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I felt like it was 1977 all over again and I was waking up on Christmas morning. I had just taken possession of a bone-stock 800GS, and it was ripe for upgrades. Enter Mastech. This relative newcomer is on the scene with a host of great upgrades at a good price point to spruce up your ride.

Panniers

Mastech’s pannier system has a very industrial look, much like others on the market. I like it—basic and brutally effective. They’re anodized black, which looked good on my bike. Installation was essentially straightforward with only a good tug needed for the last few bolts of the support system.

They easily attach to their supports with the locking of a single lever, holding your luggage tight and right. No vibrations or noise were noticed over varying terrain. The long “piano-style” hinge systems on the panniers and top case seem up to the task of repeated opening and closing. One nice addition to the system would be an “over-travel” mechanism to prevent an overzealous opening of the lids.

Top Case

The top case required Mastech’s own mounting plate. This plate came with all the necessary hardware and mounted swiftly and securely. One thing I love about the top case is its size—it’s pretty darn big! That said, it won’t quite fit a helmet, but it’s close.

The locking system for the top case and panniers uses the same key, which is nice—no need for multiple keys to unlock the various boxes. Once locked, the top case and panniers are not removable from their brackets without access to the inside of each case.

Side Stand Foot

This piece, though small in size, is very important, especially when dealing with large, heavy ADV bikes. We’ve all had those panic moments when you drop the kickstand on something other than a hard surface, only to watch your behemoth start its roll to the side. Well, this little add-on takes care of that. Once installed it gives the rather smallish stock kickstand a much larger footprint. Install was easy and took all of two minutes.

Lights

LED lights are not only making headway in the moto industry but are becoming the standard. They’re tough, last a long time and don’t draw much current. This is very important if you plan to add all sorts of gizmos and gadgets (heated gear/grips, etc.) that consume amps.

Mastech lights are well made, and their aluminum chassis can take a good amount of abuse. I followed the included instructions, wiring them straight to the battery. Others may want to wire them to a switch or switch plate so they’re not accidentally left on after shutting off your machine. Once lit, they provide a wide flood beam of light good for catching any stray critters within your periphery.

They’re so bright your headlight basically becomes useless. And, the provided mount plate lets you adjust the lights left and right or up and down for an ex-tremely versatile beam of light. Besides the added light for night riding, I run them during the day for an added margin of safety. I’ve logged a good number of miles (both day and night) with these lights, yet haven’t been flashed from oncoming vehicles, indicating that they’re not too bright to bother other drivers.

Mastech also provided me with both styles of their headlight guards. One is made of clear polycarbon-ate and the other of aluminum mesh. The install was, again, easy and took less than 10 minutes. Both provide good protection for the entire front light system on the BMW F800GS.

The clear lens can take rock hits as well as all the mud and gunk the road can throw at it. You can just pop them off with the two Dzus-style fasteners, clean and remount. Voilà, back in business.The aluminum mesh guard will let mud and liquid through while doing an excellent job of keep-ing the bigger rocks from ruining your day. The install took less than 10 minutes!