Kitty Litter Bike Panniers

I am currently shopping for some Ortlieb panniers for the rear of my bike.  However, they run upwards of $125 used.  While I shop around, I made a cheap alternative.  Panniers from 5 gallon kitty litter containers.  I stole the majority of the idea from Crazy Guy on a Bike.  However, I did deviate from his plans slightly.

24" reflective sticker:     $2.98

5/16 x 1" Hex bolts:      $1.09

5/16" - 18 Hex nuts:     $2.56

5/16" x 1-1/4 washers: $1.98

10" mini bungees:          $2.47

cold shut hooks:            $4.76

Total:                           $15.84

Kitty litter boxes: donated by Dave S. - the only man I know who owns a cat and would admit it.  

First a look at some of the tools and supplies.  Clockwise form top left: cold shut hooks, hex nuts, hex bolts, washers:  

Bungees and reflective tape:

these bungees were later returned for the ones below

Real bungees...

A picture of the Kitty Litters boxes.  They came in sexy reflective colors:

Mikita drill

Here is a look at the hooks applied to the buckets with the aforementioned hex bolts, nuts and washers.  A better look comes at the end of this post.  I drilled 7/16" holes to receive the 7/16" hex bolts. Since I am drilling through plastic I put a washer on either side (inside and out) of the bucket.  

Here is a shot of the panniers hanging on the bike just by the hooks, sans and bungees.  (Notice the bike is hanging on a (sexy bike work stand I previously constructed.) 

Here I cut the 24" reflective tape into four 6" pieces:

A look at the reflective tape applied to the buckets:  

Last, a final walk around video.  The video shows more clearly the hex bolts and the bungees that hold the buckets securely in place. 

Bike Work Stand

My bike needed some repairs.  It is a true pain in the ass to repair a bike without a proper bike work stand. I was not willing to pay $175.00, $190.00, or even $59.99.  So I decided to make my own bike work stand, using only materials in my garage.  

Total cost of project: $0.00 and 1.5 hours of my time.  

First, a picture of some of the tools I used. 

SkilSaw - refurbished via Ebay

One war club and one chisel...

My favorite canvas (see the pallet bench), a pallet:  

I used two pieces from the pallet, one of the main supports and later on one of the 1x4s.  

First stage: main beam sitting in my vice, parallel to the ground.  

This picture shows the main arm of the bike work stand being leveled.  The notch I originally cut was for the width of the bike frame.  That changed later...

Here is the final notch, 3 1/2" to match the width of the 1x4 from the pallet.  

Here are 1x4s from the pallet, the front of the 1x4 has a notch to match the width and depth of my bike's front stem.   The overall length from the square end of the 1x4 to the short point of the notch is 20 13/16".  The space on my bike is 21".  I cut it a little shorter to make room for some pads/towels to stuff in and prevent scratches.  

Another shot of the work stand set up:

Here is a walk around video of the final product.  I added some small bungee cords to stabilize the front wheel as I work on it.  Also notice the towel under the bike to prevent scratches to the frame.