Grafting luggage rack onto grid rack ideas?

[tommboy]

I'm looking for a cost effective luggage solution. I prefer topboxes to panniers, and hard luggage to soft, but I can't afford racks, plates and boxes. I was thinking of trying to graft a givi plate (or similar) onto the grid rack thing at the back. I don't have the cowl. It's a curved surface with holes in it, but it's hard so it can be drilled for bolts. I don't have any sophisticated tools like pipe benders or welding equipment, so it's going to be whatever bits and bobs I can pick up at the hardware store, and a bit of ingenuity! I think it just needs some sort of spacer to compensate for the curve. I was even thinking of fashioning something out of wood. Any thoughts or suggestions...?

[nab 301]

I'm looking for a cost effective luggage solution. I prefer topboxes to panniers, and hard luggage to soft, but I can't afford racks, plates and boxes. . Any thoughts or suggestions...?

Do you carry pillions ? if not I guess you can bolt something onto/ through the seat? I strapped a mounting plate of a cheap top box onto the pillion seat of an old VFR I had a while back, although from a security point of view the straps could easily be cut off.
A not inexpensive way of doing this on a 1200s although you may get some ideas .
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6853&hilit=r1200s+top+box
The Ventura rack seems to be a good idea and they do occasionally come up for sale on here.

Vfr with base plate strapped onto /under seat

DSC_0242 (2) by Nigel Burgess, on Flickr

[tommboy]

Good idea. I don't take pillions so that could work. I actually bolted a box onto the pillion seat of an old bike I once had. I'm loath to butcher the seat of the s but maybe strapping it on like you suggest would suffice. Would the plate, or straps, dig into the leather and cause tears?

I will Google the Ventura track now.

Thanks.

[tommboy]

He did a nice job with the rack on that 1200s. Looks OEM.

[Hay Ewe^]

I have some BRAND new BMW hard panniers (the full size ones, not the narrow 'city' (or what ever they were called) version)
both got replaced after an insurance incident.
Rails and mounting hard ware as well.

Also a top box and the mounting kit for that as well.

Dont let location deter you, we can likely work something out.

[The Teutonic Tangerine]

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A BRAND NEW TOP BOX COMPLETE WITH TWO KEYS MOUNTING PLATE (UNIVERSAL) (ooop caps lock on I wasn't shouting really)- its a copy of a GIVI box right down to the plate fixings and the key shape etc. I found it on E-bay brand new £38.00 (Gvi would be around %£160). So far its done two trips to Wales and one to France and is still looking like new.

top box.png (101.54 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

[tommboy]

Sorry for the late reply. I thought I changed the settings to receive an email every time someone replied to a post, but apparently not.

Dont let location deter you, we can likely work something out.

I'd say even if you do me a good deal it will still be out of my budget. BMW luggage sells for squillions on eBay.

[tommboy]

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A BRAND NEW TOP BOX COMPLETE WITH TWO KEYS MOUNTING PLATE (UNIVERSAL) (ooop caps lock on I wasn't shouting really)- its a copy of a GIVI box right down to the plate fixings and the key shape etc. I found it on E-bay brand new £38.00 (Gvi would be around %£160). So far its done two trips to Wales and one to France and is still looking like new.

top box.png

So did you use it with the standard givi rack?

[The Teutonic Tangerine]

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A BRAND NEW TOP BOX COMPLETE WITH TWO KEYS MOUNTING PLATE (UNIVERSAL) (ooop caps lock on I wasn't shouting really)- its a copy of a GIVI box right down to the plate fixings and the key shape etc. I found it on E-bay brand new £38.00 (Gvi would be around %£160). So far its done two trips to Wales and one to France and is still looking like new.

top box.png

So did you use it with the standard givi rack?

The kit that arrived with the Topbox was a standard GIVI mounting plate (ie a copy of the GIVI original ) for fitting to any carrier - if you already have the GIVI mounting plate attached to the bike via the GIVI rack the box should just snap straight on to it. The mountings supplied and the plate supplied are all exact copies of GIVI just a quarter if the price.

[Hay Ewe^]

@tommboy - PM's sent

[tommboy]

The mountings supplied and the plate supplied are all exact copies of GIVI just a quarter if the price.

That is awesome! If I get a rack I'm getting one of those. Cheers.

[tommboy]

@tommboy - PM's sent

Thanks for the messages. I'd be more interested in the top box and rack. When you figure out a price for it, let us know. I think it's going to be well over my budget though