Hepco And Becker Street Panniers For Speed Twin

After a long and frustrating search for bags to fit my new Speed Twin, I finally settled on the H&B Street. I spent most of August searching the galaxy for something actually available. Triumph in the US has nothing, yep, exactly Jack Squat for the Speed. Thanks, Triumph. SW Motech was out of stock of everything for the Speed, and so was Moto Machines’ stock of anything for this bike.

FINALLY I found some at SDMoto out of France and took a chance on ordering across ye olde ponde. They got here in less than two weeks, with free shipping no less. Very impressed. Had I found Unit Garage in time I might have ordered theirs because I like their styling, but I discovered them too late.

Today I installed the H&Bs. The Street bags use the hideously ugly C-Bow mounting system. I’ll get over it though, because it seems to be a VERY solid mounting setup.

Installation was super easy with 5,6,&8mm allen sockets, and the ever present 10mm wrench. I also used blue LockTite on the new shock mounting bolts.

One word of warning, the US spec Speed Twin has bigger tail lights than the European version, and the rear mounting brackets come in to contact with them. Luckily, there is very little pressure here, so I simply wrapped the bracket with a little bit of black electrical tape in hopes of preventing scratching the bottom of the light. After everything was tightened, they are still in contact, but I think it Isn’t really a problem (see pics).

I’m ok with the look of these bags, but function is really my top priority. Living in Colorado, it quickly changes from being very warm to very cold all year round, so I always like to have lots of extra layers as well as water and snacks and a little repair kit. Besides, I like to ride to hiking trails, and now I can bring my hiking gear with me.
Time will tell how living with these soft bags will work out. I’ll post an update some time later for an extended review. Unless I get distracted by something shiny and completely forget about it…