Hi All
Last week I summarised what I had done to my plunger framed A10 over a two and a half year rebuild. There was some interest in my home-made panniers, so here’s how I made them.
First, I should say why I built them… I saw the bike in photo ‘Panniers 0’ attached at the BSAOC Cheshire Branch camping weekend in 2018. I was just four months into my full restoration, but I liked the look of them although they seemed a bit too big for me.
Two years later, my rebuild was nearly finished but we suddenly entered lockdown. So last April, newly retired, I threw myself into ‘project pannier’. Don’t ask me why, but It was important for me not to drill any new holes in the recovered original rear mudguard to mount the panniers. So I designed them around the existing stay mounting holes.
I made the panniers out of plywood that I bought from B&Q for about £15 and cut the pieces to shape from cardboard templates with a saw and file. I’m sure that you guys have better tools – but I had a lot of time on my hands… (Panniers 1).
I used stainless studding, nuts, washers and spacers from Middleton’s, and two of their P clips with rubber liners as a third fixing point from the middle of the mudguard stay. Metric admittedly, but I used the right imperial sizes on the rest of the bike.
I also used some small metal dowel pins to fit the sections together, bought from GWR Fasteners in Oswestry
For the pannier lids I bought an universal 6” wide alloy rear mudguard from Vintagebikes.co.uk on eBay and cut it in half (Panniers 2). The hinges I bought from B&Q and the reflectors and indicators from Vehicle Wiring Products.
Then I sealed the plywood and covered the wood with black leatherette from the excellent Fabrics Trade Kent. I tried various beige samples from them first, but they didn’t quite match the colour of my bike, so I settled on ‘black marina’. This faux leather is waterproof and fireproof. I covered all the panels with just one meter of this easy to cut material, which cost me about £35 (Panniers 3) and I used Gorilla wood glue and staples to do it.
Then it was time to attach them to the bike (Panniers 4), and the wires for my electronic ignition and indicators. I designed the panniers so that I could still use the hinged mudguard to help rear wheel removal, which made routing the new wiring that much easier.
The panniers lids are held closed by trouser belts, cut in half, and attached to the alloy lid and the front panel with bolts. The BSAOC and VMCC badges secure one end of the belts, which is a method of fastening that I’ve always admired on the bonnets of vintage cars.
That’s about it. See ‘Panniers 5’ to see how they look now they’re finished. They have in them some tools, my ignition and indicator electrics, and a fire extinguisher, which I felt was prudent taking into account the fact that I’m persisting with the leak-prone Amal 276 carb. There’s room for waterproofs, spare parts, sandwiches and even a map in case I get lost.
If anyone would like more information, measurements or pictures, please just ask and I’ll be happy to oblige.
All the best from Simon
