Not quite an Enclosure question, but relevant to a Series D Comet (replica) naked, does anyone have any experience of fitting Craven Pannier boxes to a D rear frame, I pretty much constantly carry a pillion passenger who probably would reject soft throw over pannier bags whereby she would have to sit on the central connecting strap, also the boxes would need to sit clear of her legs when bent in the sitting position, it looks like a complicated welding job to me, attached to the rear frame, although I would prefer a bolted on arrangement, any previous experience or suggestions would be much appreciated.
SL: Series 'D' Enclosures Craven Panniers
- Thread starter Peter Holmes
- Start date
Marcus, ask Calle Sjoblom. He has provided me with panniers of Neville´s design.
Thanks for all the input so far, Ian's rack looks great, but boy does it look complicated to fabricate, something along those lines would be good, but with less metal perhaps. I don't think the Neville panniers would be any good on a naked D, they were designed to follow the contour of the enclosures, and when fitted to a Knight or Prince they do look very nice.
Thank you, Jorgen my handsome, I was going to approach Calle about fitting enclosures to a "D" bitza Comet as the only real difference between C's & D's were the enclosures and the weather protection I will appreciate more getting older. Just had a private message from Dick Sherwin who tells me he has the NH pannier moulds, so long as they are not wider than 28" as it would restrict my filtering abilities, I lost poor Norman Lord returning from Longs Dale annual we came across traffic so I carried on filtering, cleared after about 20 to 30 miles but about the same again before he caught up again, I do like to say consistant.
bananaman.
My message to Dick Sherwin.
Thank you, Dick, my handsome, my situation is at the moment with two "C" Comets up and running, one in red (bitza) and a standard Black with only mod of indicators, but want to move that on to get the bitza "D"Comet the spares company have, hoping the difference in value will pay for an electric starter.
As my life, the long dream is ten Vins, Rapides & Comets (exception "B"Meteor) "A" "B" "C" "D" and a Grey Flash (a genuine Trials iron built by Pat Wilson of Lawton & Wilson of Southampton with the chain-driven timing side) and finally a Lightning Replica that Pat gave me the cases for and Gordon Powell thinks were Lightning ones from a car.
My son doesn't think I will achieve it before popping my clogs but we are getting there slowly but sadly I'm getting slower too and strength trying to build up again as can't ride a Vin yet but have got a starter on my original "B", 2024 I will of had it 60 years and been married 50 so we might have a celebration or two !!!!!
Still flying but not as well as I use too but starting swimming again soon.
bananaman.
My message to Dick Sherwin.
Thank you, Dick, my handsome, my situation is at the moment with two "C" Comets up and running, one in red (bitza) and a standard Black with only mod of indicators, but want to move that on to get the bitza "D"Comet the spares company have, hoping the difference in value will pay for an electric starter.
As my life, the long dream is ten Vins, Rapides & Comets (exception "B"Meteor) "A" "B" "C" "D" and a Grey Flash (a genuine Trials iron built by Pat Wilson of Lawton & Wilson of Southampton with the chain-driven timing side) and finally a Lightning Replica that Pat gave me the cases for and Gordon Powell thinks were Lightning ones from a car.
My son doesn't think I will achieve it before popping my clogs but we are getting there slowly but sadly I'm getting slower too and strength trying to build up again as can't ride a Vin yet but have got a starter on my original "B", 2024 I will of had it 60 years and been married 50 so we might have a celebration or two !!!!!
Still flying but not as well as I use too but starting swimming again soon.
That sounds ominous!
I don't think Marcus actually meant flying, perhaps a spellchecker error, I have been trying to work it out, perhaps sailing, if I am wrong then I apologise, but in 54 years of friendship I have never heard of Marcus flying anything.
Hi Peter,
I think that my D carrier is an open D twin rear frame converted to suit a C Comet. It then has a universal Craven carrier welded on. The top tubes, under the seat, may have been extended. The Craven carrier has had its front loops cut off and is welded to the sloping D rails and to the hoop behind the seat. it looks like a simple construction joining a Craven part to the Vincent frame. It is possible that the width of the carrier has been adjusted to suit the width of the sloping struts.
I did fit a similar Craven carrier to a C Shadow and think that of you took a wide enough Craven carrier the front loops, missing from my welded construction, could be clamped to the seat frame sloping struts with the front rail of the load deck clamped to the hoop behind the seat. An extra support rail from pillion rest to the back of the rack would carry the bottom dzus clip.
WCS did make the a version of the D shaped panniers but with a flat inside face for use on unfaired bikes. The moulds probably went with Phil's D pannier moulds to Dick. His Craven moulds and jigs went to Draganfly.
I think that my D carrier is an open D twin rear frame converted to suit a C Comet. It then has a universal Craven carrier welded on. The top tubes, under the seat, may have been extended. The Craven carrier has had its front loops cut off and is welded to the sloping D rails and to the hoop behind the seat. it looks like a simple construction joining a Craven part to the Vincent frame. It is possible that the width of the carrier has been adjusted to suit the width of the sloping struts.
