my cheap and cheerful luggage setup
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:02 am
I've just finished the first test ride of my new prototype luggage system and so far the results are positive.
A view from the rear as well:
The system uses my current luggage rack which the previous owner built and the cargo box that comes with it. To this, i added two swiss army surplus backpacks that i attached to the bike with a combination of the back straps they come with, some hardware store bits and polypropylene straps that i sewed and riveted together myself.
If my bike still had the stock exhaust system, the whole thing would have been a lot easier. In that case i could possibly have just attached the two bags to each other with their back straps and hung them over the saddle as a pair of saddle bags. As the end of the exhaust sits fairly high on the right side of my bike, that wasn't an option and i had to mount the right side bag onto the side of the existing luggage box so it wouldn't touch the exhaust.
The bags have 4 convenient loops on the corners for attaching the back straps and i used these to mount them to the bike.
The bag on the right mounts onto the luggage rack with the bottom loops and i fashioned a set of belts that go across the luggage box and attach to the other side of the rack. These to pull the bag tight onto the luggage box. A downside to this is that i can't access the luggage box while the bag is attached.
For the bag on the left, i was able to pull the back straps it came with across the saddle. One of them mounts to the cargo attachment loop on the passenger footpeg and the other attaches to the rear of the cargo rack. I used one of its bottom loops to attach it to the passenger footpeg loop on the other side so it won't move around when cornering.
The system passed the first 80 km of testing just fine. I know i need to keep an eye on all the various bits of loose straps, but generally, there shouldn't be anything that can get stuck in the chain or anywhere else. Still, i've yet to do any tests with the system fully loaded over long distances, so we'll see how it goes. I designed the whole thing so i can still take a passenger, but i've no idea how the rear shock would deal with all the weight.
I estimate the total cost of the whole thing to be around 30-40 euros so definitely a cheap and cheerful option.
I'm going to add a few pictures for those interested in the specific mounts:
This is a view of the right side to show how the right side bag mounts above the exhaust:
Right side bag, bottom left mount to the luggage rack:
Right side bag, bottom right mount to the cargo loop on the bike:
Right side bag, view of top attachments over cargo box:
Right side bag, attachments over cargo box onto cargo rack on the left side of the bike:
Left side bag, top view of straps going across saddle:
Left side bag, attachment of front strap across saddle onto cargo loop on bike:
Left side bag, view of the loop attachment of the rearward strap that goes across the saddle to the cargo rack:
Left side bag, stabilisation strap onto left side passenger footpeg loop:
A view from the rear as well:
The system uses my current luggage rack which the previous owner built and the cargo box that comes with it. To this, i added two swiss army surplus backpacks that i attached to the bike with a combination of the back straps they come with, some hardware store bits and polypropylene straps that i sewed and riveted together myself.
If my bike still had the stock exhaust system, the whole thing would have been a lot easier. In that case i could possibly have just attached the two bags to each other with their back straps and hung them over the saddle as a pair of saddle bags. As the end of the exhaust sits fairly high on the right side of my bike, that wasn't an option and i had to mount the right side bag onto the side of the existing luggage box so it wouldn't touch the exhaust.
The bags have 4 convenient loops on the corners for attaching the back straps and i used these to mount them to the bike.
The bag on the right mounts onto the luggage rack with the bottom loops and i fashioned a set of belts that go across the luggage box and attach to the other side of the rack. These to pull the bag tight onto the luggage box. A downside to this is that i can't access the luggage box while the bag is attached.
For the bag on the left, i was able to pull the back straps it came with across the saddle. One of them mounts to the cargo attachment loop on the passenger footpeg and the other attaches to the rear of the cargo rack. I used one of its bottom loops to attach it to the passenger footpeg loop on the other side so it won't move around when cornering.
The system passed the first 80 km of testing just fine. I know i need to keep an eye on all the various bits of loose straps, but generally, there shouldn't be anything that can get stuck in the chain or anywhere else. Still, i've yet to do any tests with the system fully loaded over long distances, so we'll see how it goes. I designed the whole thing so i can still take a passenger, but i've no idea how the rear shock would deal with all the weight.
I estimate the total cost of the whole thing to be around 30-40 euros so definitely a cheap and cheerful option.
I'm going to add a few pictures for those interested in the specific mounts:
This is a view of the right side to show how the right side bag mounts above the exhaust:
Right side bag, bottom left mount to the luggage rack:
Right side bag, bottom right mount to the cargo loop on the bike:
Right side bag, view of top attachments over cargo box:
Right side bag, attachments over cargo box onto cargo rack on the left side of the bike:
Left side bag, top view of straps going across saddle:
Left side bag, attachment of front strap across saddle onto cargo loop on bike:
Left side bag, view of the loop attachment of the rearward strap that goes across the saddle to the cargo rack:
Left side bag, stabilisation strap onto left side passenger footpeg loop: