I'm not quite sure where this post should go but here it goes.
This site was a great source of information, inspiration and advice for us in the planning of our trip. Now I would like to give a little back.
My wife and I recently returned from a two month 6,000+ mile trip around Mexico and Central America. Now that it has passed the road tests (no leaking, rattling, no problems). I feel like I can share the idea here. I will also post a link to the blog of our trip in a week or so when it is finished.
It's a fairly simple and inexpensive mod to do. I spent $12 US on the 3/16" rivets, cable and piano hinges. I picked up the aluminum from a local fabricator's scrap bin.
The entire assembly took me about 2 hours.
It was great having a steady place to put all of our stuff when we were unloading, instead of balancing things on the seat and having stuff fall of the bike into the dirt. Although on this trip we didn't camp I think that it would be even more useful for a camping situation.
The only thing I think I might add to it is some kind of clip to hold the shelf up when you open the lid so it doesn't fly open and hit me in the shin.
Here are some photos of what it looks like. Let me know what you think?
cheers, steve

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The idea is as good as it is simple Pretty useful!

The pros are clear. I'm trying to think up some cons... The wire cords should fold inside the flap to avoid getting hooked up somewhere.

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

I originally had a small chain instead of the cable but it rattled and snagged on cloths when it was open. So far we have had no hang ups or snags with the cable. When you set the rivet you do have to make sure that the twist of the cable puts it to the back of the box rather than the outside.