I did fit a similar Craven carrier to a C Shadow and think that of you took a wide enough Craven carrier the front loops, missing from my welded construction, could be clamped to the seat frame sloping struts with the front rail of the load deck clamped to the hoop behind the seat. An extra support rail from pillion rest to the back of the rack would carry the bottom dzus clip.
WCS did make the a version of the D shaped panniers but with a flat inside face for use on unfaired bikes. The moulds probably went with Phil's D pannier moulds to Dick. His Craven moulds and jigs went to Draganfly.
I fitted modern-reproduction Craven Comets on my open D. I didn't want to weld or cut the sub-frame, so I just used "P" clamps lined with rubber on the frame. I welded extensions to the bottom of an old Craven "L" rack I had lying around. Those provide some lateral stability. I also made some simple brackets going from the extensions to the rear foot peg rear bolt hole (moving the peg to the forward position).
I used the locks supplied by Draganfly instead of Dzus fasteners. I had to make a mod to the brackets, to keep the panniers from coming off. If there's interest, I'll take some more detailed pics tomorrow and post.
Yes, I've posted this picture before, in a different context; ducks and all.
Gary
I used the locks supplied by Draganfly instead of Dzus fasteners. I had to make a mod to the brackets, to keep the panniers from coming off. If there's interest, I'll take some more detailed pics tomorrow and post.
Yes, I've posted this picture before, in a different context; ducks and all.
Gary
Attachments
Gary, This is just the sort of information that I was hoping for, I would also prefer not get the welding rods out. If you are able to post more detailed photos of your set up that would be a great help. Thanks Peter
It was obvious that the "L" bracket (still available from Draganfly) would be the basis for the system. As I had mentioned, I didn't want to weld or drill the sub-frame, so I settled on the "P" brackets. They're not concours but they are strong and don't mar (?) the new paint on the frame. I've never heard an unkind word regarding them. Maybe that's a testament to human kindness. So next was to mount the panniers themselves.
When I received the panniers from Draganfly, I got a bag of hardware and two panniers. No instructions. I emailed them to get some suggestions as to how to configure the two hangers and the one lock on each pannier. They had none. I didn't see quite how two hangers and one horizontal pin-lock would secure them but I gave it a go. It looked like the panniers could rotate, allowing the lock pins to disengage. I don't think they got the drift of my concern. It worked well for a while, but one fine day over a rough road, I heard an awful scraping noise. I was naturally horrified by the clear image in the mirror of the left pannier sliding down the road behind me.
I see that Draganfly now supplies an optional "pin lock" to avoid this problem. I didn't like that, since it would require two steps to remove the pannier. Depending on how the pin lock is mounted, one might have to remove one's stuff to reach inside to disengage the pin lock. Besides, that was offered well after I found my own solution. My solution is illustrated in the last two pics. I cut a little piece of aluminum angle, drilled it and fastened it to the Draganfly lock mount. The mating piece on the pannier slips between the angle aluminum and the heads of the mounting bolts on the rack. It doesn't look like much but the panniers haven't come off since, in some 10,000 miles. For example, this last Sunday, I hit a HUGE pothole which I fortunately saw ahead of me at the last second. I got up off the seat just in time. Whew! It was wicked. Next thought was "what about the panniers?" Nope. Still there.
One more little item. The lock brackets on the rack that Draganfly supplied came with rubber grommets for the lock pin to pass through. They're excellent --- for a day or two. Then they're somewhere down the road. I got replacements, to no avail. I finally gave up on them and have been using this system without them for a long time now. I guess they were supposed to provide some friction, so as to prevent the lock pin from sliding back out of the bracket.
When I received the panniers from Draganfly, I got a bag of hardware and two panniers. No instructions. I emailed them to get some suggestions as to how to configure the two hangers and the one lock on each pannier. They had none. I didn't see quite how two hangers and one horizontal pin-lock would secure them but I gave it a go. It looked like the panniers could rotate, allowing the lock pins to disengage. I don't think they got the drift of my concern. It worked well for a while, but one fine day over a rough road, I heard an awful scraping noise. I was naturally horrified by the clear image in the mirror of the left pannier sliding down the road behind me.
I see that Draganfly now supplies an optional "pin lock" to avoid this problem. I didn't like that, since it would require two steps to remove the pannier. Depending on how the pin lock is mounted, one might have to remove one's stuff to reach inside to disengage the pin lock. Besides, that was offered well after I found my own solution. My solution is illustrated in the last two pics. I cut a little piece of aluminum angle, drilled it and fastened it to the Draganfly lock mount. The mating piece on the pannier slips between the angle aluminum and the heads of the mounting bolts on the rack. It doesn't look like much but the panniers haven't come off since, in some 10,000 miles. For example, this last Sunday, I hit a HUGE pothole which I fortunately saw ahead of me at the last second. I got up off the seat just in time. Whew! It was wicked. Next thought was "what about the panniers?" Nope. Still there.
One more little item. The lock brackets on the rack that Draganfly supplied came with rubber grommets for the lock pin to pass through. They're excellent --- for a day or two. Then they're somewhere down the road. I got replacements, to no avail. I finally gave up on them and have been using this system without them for a long time now. I guess they were supposed to provide some friction, so as to prevent the lock pin from sliding back out of the bracket.
