Shad SH23 fitted

My brother had a ride out today to my place to give his bike a trip, but also to help me fit these pannier and the rails.

First problem was although I had a set of Allen keys to remove the plastic cover on each side the bracket that holds the Suzuki Givi topbox plate was 10mm head bolts. 

I had spanners. None would fit. I don't have a socket set. Bizarrely I did find a 10mm 1/4" drive socket!

So we had a quick drive to Halfords in Folkestone. For £17 I got a 1/4" drive set with the sockets I needed.

Another fly in the ointment was the need to drill out two of the mounting holes to let the spacer fit through. Who has a 16mm drill bit lying about. The largest I have is 10mm!

In the end the hole was enlarged (four times) using a sharp pair of scissors. 

After that almost plain sailing. Neill's side perfect. My side I had a problem with the front upper bolt. The head was a bit on the soft side. It needs removing and replacing. I couldn't get it fully tightened up.

So they are fitted. They do look a little small but in reality they are the same size as the panniers I had on the Rocket.

Handle recess just right for UK sticker

What to stick in that blank space?

So that's another job done. 

Now I need to go out and road test them.

I have emailed Shad to say that a couple of the bolts had malformed or badly hardened head and asking if they could send more.  I wonder if I'll get a reply?