F800GS / F650GS MOD Skid Plate Tool Box -new version

Hey riders,

A long time ago (2009) we had a tool box that mounted to our skid plates. They were only semi-popular and ended up going the way of the Dodo because of wildly escalating costs and the need to keep up on more popular parts.

However it seems that it may have been a little ahead of it's time 'cause now we are getting a lot of requests for the new version for a while now.

The one on my bike is coming up on three years old now. I love it and I'd be hard pressed to do without it.


A bunch of tool/tire stuff is in there and it's always there when I need it. Simple


When we first designed it back in '09 and the original version of our skid plate we made sure it was set high enough to stay out of the way of obstacles of course. It was not 100% waterproof though. Water could sneak in around the door (even with the gasket) in sustained puddle stomping and deep water crossings. The hardware area is sealed. Pretty good but not 100%. The other problem is condensation when it is sealed this well.

Mine has seen many thousands of km's of all types of riding with no issues. It has been crashed a few (many?) times including 80kph on a gravel road into a ditch (front pinch flat) and got some good gouges on the door. No problems!

It sold for $120 CAD with the regular coin lock shown above and extra $10 for a key locking version. Most people just stuck with the coin lock and like I said the price for manufacturing was going to go up considerably.

With the new version we wanted to keep the price in check so we're looking at riveting it together. Not the backyard shop riveting though, precision manufactured riveting so there won't be any sizable gaps (if any). This should enable us to keep it below $100.00 CAD. Dimensions are roughly 290mm (11.4") x 125mm (4.9") x 70mm (2.75"), very close to what's above and all the corners would be square instead of the front double bend ones you see above.

So here are the questions:

-you like/no like?
-are you OK with it being riveted?
-are you OK with the coin operated lock shown above or would you spring for the key lock for an extra $10.00?
-are you OK with it not being 100% waterproof?
-black or silver (naked)

BTW this will pretty much fit any skid plate with a flat front that has enough clearance to the frt. wheel. (so not for the pointed BMW/TT one. We have also had people mount it other places and on other bikes.

Thanks very much for the feedback!

Dave

I think I'd go for the $10 lock add on. How about the skid plate and tool box in one? In terms of waterproofness I guess just keep the tools in plastic.

I like the idea of it. I've been on of the ones asking, so I guess that was obvious... Not a huge fan of how it looks, but functionality far outweighs appearance in my book anyway. That being said, out of similar products, this one looks best.

Not ok with it being riveted. Well, to be honest I'd have to see it to make a judgement, but I prefer it the way it is.

I'd rather have my stuff more secure, but I'd probably stick with the coin lock just because I'd be afraid that dirt and mud would eventually make it so I couldn't work the key lock. I'd hate to have the tools, but not be able to get to them when I need to!

Waterproofness... This is one of the features that attracted me to the product in the first place. I had looked at the similar offering from TT, and said no because I'd heard multiple statements about how it wasn't waterproof, and was basically just a rust box for tools. I think my interest would wane if it weren't waterproof...

Black if the skid plate is black. Since I plan on going with your skid plate, black please!

Oh and you didn't ask, but not a fan of ditching the double bend corners. That looks so good! Otherwise it's just a straight rectangular box bolted up there... In my mind's eye it doesn't look nearly as good.


I guess I just really like the original, and don't really want it to change. Unfortunately, it sounds like the reasons for stopping production of the original were legitimate. I'll be sorry if it comes back changed enough that I'm not interested though.

I would pretty much second most of what Dendrophobe said. Waterproof would be key for me. I'm less excited about the rivet idea but it may look better than I expect. I want to mount one or even two up inside my right rear rack where I currently have two tool tubes so lock ability would be nice. The rounder edges are nice also.

So here are the questions:

-you like/no like?
-are you OK with it being riveted?
-are you OK with the coin operated lock shown above or would you spring for the key lock for an extra $10.00?
-are you OK with it not being 100% waterproof?
-black or silver (naked)

I'm . . . not crazy about the looks of any box there, but it's a tantalizing bit of available space.

Riveted construction could be just fine if done well.

As an earlier poster said, I wouldn't want a keyed lock down there, it's sure to get full of dirt. As a selling point though, it might be wise to offer the option. Maybe you could source a rubber flip-top cover for the lock to keep it clean?

I wouldn't personally believe you if you did say it were 100% waterproof, not in that location with that gaping door on one end. That's not a criticism of your design or your honesty, it's just my view of the reality of placing something right behind the front wheel. It is going to leak eventually. A PVC pipe with a cap on one end and an expansion plug in the other would be waterproof, but I'd never expect a sheet metal box at the $100 price point to stay leak-proof for very long. If it had a machined top with an o-ring maybe . . . but I think for what it is it's just unrealistic to expect complete waterproofness.

Black's good, if you used a matte powdercoat it'd look a lot like the black plastic bits common to the various color schemes. Offering it in raw aluminum would be a way to cut the price & it'd match a lot of bash plates.

Good luck with it!

Black and no lock would work for me. Waterproof... good if you can do it.

Actually I'll be sorry if it's changed enough that you don't like it!

That's not the most flattering close up pic there I'll have to see what else I have. It blends in a little more in real life. The perfect place for the heavy stuff too.

Thanks for all the feedback so far everybody!

