SW-Motec & H&B Side Panniers: Ride Review

Took the bike out for a ride last night, mainly to test the stability of the bike at speed. Had a smooth ride from home all the way to the 2nd link. Overall at legal speeds, the bike handles pretty much the same, predictable and flickable. Probably a bit soft on the back end as the additional weight does show a bit when powering out of the turn. (May need to tweak a bit of the preload for the additional weight).

Upon reaching the second link bridge, I gently rolled the throttle on till the bike was at about 200kph. Nothing to suddenly while paying close attention to the road as well as the side panniers. Nothing unusual there again. Everything was pretty much the same, bike was very stable and manageable probably with a slight hint of buzziness in the handles. Nothing unexpected.

Next, I proceeded to the Gelang Petah Esso station to top up fuel and just before that when leaving the toll booth, I tried rolling on the throttle hard and shift at around peak power. It was probably then I realised that the rear is squatting a bit more than I liked; making the front end feel light. (Mental note to self: re-adjust the preload when back.) Had a brief moment hitting third gear before braking hard to slow down and entering the R&R.


Re-fueling was a fast event, took less than 10min to pump and pay. Again I was heading off onto the highway. This time round again I tried rolling on the throttle hard in the first 3 gears, and it still presents the same lightness in the front. Once the front settled, I simply rolled the bike to around 240-250kph and cruised on. Surprisingly, the handling did not really suffer much with the installation of the panniers. Maybe it'll show at higher speeds, that another test for another time.

One thing I noticed, when taking a bend, and attempting to power on the bike, there's a mild hint of slight wobble at the rear, suggesting that the suspension settings are off. Then I headed off to the Pasir Gudang/ Johor Bahru exit, taking the bend at slight over 140kph, and gingerly holding the throttle so as not to unsettle the bike. The bike is able to hold the line quite neatly throughout the turn.

Once out of the turn, it's back to trying out the straight line stability. As again, predictably stable and manageable to 250kph. And the stretch ended off at the toll booth leading to Perling. And to add to the drama, there was a police road block right at the exit. There the thought went across my head: "damn, there goes the money again..." Funnily they simply waved me off, probably thinking how fast this bike could have been travelling carrying that 2 gigantic boxes. Ha ha! To think I accidentally blew the throttle at them just before leaving...

The last part was simply the test of the weavability of the boxes under slightly heavy traffic. I guess it's a matter of getting used to it. When drivers see such a massive object coming up their rear view mirrors, they seem to react quite promptly clearing a gap good enough to pass through.

Eventually I took the first link back at the Woodlands checkpoint. There was where my main complaint for the panniers. The gap for the road leading to the Biometric checkpoint was barely wide enough for the bike with the pannier, I was scrapping the panniers left and right as I passed through the narrow channel. Can't imagine if those panniers were a bit larger.

Stay tuned for the next ride where I'll try to see what the bike will do in top speed when lugging these 2 crates.