Hard luggage

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Red Mist
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by Red Mist »

While all you mugs are busy spending loads of time and money making your bikes go faster and look cool, I've decided to turn my bike into a GT! Simple case of getting a mate to drill a couple off holes into two pieces of bar which were then welded to the underside of my grab handle. The Cherries on the cake were some bungee anchors bought of Ebay.

If I'm not offending you all here, I'm not trying hard enough! (I even took the photo before I washed the bike.)

[img]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/ ... .jpg[/img]

Warning! No science was employed in the construction of this fixture. I would like to make a tider version in due course. The idea is that I can remove the anchors and bolt on some pannier mounts when required. Later still, I may mount the exhaust from there if feasible.

Anyway, now I've got somewhere to strap my tailpack to. Let's tour!
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snapdragon
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by snapdragon »

:nerner:
:lol: definitely not trying hard enough - and your bike is wayyyy cleaner than mine :nod:

having just bought two pairs of second hand panniers, I'm just working on converting one pair as a tank pannier, no idea how successful it'll be, but as I can't see my clocks over the top of a tank bag (and I find them annoying) it may make a useful addition for the rally/touring season
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Miz
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by Miz »

Red Mist wrote:55 years agoWhile all you mugs are busy spending loads of time and money making your bikes go faster and look cool, I've decided to turn my bike into a GT! Simple case of getting a mate to drill a couple off holes into two pieces of bar which were then welded to the underside of my grab handle. The Cherries on the cake were some bungee anchors bought of Ebay.

If I'm not offending you all here, I'm not trying hard enough! (I even took the photo before I washed the bike.)

Image

Warning! No science was employed in the construction of this fixture. I would like to make a tider version in due course. The idea is that I can remove the anchors and bolt on some pannier mounts when required. Later still, I may mount the exhaust from there if feasible.

Anyway, now I've got somewhere to strap my tailpack to. Let's tour!

I'm not offended, here is something I tried with the V-Raptor

Image

Was not too happy, but will probably try it on the Xtra at some point.....

It was fine on the back of the Ducati

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shedmonkey
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by shedmonkey »

Love the Darmah .I lusted after one of those as a boy it lived in the bike shop window mmmmmmmm :revrev:
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shebee
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by shebee »

I too love the Darmah :revrev: , got so close to buying one back in the day but the drop bars made it a bad position for me and then Harleys came into the mix :ride: ... If Jack Lilleys had one with flat bars on the whole of my life might have been diffferent... actually not different but possibly shorter :woot:
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dizzyblonde
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by dizzyblonde »

Miz, I find the trailer set up on your VRap strangely alluring :o

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Miz
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by Miz »

shebee wrote:55 years agoI too love the Darmah :revrev: , got so close to buying one back in the day but the drop bars made it a bad position for me and then Harleys came into the mix :ride: ... If Jack Lilleys had one with flat bars on the whole of my life might have been diffferent... actually not different but possibly shorter :woot:
The SD Darmah was the touring version, it was the SS Darmah that had the drop bars, mine has clip-ons fitted, has been gas-flowed to suit the 40mm carbs (36mm carbs as original), Imola race cams and a blown crank!!! Will get it rebuilt one day..
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Red Mist
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by Red Mist »

Yep, that trailer takes the biscuit and would offend far more Raptor purists than my paltry little bungee bars. Mind you, there arn't that many Raptor purists to offend, we're mostly here anyway, and we all seem to quite like it! :?

There's a bloke lives in these parts who has spent a bit of time restoring a Darmah. He's done a lovely job too. Only thing is that he had to fix a leak in his tank and he doesn't want to paint the tank and bodywork till he knows that the leak is cured. So his Darmah looks like a mucky piece of crud from a distance, but then as you get closer you see the immaculate engine and cycle parts.

Definitely one of the best looking bikes ever made. I thought that the 500 parallel twin was even nicer still.
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by white star »

I didn't figure out what happened to the Reverend's luggage, but if it was stolen then I can recommend Pacsafe to protect soft luggage. They are intended for ruc sacs, but work on panniers too. Basically a big steel mesh bag with a steel cable closed by a padlock. When you close them you end up with a spare loop of steel that you can fix around the bike's frame then take back to the lock that closes the bag.

I don't have pictures of the pacsafe in use on the Raptor, but here's a picture of them in use on soft panniers on my CBR on a recent trip to Denmark (would have liked to take the Raptor, but since I was riding for up to 10 hours a day it just didn't have enough leg room!)

To use them with soft panniers you separate the panniers, put each individual pannier into the pacsafe with the closure on the outside then put the panniers back together. It is essential to use a cover over your side panels as otherwise the steel mesh of the pacsafe will scratch up the panels. Oxford make a sort of foam mesh stuff which is what I use, it has the added advantage of having a rubbery surface so stops stuff sliding about.

I have successfully used soft luggage on my Raptor, both Oxford and Belstaff brands. I did it by carrying the panniers very high up. It would have been impossible for a pillion to sit behind me, but since I was travelling solo it didn't matter. I took a bungee from one side to the other under the seat to stop them lifting.

I also have a baglux cover which can go on the tank and allows me to carry a tank bag, though I prefer not to use it as I find it gets in the way at speed as it stops me leaning into the wind. If I do use a tank bag on the Raptor I leave it empty apart from using the clear top as a map holder.

Probably the most challenging bit of luggage I've strapped to my Raptor is a pair of re-enactment swords carried across the handlebars, one strap on each side to pull them to the bars and a short bungee down to just above the mudguard to hold them down. (I put the swords in a bag, so it wasn't obvious what I was carrying and everybody who commented assumed they were a pool cue!) On the same trip I had a tent, carrimat, dark age re-enactment shield and early medieval steel helmet plus a collapsible wooden stool on top of the panniers, so totally wrecked the pillion carrying potential. Still shows you can turn a Raptor into a pack mule even without hard luggage if you have enough bungees and a bit of determination! (I wish I could find my camera so I could post a picture of the ridiculously loaded up bike.)
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Red Mist
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Re: Hard luggage

Post by Red Mist »

With something like a Raptor, I'm sure that you could actually make a shield, helmet, swords etc into parts of the bike's bodywork without it looking too out of place. That way you could simply unbolt the kit when you arrived, have a quick skirmish, then bolt the stuff back on.

The shield could be a rear seat cowl or belly pan, the helmet could be a nose-cone/fairing, and you could have the swords set up like steering dampers on either side of the headstock.

Just an idea. No thanks required, I'm happy to help. :happyhappy:
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