Big Trunk, Little Trunk, Rack, Bags?

[gixxerjasen]

Doesn't take much to end up with this....

Mostly daily commuting with a laptop backpack in the SHAD SH50. The day of failure (it was likely already failing) had nothing more in the bag than my quilted liners I'd worn in the morning but had taken off as it had gotten warmer. I was riding on a terribly maintained back country Texas road at the time.

That said, the bags have come in handy for various uses. While I now take my gear inside at work after my commute because I too like cold gear to start off rather than something that has been baking in the Texas sun all day, at my previous job I parked in an underground parking garage and would just stow my gear in my bags while at work. Very nice to not walk in all geared up and to not lug all that stuff around.

I love my top box, but if I were looking at some type of duffel or dry back strapped to the back, I might give a look at the modified Givi rack that I think Gerauld makes with the larger platform on the back. It's pretty ugly...uglier than a big top box even, but it sure seems functional for those that need that type of rack. and it appears to be pretty stout as well, and uses the metal Givi rack and does away with the crap plastic one that Yamaha gave us.

 

[Jay in Ohio]

Mine has a similar support as this:



(https://www.fjr1300.info/mods/givi.html)

If it breaks, it will be as I cross the train tracks on my way into work.

It seems like if they made the top case to fit a little lower it wouldn't see so much stress on the mountings. That adapter plate looks like it could be much thinner, and the case itself maybe flattened a bit, with just some high spots to fit helmets.

BTW - the little screws that anchor the straps that keep the top open came loose and scratched my helmet when I shut the case. grrrrrrrrrr...

-J

PS - great... evidently I hastily mis-typed my own initial in #19 and I'm past 60 minutes.

 

[bergmen]

You've all probably seen this before but I deigned and fabricated my own "over the passenger seat" deck for my Givi Trekker 33 and 46 cases:







I use the rear rack for a soft cooler (Polar Bear). It's red too, of course.

Dan

 

[Big Sky]

We were out on a tour last year and my brother-in-law had borrowed one of those big Moto-Fiz duffle-type bags and bungied it to the stock (small) rear rack on his FJR. It was soon drooping over the sides and obscuring his signal lights. We had stopped at a grocery store to ponder the problem and I spied a grocery cart "wrecking yard" behind the building. We soon "sourced" a rack - that piece that moves back and forth where the child sits - and with a few zip ties - voila! - we had an expanded luggage carrier that worked wonderfully with the big soft bag. That rack still resides on the rear of that bike, still in use for the same purpose. Yeah, it's hillbilly but function before form, eh? And cheap. In fact, we were facing a similar problem with the V-Strom recently and I have decided I will visit a local used appliance store to see if I can scavenge a similar rack from a small refrigerator or oven - maybe in nickel or chrome?! Maybe fancier fasteners than zip ties? I ain't proud. Besides, it's a guaranteed conversation starter.

Well, I really outdid myself. The new expanded rear rack for the V-Strom is a 10 x 16 cooling rack, the kind bakers or cooks use, sourced from Ace Hardware in chrome for $10.