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**Island Hopper** · #1 18 Dec 2014

A piece of drywall to shield the plastics from sparks

Back bracket welded in place
left side rack

Started on the left side, had to extend it farther out to clear the muffler and sidepanel

Rear mounting point

Welded and in place, I decided to put an additional triangle brace to the frame hoop for extra strength..

Added the same brace to the right side as well...

fabricated parts painted..

painted racks in place

The mounting plates fit perfect on my home made racks

Back end view

**yokesman** · #2 22 Dec 2014

My idea of an ideal rack is that no one section would cause the deformation of another or the subframe,so using flat strap mounted vertically of enough length to allow some horizonal flex and easily straightened if need be. no part stronger or more ridgid than the subframe. so firmly tying them together side to side would not follow those guidelines . I would rather repair the bag frame than the bike frame.my .01,.02 would just be inflation.

**Island Hopper** · #3 23 Dec 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokesman

My idea of an ideal rack is that no one section would cause the deformation of another or the subframe,so using flat strap mounted vertically of enough length to allow some horizonal flex and easily straightened if need be. no part stronger or more rigid than the subframe. so firmly tying them together side to side would not follow those guidelines . I would rather repair the bag frame than the bike frame.my .01,.02 would just be inflation.

Not using the cross brace at the back of the panniers to tie them together will put more stress on the subframe, not less... This brace allows one side to support the other instead of having it torque and twist inward on the frame mounting points... When you ride over very rough ground without the brace the twisting action from the weighted frames work the bolt mounting points and may eventually cause them to snap... Also a strongly built system will actually make the entire sub frame area more rigid and less likely to bend in a crash.. The toughest frames available for my bike are the ones made by H.B. , I had them on the previous bike and they made the whole back end very strong... The only beef I had with the design is that they hung out too far and with the bags in place made the bike ridiculously wide, the ideal setup is to have the width of the tail load no wider than the handle bars...

**Mezo** · #4 23 Dec 2014

I like this rack built by Ron Seida (soft luggage with removable Pelican) quite a nifty idea, so i bookmarked this years ago.

Mezo.

**oldbmw** · #5 23 Dec 2014

Having recently bought a Triumph Thunderbird (2003 triple) I will soon be making a set of luggage racks for it. Gone mad and decided to use 12mm marine grade (en316) stainless steel bars. Hope to be complete before the end of March 2015 ready for the touring season.

**Pickyree** · #6 14 Jun 2015

I am just about to purchase some mild steel tube so I can make myself a luggage rack. I've done some searching but can't find a definitive answer...

What is the most appropriate thickness of round tube to use, as in wall thickness and outside diameter? Some posts have suggested 1mm wall thickness and some 2mm? What thickness are manufactured racks usually?

I know it will be a trade off between weight and strength but what's my best bet? I read one post that suggested 1mm wall thickness would get a bit thin on the outside of a curve due to the stretch.

My plan is to use a plumbers spring inside the tube and bend it using oxy acetaline. Will this be ok? I haven't got a pipe bender....

**Gearless** · #7 25 Jun 2015

i would recommend 2mm, personaly i think 1mm is too thin!
several months ago i made racks for my C B500x, i used 2.2mm, to bend it i modified my normal pipe bender.