Dual Sport Luggage Racks

[SloDon]

Originally Posted by jackpiner57

subybaja, sorry about that! I was probably in too much of a hurry when I listed. I went and fixed that. I certainly have nothing against Alaska and hope to ride there some day.

The bottom lugs have been replaced with black nylon spacers. This allows the rack to fit more easily with some of the side racks that are out there, and eventually with side racks that I am currently designing.

I haven't read the cautionary tales yet, but I sure look forward to it. Thanks for the links and the feedback! It's the only way of knowing what people want or don't want. - Tom

Interesting....looking forward to your take on side racks...

Don

[jackpiner57]

Thanks everyone for your patience. Here are some pics of the angled corner style rack on the bike. EDIT 11/29/11 These pictures are of the old design, but the new rack is the same size but made of round tube and has radiused corners. See page 1 for newest pic.



This pic shows how it is flush with the seat. I designed it like this for those who like to take off the luggage for trail riding and don't want the rack hitting them in the lower back if they slide off the back of the bike.

[YAHBO]

That looks like a niece piece of work right there.

[MillCreek]

Now that is one spiffy piece of work. You should be proud.

[jackpiner57]

Thanks guys, I still have 6 of these left.

[jackpiner57]

I finished side mounting the RotopaX fuel pack today. As I had suspected, the DRZ 's aluminum sub frame can't handle the offset weight without lots of sub frame twisting going on. I will not be offering this as a mounting option.


Looks great, but it's a bad idea on the DRZ. It might work on a DR or KLR with their steel sub frames though.





Here is my mounting recommendation. Mounted this way, one of the bags that are designed to fit over a seat should work well.


With this type of bag over the fuel pack.

[zgfiredude]

Thanks for the R&D, good work!

I really like the mount on top and how the center portion of the rack is exactly the right size!

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by zgfiredude

Thanks for the R&D, good work!

I really like the mount on top and how the center portion of the rack is exactly the right size!

Thanks zgfiredude, while I'd like to take credit for that, the center portion being exactly the right size was just a coincidence.

Well I now know that the top mount fuel pack is the only way to go on a DRZ.

[eakins]

nice.
you should make one for the dr650 as you'll sell a ton of those for that price.
maybe go a little wider for the 650. everyone sorely misses the ebay bbq rack for the 650.
i'm lucky i scored one.

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by eakins

nice.
you should make one for the dr650 as you'll sell a ton of those for that price.
maybe go a little wider for the 650. everyone sorely misses the ebay bbq rack for the 650.
i'm lucky i scored one.

eakins, I'm looking for someone in the northeast with a 1996 and newer DR650 that still has the stock rear end. That means an OEM tail lamp, signal lamps, grab handles, seat, etc. I'll make them a new rack for free if they let me use their bike to mount it to. This would only take a few hours. As soon as that happens, I'll have a big BBQ type rack designed for the DR. I won't steal the original makers design, but I'll come up with a good one of my own.

[jackpiner57]

Protoype rack with the mounting plate for RotopaX Pack Mount attachment. As you can see, two bolts go down through the Pack Mount and nuts are welded onto the back side of the plate. It also has rings for bungie attachment. I'll test this over the next few days and if all is well, then I'll make some round corner racks with these features. Suggestions are welcome. Tell me what you want!

EDIT: see page 1 for newest design.

[jamnjim]

Tom, I really like the rack. However; I do have another suggestion based upon my experience with a bungie net on top of my tank bag on my CBR 600. I'm wondering, in rough terrain, if four bungie hooks is enough. On my CBR, when I ride hard in the twisties, aggressively accelerating, decelerating, and leaning from side to side abruptly, the four point attachment for my bungie net-to-tank bag was not enough to keep things under the bungie net under the net and the G forces allowed whatever I had under the net move forward, backward, or to the side between, and sometimes out from under the bungie net hooks. I went to a shoe shop and had them add four more hooks to my tank bag, one between each corner. It works great and keeps everything under the bungie net in place.

How about one more hook between each corner?

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by jamnjim

Tom, I really like the rack. However; I do have another suggestion based upon my experience with a bungie net on top of my tank bag on my CBR 600. I'm wondering, in rough terrain, if four bungie hooks is enough. On my CBR, when I ride hard in the twisties, aggressively accelerating, decelerating, and leaning from side to side abruptly, the four point attachment for my bungie net-to-tank bag was not enough to keep things under the bungie net under the net and the G forces allowed whatever I had under the net move forward, backward, or to the side between, and sometimes out from under the bungie net hooks. I went to a shoe shop and had them add four more hooks to my tank bag, one between each corner. It works great and keeps everything under the bungie net in place.

How about one more hook between each corner?

Jim, good suggestion and I can see the benefit of more loops, but I'm wondering if the mid hooks could just be hooked to the rack itself?

[jamnjim]

I'm sure a bungie net hook could be attached to the rack itself and work fine for many applications. My thought was to place a couple of water/fuel bottles on both sides of the Rotopax gas can(s), lying in the ft-to-rr opening on your rack next to the Rotopax gas can(s). Without an additional hook between the corner hooks, attaching the bungie net hooks directly to the rack will likely interfear with the bottles sitting flat in the opening without rocking back and forth, which could eventually wear a hole in the bottle or cause the bungie net hook to weaken and break.

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by jamnjim

I'm sure a bungie net hook could be attached to the rack itself and work fine for many applications. My thought was to place a couple of water/fuel bottles on both sides of the Rotopax gas can(s), lying in the ft-to-rr opening on your rack next to the Rotopax gas can(s). Without an additional hook between the corner hooks, attaching the bungie net hooks directly to the rack will likely interfear with the bottles sitting flat in the opening without rocking back and forth, which could eventually wear a hole in the bottle or cause the bungie net hook to weaken and break.

Jim, I will happily put some additional mid point loops on your rack for no extra charge. I can even put them on the sides of the rack if that is better for you. I'll PM you for details. - Tom