Shad Top Case

I'm not sure if I should even post this, but here goes;

I looked at all the options for trunks that have been put on the FJR, some good, some not so good.

In my case I don't plan on having the trunk mounted on the bike all the time, I wanted it mainly for a backrest for the wife when she's along, or weekend trips when I may need a bit more storage. I didn't want to sink a bunch of money in a trunk that would spend the majority of it's life on a shelf. The Yamaha trunk seemed way to large & the cost, Wow! I like the looks of the Givi V46, but didn't like the mount, OHFJR now has a nice mount for the GIVI. I came across the Shad SH32 & felt it matched the style of the FJR, & the Blue SH32 picture on Shads website even looked to be very close to the 06 Cobalt Blue. I called Claudio at Adventuremotousa.com & he gave me the pricing for ordering from Shad & Informed me there are no returns on special orders. Under $ 180.00 delivered to my door for the trunk, universal mount & backrest & it would take 3-4 weeks to arrive, I went for it & had him order it on June 2nd. Well the 3-4 weeks turned out to be a joke, I know it was not Claudio's falt, I think he was doing everything he could to get it here, anyway last week I email Claudio to check the status of my order & tells me it's in the states & being shipped direct to me from Shad USA (Turns out to be Cosmopolitan motors in Hatboro, PA) but that he will no longer special order anything from Shad due to the trouble he had with this order. The box shows up on my door this week, 10 weeks after I placed the order & the backrest is not in the box, Oh well another email to Claudio & he says he will one out right away, he has it in stock, & again states he will no longer offer special orders from Shad. I know it was a long wait & I still don't have my backrest but for the price I paid, I think it's a very nice case, let me know what you think?

And maybe someone can Talk Claudio at Adventure moto into another special order, or check with Cosmopolitan Motors to see if they will order you one?

tstaff -- yeh buddy, that does look great!

your patience paid off... a very good match I think. and fwiw, my first visual impression is that the Shad has an angular design that is the more reminiscent of the FJR's own lines than does the Givi. A shame if its going to be difficult to bring them in-country as I think this works very well.

thanks for posting the pix.

regards

Patrick

Looks good Tom!

That does look very, very nice!

If I needed something new I'd definately consider that.

Looks good. I think the SH32 is designed more for a scooter but the lines do fit well. Too bad about the experience with SHAD though.

I had a set of SH43 side cases on an FZ6 and had a heck of a time getting the matching colour plate for them, through both Canadian and US distribution markets - gave up after six months trying. I liked the SHAD product - fairly good quality at a reasonable price, less than any comparable product from Givi or Yamaha. I understand they're quite popular in Europe but for some reason they definitely have a problem supplying the North American market.

Seems to me there's a nice niche there for a North American venture...?

Tstaff- looks great ! one question, how did you go about mounting the shad adapter plate to the stock FJR rack? thanks Greg

That doesn't look too bad at all. How close is the color match? From the pics it looks right. I'm not a huge fan of top cases but understand the necessity of having one sometimes. I was actually all set to buy a GIVI until I actually took a look at them when I was at this years MC show in NYC. I know I'm going to get blasted for saying this but I thought the build quality on them sucked. Maybe it was just the fact that a couple thousand people had opened or closed them but I decided at that point that I would wait and see what else came along. I actually prefer soft tail trunks that end up allowing Michelle to lean against them anyway.

GregsFJR said:

Tstaff- looks great ! one question, how did you go about mounting the shad adapter plate to the stock FJR rack? thanks Greg

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I drilled 4) .25" holes thru the stock rack & used 4 plastic spacers i picked up from Home Depot. The counter sunk machine screws, washers, & locknuts came with the case. I also used a small cut off wheel & cut the screws off after they were tightened, so they wouldn't touch the tail section below.

TheAxeman said:

That doesn't look too bad at all. How close is the color match? From the pics it looks right. I'm not a huge fan of top cases but understand the necessity of having one sometimes. I was actually all set to buy a GIVI until I actually took a look at them when I was at this years MC show in NYC. I know I'm going to get blasted for saying this but I thought the build quality on them sucked. Maybe it was just the fact that a couple thousand people had opened or closed them but I decided at that point that I would wait and see what else came along. I actually prefer soft tail trunks that end up allowing Michelle to lean against them anyway.

Click to expand...

The color is not a perfect match, but close enough that I don't think i will bother repainting it, like i said it will spend the majority of it's life on a shelf.

The case looks real nice on there. Not to big.

But I have another question. Was there a recent homicide next to your bike? I see chalk outlines.

FJRandy said:

The case looks real nice on there. Not to big.But I have another question. Was there a recent homicide next to your bike? I see chalk outlines.

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No homicide, I may be letting my 3 year old watch to much CSI.

Just installed the Shad 48 case. Ordering from Cosmopolitan Motors was a breeze. They had it in stock and took about a week to get here. The installation kit fit the stock rack pretty good and did not require drilling. It is a very firm/secure fit. Going to take a test ride this PM.





Both rear clamps catch that stock rack where it angles down which adds some peace of mind that it won't slide back.

glitterdan, can we ask the total price?

Sure, $323 to include $17 for the backrest pad. Hey no sparkles here ("glitterdan")

Just installed the Shad 48 case. Ordering from Cosmopolitan Motors was a breeze.

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Gitterdan, Got a link or contact info for Cosmo? Thanks.

Um, having a Shad on your FJR....it's just not doing it for me...maybe try a Bass instead...



ON A SERIOUS NOTE, THOUGH, your setup does look good. Just a couple of years ago I saw a pic of a Shad case on an 03 or 04 FJR and it didn't look as good (to me)..must have been a different model. Looks like Givi has some real competition..(unless availability becomes an issue..)

Thanks, now you have me wanting to go fishin'. I remember throwing a cast net catching shad at Bob Hall Pier at Padre Island to catch speckled trout. We caught quite a few that night. Hmmm, maybe turn the Shad 48 into a live well for live shrimp. :lol:

I have a GIVI E30 Tour case on my FJR, was about $100 w/shipping from Univ. Mtrs. It comes in black, not sure if they have colors available as it's a "scooter" case but it works well-can fit a full face helmet easily.

Just another option for those who don't need a huge top case. Only thing I haven't really came up with is a suitable backrest pad for the case.