Tube or Solid

[gcraig]

I have a 83 GS1100 I have been looking for a sissy/back rest with luggage rack. I have not found any anywhere. So I thinking of making one but; should I make it from solid stock or tube material. I know the solid woud be stronger but harder to work with. Any suggestions.

[Dink]

Use tube, solid is VERY hard to bend and not forgiving, tube is also a lot lighter.
Dink

[wayne cooper]

Backrest

Just a thought. Not sure where you live, but around Southern Ontario the local salvage yards always seem to have a stack of them out back, but modifying one to fit might be a bit of a headache if you don't have access to a welder.If you can find one that can be modified but the chrome is bad your local plating shop can strip it for a reasonable price. If you go this route try to get the loose rust off first as it saves paying them to do it before they strip it. I don't need one but have seen new ones in the local bike shop and they do seem kinda pricey. PS-if you hit the right yard you could end up with several for about ten bucks for the lot.

[Anonymous]

I have a backrest/luggege rack that came with my 1980 GS750L. I don't need it and have been looking to sell it. I have to go out for a while, but I'll post some pictures, and you can see if it's what you would want. The backrest is adjustable, but the frame has some surface rust.

Brian Morel

[gcraig]

bjmorel
Ya post some pic's like to see what it looks like.

I have started to use some of the Drafting class in High School (over twenty years ago) lessons to draw up some plans to make one. I think I have access to a welder and torch to work on it. The only thing is the part that bolts the frame is curved. I thought of leaving it straight but it would not look good. It would not follow the curve in the seat. So I thought about cutting a pattern from wood and heat the tubing and bend it to fit. Like Jesse James has done on one of his shows for his down tube.

[Clone]

I got lucky and got a rack specifically made for my bike (really old and yellow water damaged box) that had sat on the shelf for, ooohhh let's see 22years.
It is made from half inch OD thick walled steel pipe. The bend follows the bottom of the seat from the hand hold up along the seat hind fairing then out and around the back of the bike. There are two quarter inch flat plates on each side the go to the hand hold bolts.
Unless you have a press, bending that pipe would be a real chore and I don't think that it would be forgiving and bend back without breaking.
1/4 inch X 1 inch flat steel is great for making saddlebag hangers and trunk mounts, I think the whole set up added about 5kilos to the bike.