DIY trunk and hard bags

[biker_guy]

flatblack850L does your right case get very hot at all on the inside or the outside? It looks like it's right over the end of the exhaust. I have a kerker exhaust though so it kinda points up. Anybody with kerker exhaust have bags? Do they get cooked?

[Roostabunny]

Please, no more compliments! My head will explode!

Hey where's you attach the top brackets in the rear? Is that the old turn signal location? And the rear bracket - that's into the plate holder? I'm seriously considering...

[flatblack850L]

Gee, I never even thought of that. I've gone on a few trips and not really noticed anything. I don't really go on big trips right now as I am starting a family and so forth, just day trips, but I haven't noticed any problems yet, if I go for a burn soon I,ll check it out. I'm unemployed right now so I am trying to save money by not burning unnecessary gas and so forth, but if I go out I'll check. I've got a V&H 4 into 1, I just went outside to measure it and the outlet is 2,7/8" from the bottom of my box, and only slightly inclined up. I think I would only have a problem in traffic, realistically.

Just in case any of you were curious, the boxes I have are 7,1/2" wide, 17,3/8" long and 14,1/4" tall. I didn't weigh them, they are steel, not too heavy but I had to set the rear shocks to "3" to keep the back from bouncing. My bike is cheap and utilitarian, now with fuel costs I go to the store with it if I can, went to walmart this morning and picked up a couple window fans, they didn't fit in the boxes, but I tied em on top and went home.

Have a good night guys
J

[flatblack850L]

yeah, the old turn signal spots are where the rear bolts go and the shocks are where the front of the brackets go on. The tricky part is getting the brackets the same.

As for the rear brace, the top of the triangle. It goes into the fender under the license plate. The reason it is "triangulated"? is because I was having problems with the boxes twisting on the frame. I added the triangle bars on the rear and made sure I had 2 bolts on either side spaced out on the bottom bar to help, now they are not too bad, they flex a little but they seem solid on the road.

Hope that helps,
Later

[J_C]

I was curious so I did a google search. Here's an idea of some other box sizes: http://www.imsplus.com/ims3.html

[Planecrazy]

If the bottom of your boxes "cook" it's easy enough to fab up a heat shield for the bottom that will deflect the majority of heat away from the box. This would be especially important if you made the boxes removable - wouldn't want to get burned!

Regards,

[buster]

You know if you wanted to make your boxe's lock you could put a u-bolt in place to hang a lock through. It looks like the slots in the snap downs are wide enough to fit a stainless u-bult in the middle one.

[Roostabunny]

You know if you wanted to make your boxe's lock you could put a u-bolt in place to hang a lock through. It looks like the slots in the snap downs are wide enough to fit a stainless u-bult in the middle one.

I was thinking along the same lines. Course, that whole lid lifts off, so you'd need 4 locks total. Then again, if the lid will swing up with one side still latched, you could probably install a u-bolt from the outside on one end (nut inside the box) and just put a lock on the other side.

I've found those boxes (the big 17.5" long ones) in various condition online for about $25, but the shipping kills you. Hopefully one of the local surplus stores has them reasonable.

[Zook]

On my old Concours I fabbed up and ceramic coated an aluminum plate that bolted on the factory rack mount points using the OEM bolts. I then took a Doskocil pistol case and bolted it to the plate. Put 2 red reflectors on it and used a padlock-the kind with the long U bar and used that for the box lock. The plate had holes and slots for bungee cords or straps to lash items onto the top of the box.
I ran that for 5 years all over the country, from VA to Montana and Idaho and never had a lick of problems.
I thought about changing to a larger, aluminum locking case but ended up selling the bike.
A friend did the same thing, also. His worked just as well. And they almost matched the factory hard bags.

[Roostabunny]

Hey guys check this out...

This guy has the most comprehensive set of links, pics, and instruction I've found ANYWHERE. Great info on DIY-ing all kinds of bags and boxes as cycle luggage.

Oh, and thanks, Zook - it was a google search for Doscocil that turned him up.

[Gimpdiggity]

Sorry to bring this back up from the dead, but this thread has got some good ideas for luggage in it.

I like those ammo cases a LOT. They're industrial and brutal looking. Perfect for an older bike!!!

[GQROD]

Royal Enfield motorcycles has on their military version of what looks like just a basket where a metal box sits, can't see how it is held down or wether it locks or not but it is simpler than welding or going the pannier way.

I'm in the middle of fabbing up mounts for ammo boxes for hard bags, the difference with mine is that i can mount different sizes boxes quickly for different riding conditions without drilling holes into the boxes to put bolts through them, it gives me more flexibility and was a cheap and durable solution.

The pressure bolt on the samsonite is an easy secure way of holding things down better than fabbing up something complicated and looks great.