? Breaking? Whatever, something was changing…and I liked it. Sort of like the first time you used the girl’s bathroom at a dumpy gas station while your Dad blocked the entrance. Not that I've ever done...that... Anyway, as pieces broke away, it became apparent I had been wrong. There WAS an adhesive! I’m not sure where Yamaha found this stuff, but I’m guessing is was somewhere around the 9th level of Dante’s Inferno. Carving down, there was only 1 square inch remaining. Somehow, this small patch STILL held the pannier together. It was a formidable foe, but eventually, even this goo from hell found itself to be no match for DREMEL POWER!!! (Note: I am not getting paid to advertise Dremel. Using that sweet spinning wonder is payment in and of itself.) There is no rock is that uncrackable. No lock unpickable. No song unsingable. And thus, despite its best effort, the Yamaha model 2PP-F84H0-T0-00 right side pannier unveiled her delicate secrets to the world. So go ahead friends. Sit back and enjoy some pictures the internet REFUSED to show you before…UNTIL NOW!!!

Courage @Heli ATP! I appreciate the charitable spirit, but hang in there. The darkest hours are just before dawn!

MISTAKES WERE MADE: PART IV Working title: “Holes make things more aerodynamic…right?” - or - “Exploratory Surgery = GREAT for humans…not so much for panniers.” To my great disbelief, Goo-gone didn’t do its job to remove any mysterious adhesive holding the inner plastic to its outer sheath. Based on my many years of positive Goo-gone experiences, I developed a supreme confidence in the scrappy little product’s ability to break down any adhesives known to man. It must have been something else. Something…mechanical. So, since the Goo-gone didn’t work, it was time to go in!!! One pilot hole…two…then three… Who knew drilling into a $400.00 pannier would be just like eating Ruffle’s potato chips? You can’t just have one. Do you know how many you CAN have? Twenty-five. That's how many. Twenty five... Somehow, no matter how skillfully I placed the drill holes, or how awkwardly I angled my flashlight, I could find NO clicky-bits! YEARGH!!! But no worries friends. I have infinite confidence in my life-long ability to screw things up and make them right again! (...mostly) It was time. Time for the Chuck Norris of garage tools. The Magnum Magnificum, if you will. The SINGLE most versatile tool anyone could ever hope for. Out… comes… THE DREMEL!!!

Trust me. It get's MUCH worse!