Hitchcocks Forum

I'm not sure how many will be interested in this, but perhaps one or two Meteor owners have been thinking about touring once the weather improves...
RE make a hard case plus frame for the Meteor and although a friend has obtained both left and right frames from a chap in India they don't seem readily available. I wanted a semi rigid textile pannier set and after looking at what was available decided on the SW Motech Sysbags. Had to wait ages for them but in the meantime was able to design frames to take them. They're now fitted. Here's a few photos.

Here they are on the bike.

Is that alloy plate or some sort of composite?

It's ABS plastic. Rigid and tough but easy to work and available at reasonable cost.

Might be worth giving the edges of your slots a short run over with a blowlamp to smooth off the cut edges?

Those P-clips are really handy. I'm using them to hold the mudguards on my trials bike. Simple and effective.

Good idea about the slots. I'll give them a radiused edge. Yes the clips are SO useful.

For future reference, it's actually quite easy to bend round bar that size by cold setting. Flatten an end, pack it full of fine sand, flatten the other end then bend round a form. Make the angle of the form more acute than you need to allow for springback.

Here's me bending a parcel rack out of 1mm x 13mm wall thickness mild steel bar.

That's great. Thank you. I'll try it on a spare piece.
Good to know!

I have been thinking about fitting panniers to my Meteor and like the looks of those that you've fitted. A friend says that he would be able to make the frame parts for me. What size tube have you used please.
Thanks

Hello swiftjess. The tube is 12mm outside diameter with an inside diameter of 9mm which is a bit more than really necessary but at the time all I could find. If it was thinner it could probably be bent as suggested by 'stinkwheel'. Because the bolts to attach the tube to the Meteor frame are m8 it needs to be at least 12mm dia and when flattened at the ends gives enough room for drilling the holes.
I have filmed a short video for a few friends which I've shared on YouTube and if it helps you can see it using this link. It's in two parts - the first you can see by going to the link I've put in the 'description' part. I have mentioned two types of plastic sheet - pvc and abs. Either would be fine but in the end I went for rigid pvc as it was a bit easier to get.
Good luck!
https://youtu.be/O0hIWDKB3Jg