Some answers:
A little surprising perhaps and I understand the trepidation but the locks have absolutely no problem. I did a rough total of the mileage on mine and it's about 50,000kms on two different bikes. It's been in every condition including snow, rain (lot's of that here in the North Wet ) dust, sand, mud and deep water. Not once have I done anything to it and it's never given a moment of angst. None of the other have reported any problems either. I wish I could find the rubber cover ones though... ('course I'd probably rip it off somewhere)

With the current one there has never been more than a small bit of water inside. Certainly not enough to soak anything. There is a thick gasket behind the door and actually mine has the thinner gasket that got replaced with a thicker one in production. So waterproof is duly noted so far. I was also thinkin of the putting the tools in a waterproof roll bag and throw a silca gel pack in with them.

That's not the most flattering close up pic there I'll have to see what else I have.

I'd love to the skid plate and tool box all-in-one and I have thought about it...

I fear the double bend corners won't make the cut.

Dave

The appeal of the all in one is that the lines could be cleaned up and that I'm needing a skid plate!

GB:

I don't think the oil cooler needs any real air flow it is running coolant on one side and oil on the other side.

Based on the burne-out-stator thread though, there may be some advantage in having a good flow of air past the right side cover....

just my $0.01 worth

Thanks! Yes that is one of the options we are considering if we go to riveting.

There are the slots in the front which you can just barely make out in the second pic above. The Tool Box was purposefully designed to sit just above them.

Pic without tool box:


and an old pic with it mounted:


Dave

Dave,

I was hounding you for one as well... Glad to see you are reviving this important project. Maybe some pics of a proto (w rivets) painted black would help us better understand.

I really want one of the original design, as it appears to fit the lines.
Water proofness is a high concern. I guess we could put tools into a waterproof bag...

Looking forward to your offerings.!

Looks pretty cool - I'm betting if you made them for the KLR (gasp!) you would only sell several thousand or so....the ones on the market now are $75-100+ and plain jane.

I personally like the look of the old one and am another one of the people hounding you to make more!

I think I would pay a little extra for the look/construction of the original and could live with the mostly waterproof-ness. I like the rounded edges, would prefer welded construction and could go either way on the lock.

I just mounded my MOD skidplate today and it is lonely for a tool-box.

Thanks!! I hope you like it!!

Firstly...Happy Holidays everyone!!

and thanks for the feedback...

By popular demand, and well it looks like there's gonna be a huge revolt if we don't weld it!

I think we've found a way to keep it welded!

Don't know about the double bend corners yet though

I see most if not all the other tool boxes are running a lock and I know most people would rather have the security, so even though I've never had (and we've never had any customers report) a lock failure with our locks I'm going to do some of my own more severe testing with the lock.

More to come...

Dave

G'Day Dave,

By way of support and feedback we are now on our second 4 week sojourn in New Zealand on every dirt back road we can find and the two original boxes are the ducks nuts, they bin everywhere man and then some, bashed scraped and run through rivers umpteen times and never a problem. They are even standing up to being blasted by rocks from the front tyre quite well with no major damage and just a bit of paint chipping, even though we have extended front fenders.

The only complaint, well definitely not a complaint more accurately an observation, is that fitting a rolled up tool roll requires careful packing of the roll to make it small enough - we pack a lot of tools when we are travelling in another country and almost always a long way from help so try to be completely self sufficient, and also the lock is really pretty fragile sand I treat it with kid gloves, its never failed but I am going to see if I can engineer a bullet proof lock before Africa next year, but I would not have it without the lock, VIP for the long term traveller.

Your on a winner mate, but IME that doesn't always mean that the punters will pay for it. :eek1

G'Day Mike!

Thanks very much for the long-term report and the useful feedback!! I looked it up and you got the V2 skid plates and the tool boxes back in April 2010.

You mentioned the lock has been fragile in sand but never failed, so do you mean it's been sticky sometimes or has it been difficult to get the key in? You can remove the latch from the inside, push out the lock mechanism and clean it up too.

We've had some requests from riders that would like to mount the tool box inside their rear racks on the right side. We did have this done by a customer before and we also had mad a proto "universal" mount for that reason. The universal mount was OK but I wasn't that happy with it. Might be something we'll have to pursue again??

Dave

It can be similar to this:

http://twalcomusa.com/ttr-raidbox-r1200gs-adv.html

Yes thanks I've looked at all those.

They are very specific in what they do and some are so specific they'll only fit the BMW side racks.

Ours is of course designed to fit with our skid plate (and may fit others) primarily and then may be used to mount as shown above. The universal bracket we had before therefore used the skid plate mounting holes. If one were to drill a hole(s) on top or the end then it could mount more like these. Then there are extra holes...not that big a deal I suppose.

Mike and everybody I've found some full rubber covers for the locks!

Stay tuned...

Dave

G'Day Dave,

My concerns with the key lock have been the key hole getting crap in it and the key being hard to get in, the metal tab that locks rotates inside and effects the locking has also come loose although that could be fixed with a bit of locktite. My biggest concern has been that the with the tab adjusted to hold the door tightly closed the force retired on the key is enough for me to be concerned about breaking the key, so I tend to handle it with kid gloves.

The best fix I reckon would due to do away with the key and use a special shaped solid key, it's not the security of a uniqi=ue key that's the issue, just the ability to stop an opportunistic thief who wants to poke around.

It would also be much stronger than a fragile ordinary key.

Hope that helps. The boxes have given us really good service, I am astonished that you have not been over run with orders as they are without doubt a good concept.