Modded B+B rear rack plate
Issue:
Flimsy and small factory rear rack made from some thin plastic material and only anchored with 2 forward-bolts, 95% of the rack hanging unsupported into fresh air.
No support, no brace...and a flimsy plastic rack of ~2mm thickness.
There are three vacant, fat 10mm mounting holes in the factory plate.... an invite to bolt on something inappropriate with "massive bolts"...and all that. An invite, B+B just couldn't pass up.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly admire the B+B stuff!!
But ONLY!! for it's manufactured quality. More often than not, their basic engineering ideas of how and particularly WHERE to attach their goodies to any given bike is just plainly ridiculous.
I've seen their bashplates bolted to a massive bracket, which in return was bolted to 2 tiny 6mm cylinder head studs on the V-Strom650 !!
Their TR-top-rack is the same...the beautifully -made, totally over-specced plate is bolted with 3 massive M10 countersunks to the flimsy plastic factory item, which in return sits in fresh air.
The weight of the 5mm thick alum plate alone will break the flimsy substructure sooner or later, doooh!
Things are not a good match and it's obvious why the previous owner of the B+B stuck to the Motech side-racks, but sold me the B+B plate without any comments...but at a bargain price!
We've got things to fix....
The neatly bent outer edges are hitting the OEM-rack
Marking out....blue dots for new and extra holes, red markings for 3 possible lines-of-cut to create 2 "tongues" to be bent with a hole in each, mounting on top of the Quicklock pannier crossbrace.
After it was all said and done, a new set of 3 holes 2" further back (bringing the whole plate 2" further forward towards the seat and the 2 solid mounts), bolts were sourced at an industrial supply in the suburbs and the front mods/ cuts produced two solid mounting points. The curved-over sides were straighted a bit to create clearance to the OEM-rack, the resulting 2 front "wings" bent downwards to comply with the shape of the OEM rack and still have area for luggage to sit on, as well as keeping the slots along the edges for tiedown-straps etc.
Now the plate has 2 solid mounts at the front, bolting into the bike's subframe...I'll still use the 3 bolts through the OEM-plastic....and there's provision to attach 2 mounting arms facing forward to the 2 other OEM-rack mounts, if needed.
Some 1.6mm (1/16th) EPDM rubber sheeting to prevent noise through vibration...and possible chafing against the plastic OEM rack.
Plenty of clearance of the bent-edge now
Flush mount on top of the SWM cross-brace, using 10mm (3/8th) longer bolts.
Very neat job by Cobra Powdercoating in Bayswater/ Melbourne Eastern Suburbs.
Down-turned front "wing" to principally follow the angle of the seat to still retain a half-decent pillion perch without the top-plate "biting" into the bum.
Still easy access to the Quicklock bolts to attach/ remove the side-racks in seconds.
If it turns out that even more stabilty is needed, the 2 "front-wings" are already slotted and the front 2 OEM-rack mounts within 4" reach ...a couple of narrow, strip-style brackets bent to suit are quickly made and bolted on.
Issue:
Flimsy and small factory rear rack made from some thin plastic material and only anchored with 2 forward-bolts, 95% of the rack hanging unsupported into fresh air.
No support, no brace...and a flimsy plastic rack of ~2mm thickness.
There are three vacant, fat 10mm mounting holes in the factory plate.... an invite to bolt on something inappropriate with "massive bolts"...and all that. An invite, B+B just couldn't pass up.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly admire the B+B stuff!!
But ONLY!! for it's manufactured quality. More often than not, their basic engineering ideas of how and particularly WHERE to attach their goodies to any given bike is just plainly ridiculous.
I've seen their bashplates bolted to a massive bracket, which in return was bolted to 2 tiny 6mm cylinder head studs on the V-Strom650 !!
Their TR-top-rack is the same...the beautifully -made, totally over-specced plate is bolted with 3 massive M10 countersunks to the flimsy plastic factory item, which in return sits in fresh air.
The weight of the 5mm thick alum plate alone will break the flimsy substructure sooner or later, doooh!
Things are not a good match and it's obvious why the previous owner of the B+B stuck to the Motech side-racks, but sold me the B+B plate without any comments...but at a bargain price!
We've got things to fix....
The neatly bent outer edges are hitting the OEM-rack
Marking out....blue dots for new and extra holes, red markings for 3 possible lines-of-cut to create 2 "tongues" to be bent with a hole in each, mounting on top of the Quicklock pannier crossbrace.
After it was all said and done, a new set of 3 holes 2" further back (bringing the whole plate 2" further forward towards the seat and the 2 solid mounts), bolts were sourced at an industrial supply in the suburbs and the front mods/ cuts produced two solid mounting points. The curved-over sides were straighted a bit to create clearance to the OEM-rack, the resulting 2 front "wings" bent downwards to comply with the shape of the OEM rack and still have area for luggage to sit on, as well as keeping the slots along the edges for tiedown-straps etc.
Now the plate has 2 solid mounts at the front, bolting into the bike's subframe...I'll still use the 3 bolts through the OEM-plastic....and there's provision to attach 2 mounting arms facing forward to the 2 other OEM-rack mounts, if needed.
Some 1.6mm (1/16th) EPDM rubber sheeting to prevent noise through vibration...and possible chafing against the plastic OEM rack.
Plenty of clearance of the bent-edge now
Flush mount on top of the SWM cross-brace, using 10mm (3/8th) longer bolts.
Very neat job by Cobra Powdercoating in Bayswater/ Melbourne Eastern Suburbs.
Down-turned front "wing" to principally follow the angle of the seat to still retain a half-decent pillion perch without the top-plate "biting" into the bum.
Still easy access to the Quicklock bolts to attach/ remove the side-racks in seconds.
If it turns out that even more stabilty is needed, the 2 "front-wings" are already slotted and the front 2 OEM-rack mounts within 4" reach ...a couple of narrow, strip-style brackets bent to suit are quickly made and bolted on.