Hard luggage Rack building on a budget
 

Yamaha Ténéré 89.

Hi folks,

I'm planning on building my own hard luggage rack. I have a second hand rack from a Super Ténéré for the loops and fancy using second hand Army Ammo box's. I don't want to go over the top but the system needs to survive a drop.

My questions are:

Positioning; should the tops of the boxes be inline with the top of the seat ? or lower how far back should they be ? or say inline with the passage foot pegs ?

The rack will be fitted mid chassis and with a cross brace, is 2 fittings to the upper chassis suffice? not to the seat fixing but the standard Ténéré rear rack fixings.

Lastly the Ammo box's are cheap and strong ! but I've been told they weigh in at 10 kgs each ...... I plan on then filling them with spares and camping gear - what's a reasonable "max" weight I should work too.

I've decided on metal over material for security reasons, for now the trips will be mainly Europe / Turkey / Egypt so no RTW just yet .....

I'm already using a (medical) military box as a top box, 100 % waterproof and almost indestructible. A little heavy but hey who else has a decompression switch on there top box ;-)
Your comments welcome..

Many thanks Matt

Hi there,

God, your bike is going to be heavy! 10 kg for each box is a waiste of loading weight. Try to travel light! I drove through australia on a XTZ 660 (2000) and had twoalu panniers fixed to a steel frame. Even managed to sqeeze a small toobox in the pannier frame. It worked well but including my tent and my girl friend everything became all pretty heavy.(15 kg for the panniers each, and 10 for the tent and camping gear).Too heavy! It can be done though, It will limit your moving ability.(more like driving a Honda Goldwing. Now I'm travelling light. Just a 45 ltr. backpack put in a strong waterproof ortlieb back and strapped down to the back of my seat. It works perfect. I gave up on bringing many spare. These bikes are very good and won't have any troubles (engine wise). Just change a few parts which are worn down like trottle and clutch cables.
The only things I always take with me are:
-clutch and brake levers.
- innertubes and tire levers (will fit under the seat)
-a bit of electr.wire and iron wire
-spare bulbs
-fuel filter

Alle the rest can be repaired down the road or can't be repaired at all.

Is you stick to your boxes try to make te point of gravity as low as possible. Also make sure the boxes aren't to close to your legs. In case you have to put you feet onto the ground for e.g. paddling trough deep sand. It will easy to get your feet stuck between the groundsurfuce and the corner/bottom of the box. People have hurt themselves this way. I hope you understand my explanation...:-)

Use only your bike frame to attach your pannier frame to. Also the footrests are a good attaching point.

about: 'surving a drop". Don't make them to strong. If you crash, drop the bike, It's the panniers and its pannier frame you want to bend, not your bike frame!
Anyway,

take care and take the solution that gives you the most confidence.

greetings,

Roland

Hi there,

God, your bike is going to be heavy! 10 kg for each box is a waiste of loading weight. Try to travel light! I drove through Australia on a XTZ 660 (2000) and had two alu panniers fixed to a steel frame. Even managed to sqeeze a small tool box in the pannier frame. It worked well but including my tent and my girlfriend everything became all pretty heavy.(15 kg for the panniers each, and 10 for the tent and camping gear). Thank god my girlfriend was light ;-). Too heavy anyway! It can be done though, but it will limit your moving ability.(more like driving a Honda Goldwing). Now I'm travelling light. Just a 45 ltr. bagpack put in a strong waterproof ortlieb bag and strapped down to the back of my seat. It works perfect. I gave up on bringing many spares. These bikes are very good and won't have any troubles (engine wise). Just change a few parts which are worn down like trottle and clutch cables before you leave.
The only things I always take with me are:
-clutch and brake levers.
- innertubes and tire levers (will fit under the seat)
-a bit of electr.wire and iron wire
-spare bulbs
-fuel filter
-basic tools.

Alle the rest that will brake down can be repaired down the road or can't be repaired at all.

Is you stick to your boxes try to make te point of gravity as low as possible. Also make sure the boxes aren't to close to your legs. In case you have to put you feet onto the ground for e.g. paddling trough deep sand. It's easy to get your feet stuck between the ground and the corner/bottom of the box. People have hurt themselves this way. I hope you understand my explanation...:-)

Use only your bike frame to attach your pannier frame to. Also the footrests are a good attaching point.

about: 'surviving a drop". Don't make them to strong. If you crash or drop the bike, it's the panniers and its pannier frame you want to bend, not your bike frame!

The good thing about panniers is, you can use them as a chair, table, bike jack/support when changing tire etc.

Anyway,

take care and take the solution that gives you the most confidence.

greetings,

Roland

I like to have the panniers level, so I can use them as a table for breakfast, cooking, etc. when camping. Requires main stand.