I am thinking of getting some panniers for my stelvio and was wondering if the genuine guzzi ones are worth the money or can anyone recommend alternatives cheers Tim
You have two choices from Guzzi. You can have the Guzzi/aprillia plastic panniers which are a odd shape and side opening awkward to pack due to shape and can have a tendency to leak but reasonably narrow. The Genuine frames for the NTX are very good as you can buy adaptor kits so that you can fit Givi or hepco and becker panniers instead of the traxs ones. The Guzzi trax panniers are quite wide so not good for filtering through traffic. I would also recommend going round the seams with black acrylic as the seams flex after awhile and let in a bit of water. On the plus side top opening easy to remove and you can stuff lots inside. These are the pannier that came with my NTX and I really like them but then I don’t use my bike for commuting.
Keith 8 Valve Eagle2014-08-27 18:50:02
A very good question!
Most riders of ‘Adventure’ style bikes will naturally gravitate towards the big square boxes like the Trax ones on the NTX. My take on it is different, based on recent experience with three ADVs. I opted for the plastic MG panniers on my Stelvio, colour-matched so I could still feel secure in my personal appearance although my bike is the ‘standard’ model with cast alloys so it didn’t have panniers by default.
The big metal type boxes are great if you want to carry a load of kit and most are strong enough to double up as a chair or table when camping (not sure about the Trax).
But…the big metal boxes are too wide for filtering and the square profile will gobble up the go-juice, in my experience.
The plastic panniers for the Stelvio are acceptably waterproof if you treat the seals with silicon grease and my dealer advised the design here had been improved a year or two ago. Mine only let a bit of water in when parked overnight in the rain and it may have been through the lock or when I opened the pannier in the morning due to the water welling in the handle area. I don’t recall this happening whilst riding in rain. True, the sizes are odd but you can put a full face helmet (with ease)in the RH pannier. Just don’t put chocolate or icecream in the LH one . The clam-shell type opening isn’t as convenient as a top-loader, for sure.
As 8-valve Eagle says, there are other plastic ‘clam shell’ options available too but I doubt they will have the ‘tucked in’ look of the MG ones which still allow for filtering.
For either option, inner bags make loading/unloading a lot easier, of course.
Jon
PS my KTM 990 Adventure, when fitted with the square Gobi cases made the bike about 4ft 4ins wide and cost 5mpg to run! I wonder what the Trax boxes do on the NTX?
Thanks for the advice
I debated the pannier width issue on this forum before buying my Stelvio NTX. The Trax boxes probably make the Stelvio 5’ wide and filtering on anything narrower than a motorway practically impossible. Then I realised I was asking the wrong question. The real question is how often do you run with panniers? In my case the answer is only when touring when the ability to filter is low priority (filtering can land you with a pull in several European contries!) The rest of the time a top box and occasionaly a micro tank bag do the trick. Main filtering obstacle is the overly wide bars. I am on the case!Richard
Hi tryed varoius types , found clam shells good to look at but poor loading and leaked a lot , trax type ,to wide and not water proof and opening , wont let inner bags slide out , now use strong alley boxes or soft luggage, which as big capacity, and water proof , and can be flatend when not in use, peter
I had an early Stelvio with the MG plastic panniers. The left hand one warped so didnt close properley.But they looked nice. I was loaned and NTX for a holiday to Austria and found the metal Trax panniers very useful and totally waterproof. (it rained for the two days riding down) and could use cheap Hein Gerricke pannier liners… or AldI ones I didnt notice any stability problems up to 200 KPH on the autobahns. They were a little wide but I did filter on both motorways and A roads without problems. Getting on and off the bike with metal panniers is another thing to considder. I found it easiest to mount the bike whilst on the sidestand. As mentioned, you have to think how often you will use the panniers. I found that I used a top box and tank bag more often. I now have a Tiger 800, for which I bought some second hand Givi Tubular frames (£100) and a pair of old but tidy 33 litre Givi Panniers (£45). I fancied Givi Trekker panniers but couldnt justify the best part of £700 to use two or three times a year
Horton9162014-09-24 15:07:54
hi never had problem with side boxes causing a weave , but on the rare times , i dont have a pasenger with top box fitted , get a weave at autoban speed, but with passenger no weave , peter
One thing I was concerned about when purchasing the Stelvio were the panniers,not the width,but how much they would carry and how they would carry it.
Width is 105cm or 3’5" and the mirrors are 102cm or just over 3’4" so no problem there and I don’t filter very often with panniers on as I rarely seem to have the need.
I bought a set of TRAX liners which are of a far superior quality to the set of Touratech liners I had for the panniers on my gs.
I like liners as it means I can take everything off the bike without having to remove the panniers and they’re easy to store and use in the tent.
Overall,although not quite as large as I’m used to,I really liked the panniers,the liners where a bit of a faff to get in when filled to bursting because of the design of the pannier but not to any extent that it became annoying.
One thing I do really like is the space between the offside pannier and the bike,that space is now taken up by a tool tube and it works very well.
The quality of the pannier,whilst maybe not quite as good as Touratech, is overall very good let down a little by the locks,although I believe mine have the upgraded locks and catches,but overall I am very pleased with the panniers.
Most importantly how do they perform on the move?
I also have an alloy topbox from my gs which I adapted to fit the Stelvio rack.
On a recent trip to Scotland with the bike fully loaded i.e. panniers fully loaded with food and clothing top box full of odds and ends all camping gear(and I don’t travel light)across the rear seat,the bike behaved impeccably.
It lost a little in performance, but nothing that mattered and most importantly it was rock steady at all speeds,even on a private road where I managed to get up to 100mph no sigh of any weave lightness in the front end or vague handling when cornering.
Overall I’m very happy with the panniers and the way the bike performs when loaded.
I do leave the top box on permanently and this has not affected the handling at any speed.
Did I mention that I like my Stelvio
I do believe that spending as long as it takes to get the suspension set correctly for you in any situation is very very important.
Steve
My Stelvio came with a GIVI frame. Bought a set of Givi panniers on E-Bay, at 41l they are cavenous. They also have a small colour coded lid which is useful as it saves having to open the whole thing. Not had any problems filtering as they are not as wide as the Aluminium boxes. They cost a ruddy fortune new, so take your time on ebay, something will come up.
Just for the record I had my plastic MG panniers on last weekend for a trip to Snowdonia. We must have done 750 miles or so and on the way home, I rode through consistent heavy rain for the first two and a half hours. This was rather entertaining on the B-road route we chose back towards Shropshire where we stopped at a friend’s place to enjoy the first dry part of the day.
The contents of my panniers remained 100% dry.
The remaining journey included around 4.5 hours mainly in the dry and reasonably warm weather. If my panniers had leaked, they would have remained damp inside but there was no evidence of this whatsoever when I returned home and unpacked.
From my experience in Europe last summer, the thing to watch is the water collecting in the handle recess whnr parked int he rain (open the lid and it goes inside - doh! 
) and to lubricate the rubber seal with silicon grease. I also understand form Nathan at Streffords that MG modified the design of these panniers so the later ones have better waterproofing.
I always use inner bags, by the way, and these would show evidence of any water ingress.
Jon