Making a Smuggler?

[richarddacat]

OK, almost finished. Smoothing out the imperfections is taking some time, I gave a thought to painting it with a texture but that would cause too must wind resistance .
Painted and sanded it twice to see and fill the rough spots.


I'm using regular paint so I think I'll get some real primer that has some fillers in it.


The lid worked out good, haven't got the latch just the way I want it and I was thinking of coating the inside with some plastic dip.

Also not sure on the color yet, I've got a blue paint that's pretty close to stock or I may just go with black, flat black if I can't get the surface just right. either way I think it will look good in a picture and at a distance as it sits now.

[smoky]

That's a terrific looking project!

Well done.

[Grinnin]

Your photos don't show anything that needs a primer with fillers. Those reflections are "fair" as they say in the boat shops.

And I like the black. If there IS an undulation somewhere it'll disguise it all the more as a second seat. (You could paint faux quilt stitches on top.)

[Jnich77]

carpet the inside, keeps things from rattling and sliding around.

[richarddacat]

I was thinking again , what if I sprayed the lid with plastic coat? Then I would have a slip resisitance surface to set my helmet, camera, glasses or a bottle of water...
And what if I used that "hammered-look" paint to hide any imperfections....

carpeting inside?

Going to be too nice to be called a litter box

[richarddacat]

Weather has been a little funky but should be warm enough to paint tomorrow.

Looks like I'm going to have less than $150. in my little project, pretty good consider the alternative Smuggler from Corbin.

[Grinnin]

Originally Posted by richarddacat

Looks like I'm going to have less than $150. in my little project, pretty good consider the alternative Smuggler from Corbin.

You mean that you could have spent just a little more to get a professionally-made and cosmetically-flawless one?

And give up the knowledge you've gained during this project? And give up the sense of accomplishment you'll probably have every time you see it? And give up the confidence you probably have to tackle similar or more complex projects?

Regardless of what you saved I think you won by tackling it yourself.

Oops. Rant off. /RANT Stop. OK, what's the command for this?

[1 Wheel Drive]

Originally Posted by Grinnin

You mean that you could have spent just a little more to get a professionally-made and cosmetically-flawless one?

That depends what you consider "a little." A Corbin Smuggler costs $800 plus shipping new, so if you consider $650 as a little, then yeah he could have done that.

And the Smuggler is known to have a relatively small capacity (11.5 liters, not all of which is useable) and also not be watertight. I think Richard's seat-box is what Corbin should have offered all along. I'd buy one. Nice work!

[concours]

Originally Posted by ABHulgan

I don't think you can build a box that's any uglier than your seat. Did that saddle come off an AMF Harley?

I did something similar for my Tiger, but I built an aluminum 'lid' that takes the place of the whole passenger seat, and creates one larger storage area under the seat and where the seat would normally be. I fab'ed brackets so it still attaches and locks like a stock pass. saddle.

That would be a Russell Day Long seat, http://www.day-long.com/ arguably the best in the business. Once past the bar-hopping stage of motorcycle usage, "ugly" is not really concern for a seat. of course, it lacks the blue suede flames sewn into many MoCo and Corbin seats... but hey, there is always a prettier bike parked outside the tavern

[richarddacat]

Done....except maybe for trying different colors, try that with Corbin
The "hammered" doesn't look hammered like it does on the cap but since I had three days to finish out any defects it really didn't matter. Smooth as a baby's ass. Only big flaw I had is on the lid hiding under the Yellowstone sticker.


Also ditched the magnetic latch and went with a simple cabinet latch.


Found out that it will hold 2.5 gallons of water or 6lbs of cat food. Looks like at least a six pack and small bag of ice would also fit nicely.



May paint it blue or black, the blue paint I had that was Galaxy Blue is a colorshift paint which changes colors on different angles, not so sure about that.


BTW, haters are going to hate, life's too short, move on.

[1 Wheel Drive]

Richard,

Have you finished the water seal yet? Just curious.

The only tricky part that I can forsee is at the leading seal edge since you don't have the nice big lip there to deflect the water, since it needs to clear when pivoted.

I love your work. Great job.

[Maggot12]

Nicely done...

I think I'll give this a try myself, but I think I'll insulate to make a cooler out of it.

Thanks for sharing....

[richarddacat]

Originally Posted by 1 Wheel Drive

Richard,

Have you finished the water seal yet? Just curious.

The only tricky part that I can forsee is at the leading seal edge since you don't have the nice big lip there to deflect the water, since it needs to clear when pivoted.

I love your work. Great job.

Thanks.

What I thought I'd do is cover the top of the box with plastic wrap and apply a thick bead of sealer on top of that around the edge and then close the lid. Once it dries it will stay on the lid and provide a seal.
I'm not real concerned with it being waterproof since I can easily put valuables in a plastic bag if I get caught in a monsoon.
The lid was real easy to make an the idea that DSM8 had is still on the burner.

[richarddacat]

Originally Posted by Maggot12

Nicely done...

I think I'll give this a try myself, but I think I'll insulate to make a cooler out of it.

Thanks for sharing....

Do it !

I did have an early thought of removing the rack and extending it over the tail section with a rack option on the lid.

[MotoBoss]

Nice job

I'd like to see a distant shot of the bike to see proportion but looks like a bang up job