Previously, I mentioned that I’d bought a pair of cyclists’ panniers. This is because a seat-back bag – in my case a 45-litre rucksack – can be a bad idea when it comes to carrying anything heavy, like shopping.
Despite decades-long experience of the breed, I’ve rarely found a rucksack, of any size, that actually had anything like the stated volume. The exceptions were Karrimor packs, in the days of externally-framed backpacks. The 65-litre bag I had then was physically larger than my Lowepro internally-framed 75-litre pack (in that the latter won’t hold the same amount of kit that went into the former), which I still have, though my chances of ever using it again are zero.
Anyway, attaching bags to the back of scooter (and powerchair), seats, to carry shopping, puts too much strain on the back’s tilt-locking mechanism, hence my need for an alternative (if your machine has a fixed back, as is the case with most powerchairs I’ve seen, there should be no problem). The rucksack will remain, for carrying waterproofs, etc, which weigh little.
As I said, I got a pair of Brand-X panniers from Chain Reaction Cycles. I did ask their permission to use the image from their website – but no response. Not yet, anyway (it would be to their advantage, so I can’t really see a problem). I spent a couple of hours yesterday, figuring out how best to mount them to the arm-rests.
On the back of the panniers there are two anti-sway hooks – on a bike these stop the panniers swinging out under cornering forces, and unbalancing the bike. Why there are two I have no idea, but if you’re a cyclist reading this out of curiosity, then I’d replace the elastic, which isn’t up to the task, with shock cord. They are attached to the panniers by D-rings under a strip of webbing – snip through it carefully – you need the D-dings to attach the panniers to the armrests. The webbing isn’t stitched along its entire length, so if you want to put back one of the anti-sway hooks, it would be possible (the how of it is obvious), assuming there’s anywhere on your scooter to attach it. If not, well, you won’t be going fast enough for it to be a problem.
On the armrests the centres of the D-rings need to be 5 inches apart, with the rear one as far back as possible. I used very strong cable ties (zip-ties), to test the principle, but quickly saw that these would eventually cut into the armrests in use, and straps will be a more permanent, non-damaging, solution. A hold-over from my backpacking and cycle-camping days, these will secure almost anything to anything else. You’ll need four (2 packs).
Take several turns round the armrest and through the D-ring. One turn will suffice, but several, overlapping only slightly, will spread the load, lessening the risk of damaging the armrest. In fact, I wrapped the entire strap around the armrest and through the D-ring, thus avoiding cutting it and allowing it to be re-used at a later date. Before tightening fully, make sure the buckle won’t snag on anything. And make sure the rear strap doesn’t obstruct the flip-up hinge.
My scooter has two armrest mounting points. Below the seat-back, as usual, and under the seat near the centre – but that makes getting on and off the thing difficult, as you can’t flip up the armrests with panniers full of shopping, so scratch that. The normal position will put the weight more or less over the back wheels, and that’s fine. Just avoid a position that puts the weight behind the back wheels – that’s what this is intended to get away from. Mind you, on a big scooter, where you’re seated well forward of the back wheels, that won’t matter so much.
I’m hoping to get some photos, if the sun ever shines again for more than 10 minutes – then you can see what I’m talking about. Which it’s doing right now, but I’m in the middle of making bread.
It’s occurred to me, while I’ve been typing this, that the armrests also provide the means for carrying a tripod (something I’ve been work out for a while). The armrests (on my scooter, at least), can be mounted facing backwards (by putting them on the opposite sides), the tripod can be put crosswise on top of them, behind the seat, secured to the armrest supports with the pannier straps or with bungees. Problem solved.
See also Panniers in use.
