Trunk...your opinion please...

[Hamie]

I had a Mutazu trunk left over when I traded my Vstar for the FJR last month so decided to put it on..

Made a base plate...

Base plate installed...no painted yet...

Side view...

Rear view...

So what do you think?...

A. This is a piece...and I would not put it on my bike at all...

B. Alright...needs to be painted to match bike...

C. Hey, the Black Pearl blends with all the black parts around the back..go with it....

Thanks, Hamie

 

[cadman]

your plate work is nicely done, hamie.

you liking it is all that matters. i might look a bit better if it were painted, but i don't see anything wrong with it.

is it hard mounted, or easily removed if desired?

cadman

 

[madjackdog]

Good work Hamie, it looks nice and big. I'm going to give it a B.

 

[Hamie]

your plate work is nicely done, hamie.
you liking it is all that matters. i might look a bit better if it were painted, but i don't see anything wrong with it.

is it hard mounted, or easily removed if desired?

cadman

It will be hard mounted...

Hamie

 

[richs]

A , I am sorry but I have yet to see a trunk on an FJR that doesn't look like an added after thought .The lines on the bike are so sweet , and then there is the trunk... But if your happy with it , that's all that matters .

 

[Brodie]

Hammy

You have a good start, looks like you can put the kitchen sink in that trunk, just keep the weight down. If someone disapproves, it doesn't matter what they think. Just repeat after me... "function over form" .

Thats a lot of mass cantilevered aft of the 3 bolts securing your adapter plate to the rear of the bike. Since you have access to a lathe and a mill, you may want to do what I did with my Givi V46 set up. I fabricated 2 clamps with built in spacers to tie into the trailing edges of the Yamaha grab bar platform. Even though its made out of plastic, its pretty stout - stiff enough to keep the trunk from bouncing rythmiclly and causing stress cracks around the 3 bolts.

Clamps are made from 2 1/4 inch Delrin round stock. The clamp and spacer are one piece which pinch the flange when the flat head mounting screws are tightened up from on top.

The aluminum struts are a different farkle.

Just a thought.

Brodie

 

[FJRBluesman]

Uh oh... junk in the trunk!

Looks fine, and huge. If that works, you are good to go! Great job BTW.

 

[Gary F]

I like the looks ok. Vote B.

 

[TheAxeman]

Nice Job. I agree with Brodie though, I would be worried about stressing it to the point of cracking something. I think there have been a few threads in the past about just that type of situation. If I recall correctly, IGGY had some cracking when he had a Pelican Case mounted on the back of his bike. I would probably keep the beer transport down to only one case instead of two and maybe put the ice in the sidebags until you get to your destination.

 

[stealth1]

Trunk has nice simple lines.

Good aesthetics.

Just paint the bike to match the trunk.

 

[MotownJJG]

"C. Hey, the Black Pearl blends with all the black parts around the back..go with it...."

+1

Nicely done!

 

[mmonroe]

Well my thoughts dont really count. I pretty much dislike the center-mounted top-boxes on anything - be it an FJR, KTM, etc. Honestly, when you get to that point, it is time for a Goldwing or time to truly evaluate what is needed on trips.

I hate the looks plus there is the weight of stuff mounted that high on the bike. For me, going on a trip is as much about "riding the motorcycle" as it is the destination. As such, I want the bike to peform and not lumber along with massive amount of crap loaded high of center. When I need extra room, I will strap a Moto-fizz on for those times where occasion extra room is needed and use that bag on all of my bikes.

Where, there.. I said it..

 

[Harald]

Nice Job. I agree with Brodie though, I would be worried about stressing it to the point of cracking something. I think there have been a few threads in the past about just that type of situation. If I recall correctly, IGGY had some cracking when he had a Pelican Case mounted on the back of his bike. I would probably keep the beer transport down to only one case instead of two and maybe put the ice in the sidebags until you get to your destination.

If I remember correctly, the problem in Iggy's case was that he had removed part of the factory grab rail which weakened the mounting.

But no matter what, there's going to be extra stress when you have a lot of weight cantilevered off the back. You can minimize this by using some hard rubber spacers glued to the bottom of your rack so that they contact the factory rack as far back as possible. This will minimize bouncing and take some stress off the 3 mounting bolts. Check my custom trunk mount post for a picture: Custom factory trunk mount

Otherwise, I like the install. Matching paint might be nice. Quick removal would also be nice, but greatly increase the amount of engineering involved. But like others, I'm big on function over form.

 

[Hamie]

Thanks for all the replies.... I only carry a couple of little things in there... I just like to have a place to store my helmet, gloves, etc. when I stop. If I need more storage than side bags can handle I'll just tie a solf bag on the passenger seat.. Think I am going to just leave it be for awhile...maybe later I will send it to Garauld for painting....

Hamie

 

[mdisher]

Too Ghetto for me, but I'll give it a B, if you paint it, it might look OK.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Looks like it'll hold alot of beer :drinks: :cigar:

 

[ROBSMST]

I think it works!

See my review of the identical competitors product - pics too

Visit My Website

 

[L2M]

A , I am sorry but I have yet to see a trunk on an FJR that doesn't look like an added after thought .The lines on the bike are so sweet , and then there is the trunk... But if your happy with it , that's all that matters .

I'll second this. But then it really shouldn't matter what I think. I'm one of the crazy few who would find a way to tour on an R1 if I could just figure out a way to add a few more gallons of fuel.

 

[Tbird]

A little big for the bike...but looks better than the Yamaha case IMHO.

I'm a NO-TRUNK kind of guy. I bought a tail plate and attached helmet

locks to it. When needed I strap a bag to it. Otherwise it sits empty and

without the weight. This set up allows me options and flexibility that a

ass trunk doesn't.

Another plus...I don't have a big-ass box sitting on the rear end of the

bike which looks like it doesn't belong on it.

In your case...paint it and ride it...it's your bike and should be how you wish it to be!

Choice B