Strapping It Down

Flylooper · Aug 26, 2005

I'm new to this board and as of tomorrow the 27th will be an owner of an '04 FJR. This topic has probably been brought up before but.....

My passion is LD travel. I have always ridden a Kawi Connie and it's a very practical bike in many ways, one of which is that there are multiple points on it that you can fasten a bungee cord to when strapping down tents, sleeping bags, fishing rods, mattresses, etc., etc.

How do FJR riders handle this? There don't seem to be a lot of places that will take a bungee cord on an FJR. Am I missing somehting here?????

Bob

:huh:

yamaholic · Aug 26, 2005

Welcome to the forum! That connie will seem like an ancient relic the first time you swing a leg over the FJR.

In regards to your question, I use Bungie Buddies. They are small plastic hoops with metal threads/nuts available through most sport touring shops (ie aerostitch). I put 6 of them on the tail section to strap down a tailbag, but they can also be used to strap down a tent, sleeping roll, etc, etc. depending on placement.

Enjoy the FJR!!!

MCRIDER007 · Aug 26, 2005

How do FJR riders handle this? There don't seem to be a lot of places that will take a bungee cord on an FJR. Am I missing somehting here?????

Yes, you are missing a decent tiedown point just like all the rest of us. If you are traveling solo and want to use the backseat to carry items you can use the luggage rack bolts under the rear seat to rig a tiedown point on each side. A one inch wide strap will work but a metal bracket is better. To do it right, you will have to take the luggage rack off the bike and file down the plastic just in front of the bolt hole so the metal bracket can extend sideways under the seat. Bend the bracket before you bolt it down and then find tune the "bend" after it is installed. The metal bracket should be about 3.5 to 4 inches long (with about 5/16th inch holes on each end) depending on how high you want the tiedown to be.

brazos parker · Aug 26, 2005

I used two eye bolts from Lowe's/Home Depot. Drilled two holes, one on the left and one on the right side of the license plate, into the license plate bracket. Attached each one w/ lock washer, 2 bolts and blue locktite.

Oh yeah, spray painted the eye bolts black before install so they are less noticeable.

Also, check out the vendor section on this forum for "Replacement Luggage Racks." I don't have one of these (yet!) but they do look pretty cool.

markjenn · Aug 26, 2005

Two of the 54" RokStraps are perfect for strapping down a big duffel, tent, bedroll, or other bulky items across the luggage rack. Each end secures with a loop rather than a hook and the combination of the cinch strap and elastic allows the load to be well-secured.

The rack isn't terribly wide, but unless you're putting serious weight up there, you should be fine. (You should always try and put light stuff on the rack anyway and put heavier items in the bags.) And a couple folks make bolt-on replacement racks that are much larger at reasonable cost.

The straps, despite being just fabric, will eventually abrade the paint on the rack a bit. If this bothers you, then wrap the places where the straps attach with duct tape.

If I carry a computer, I also bungee a waterproof stuff sack to the seat with a cargo net attached to the rack siderails. This way the computer rides more gently strapped to the seat rather than strapped to the rack or in a saddlebag. But the RokStraps and rack work better.

I wouldn't bother with the shorter RokStraps which don't have the cinch strap feature. They're so short and stiff they're very difficult to use.

- Mark

Grumpy · Aug 26, 2005

Markjenn, look under the "FJR Vendoroffers", Garauld makes a great rack for a fair amount of money!

markjenn · Aug 26, 2005

Yes, this stuff is very nice. I haven't felt the pressing need for a larger rack yet, but if I wanted to carry a lot of stuff back there, this would be the way to do it. And the backrest option looks like a nice feature if you're two-up.

- Mark

NightShine · Aug 27, 2005

I've used a pair of RokStraps to secure a load to one of Garauld's replacement luggage racks. But a second pair is handy for making stuff fast to the passenger seat.

The forward end of the stock passenger saddle sits on a bar or bracket of the rear frame that the rider portion of the saddle also locks into. I remove the rider saddle, loop one end of the RokStraps around this bracket and then replace the saddle. The RokStraps feed up between the two saddles and the loop on their other end secures around a suitable place on the luggage rack.

You need to take a little care in where you run the loops around the bracket so as not to interfere with the saddle mounts, but there is useable space around the outboard ends of the bracket.

Makes an easy job of making up a convenient rider backrest out of a bedroll and your favorite pillow!

TWILKIN650 · Sep 13, 2005

I wasn't too happy with the lack of tie down points on the FJR, so I created my own using closed end loops made from 1,000# hollow webbing purchased from REI's rock climbing shop. This may have been hashed over in previous posts, but I couldn't find any by searching for the word "bungee" so here goes:

First, buy about 16-20', at $.32 per foot, of webbing. Mine is red, hollow and about an inch wide. To make your own loops, you can stitch the webbing ends together, but I like to use a variation of the rock climbing water knot called the "beer knot". Why is it called a beer knot? 'Cause beer is better than water!

Start with lengths of webbing about 43-45" if you want to duplicate my pictures.

https://www.rei.com/product/1038.htm?vcat=R...HP_CLIMBING_TOC

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4364.jpg

Make your beer knot loops:

https://beerknot.20m.com/index.html#beerknot

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4365.jpg

Loop around frame member as shown:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4366.jpg

Pull back between seats:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4367.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4368.jpg

Cut and fit protective vinyl tubing for rack (this from Ace Hardware):

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4369.jpg

Loop around rack; shorten straps as needed, I just added an overhand knot to shorten this beer knot loop.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/TWI...ps/IMG_4370.jpg

Front loops can remain in place under rider seat without interfering with either seat by swinging them forward under the rider seat when not in use. I used this cheap system on my old BMW for many years. No paint damage to rack if you use vinyl tubing to protect the rack from the straps. Hollow webbing is softer than most commercial straps but why take the chance of messing up the rack? I've used Aerostitch Rider's Warehouse straps and Helen TwoWheels straps for many years, and I'm sure ROC straps would be just as good.

Woodstock · Sep 13, 2005

Am I the only one here who had never heard of a beer-knot?

btw: Very cool farkle.

Randy · Sep 13, 2005

Am I the only one here that uses the Givi rack and the passenger peg brackets for attaching bungees? Sometimes I feel like such a traditionalist on this board. I guess I need to send in my membership application for the minority group called the 'Anti-Farklers'.

TWILKIN650 · Sep 13, 2005

The main advantage of the beer knot is that is retains about 80% of the strength of the webbing, yet can be "disassembled" farily easily if needed. You can use a length of 1/4" threaded rod with a piece of tape over the end of the webbing to help feed the webbing into itself if it is uncooperative.

FJRocket · Sep 13, 2005

I especially like the extra attach points between the seats! Thanks for sharing.

Never ever heard of a beer knot, either. I love this board. Learn something every day!

Where is the beer knot under the seat?

Would you be inclined to run the straps under the next cross support rearwards, where the front of the pillion sits? Seems like it would be sturdier and less stress on the front seat. Probably doesn't matter that much...

slapnpop · Sep 13, 2005

I thought from my old climbing days that ANY knot decreased the strength by ~50%

This was years ago, and all secondhand information.

Besides, if you're loading a ton of force into those 4 peices of webbing (50% of the 1000lb strength) then you've got issues...

TWILKIN650 · Sep 13, 2005

Water knot (or tape knot) test consistently at 50-55% of strength of the flat webbing. Beer knot tests consistently at 80% according to PMI's test facility (Pigeon Mountain Industries; rope manufacturer). To answer the questions, yes, both crossmembers can be used. I picked the smaller one to prevent interference caused by the webbing when installing the rider seat. And second, yes, 1,000# is way over what is needed. All you need is a firm tug on the strap. 1,000# hollow webbing is just easy to find.

TWILKIN650 · Sep 13, 2005

Also, I rotated the knot around and slid it under the crossmember so that it didn't interfere with the rider seat. It fits neatly under the crossmember.

Thug · Sep 18, 2005

Excellent work!

IanS · Sep 19, 2005

Andy Strapz

brazos parker · Sep 21, 2005

Thanx, TWILKIN650.

I've been looking for a way to conveniently strap a duffle to the rear seat and I really like your solution. Ordered my webbing from REI this am.

Strapping It Down

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