Making your own luggage rack - Any tips?
 

I've read threads and links before about making your own hard panniers, but nothing on fabricating a rack to hang them off. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for designing and making one.

I've got the idea that mild steel is best to use as it's easy to weld if it gets broken, and round section tube is better than square. I reckon that bolting things together is better than welding, because it's easier to replace a sheared bolt in the wild than weld up a popped join. I've got access to a pipe bender and a drill press so I'm OK there.

So does anyone have any advice they could give me? Number of hard points on the bike you need to fix to, that kind of thing. Any pictures of existing racks would be great too they seem quite hard to google up.

Hi Alex,

First thing, does anyone already make a rack for your bike or for a similar model ? If they do, buy it and adapt. It will take you serious time to make a rack; if your time is cheap (or like me you enjoy messing about with bits of tube) then crack on.

If your bike is designed to take a pillion, you have a fairly straightforward job; mountings can be found at the pillion pegs and up at the seat. A lot of bikes have a long seat (so a solo rider can move about) but little or no subframe; these will need more thought.

Have a look at where the forces are acting. If you have mountings up at the back of the seat and down near the swing-arm pivot, the weight on your rack is trying to pull the back of the bike off onto the rear wheel, do you need to strengthen the subframe and/or it's mountings to resist this ?

Be careful not to over-engineer, you can use quite light gauge tube if you design it right.

What boxes / bags are you going to fit ? if you already have them, then spend some time hanging them on the bike to check where best to mount them before you start.

Search the net and look at other bikes for ideas. You will see some comercial stuff that is pretty crappy. Also think about where and how you will ride; off road will really punish your luggage.

Regards

BYT

Yes steel is the way to go in my book.
I dont think there really is too much difference between round and box section though. I chose box because of the thin wall thickness available, the panniers I made are'nt that big so there wasn't a need for over engineering. Just be carefully that the seam is situated away from the stresses.

You can kill 2birds with the support frame with some brainwork. Triagulating the frame makes the whole bike stronger. This is usually done by fitting a diagonal brace from the front foot peg mount up to the strongest mounting point at the back. It depends on your bike though.

From this you can nut out how to mount your boxes.

The mounting system we have on bike has proved to be strong and secure. I can take the boxes off in under 20seconds as there is only one lock (each side) to close and fit the box to the frame.
This way I can unpack quickly as well as get the bike through doorways with minimal fuss.

Take a look at the bike prep section of our blog.
Any Qs, dont hesitate.
N+A

Thanks for that advice it's great, I'd thought about taking it down to the pillion pegs (yes it does have a pillion seat). It's also already got a rear (top box) rack, so logically those mountings should help a lot. My main reasons for round tubing are aesthetics and also because my pipe bender only bends round tubes.

Unfortunately no, no-one makes a rack at the moment for pannier boxes, I've searched everywhere. Found a couple of places that would fabricate one, but they're very expensive and also a very, very long way away.

Some good comment above. Round tube is actually stronger than square, but square is so much easier to work with. Thats what I used. I bought a cheap little electric welding machine (£50) and welded up a frame. I meant to improve/replace it because it was a rough prototype, but I just keep using it. The square tube has a nice light thin wall, but this makes it tricky to weld.

I took the carrier down to the pillion pegs. I have mounted my carrier to 6 points in total.

I got my machine in Weldom-should be one near you. It has maybe increased in price as I got mine some time ago. It's a Nordikka. I think you can get these machines in Bricodepot too.

Flat bar can be used as well. If the forces acting on it are across the large flat face. A combination of both will give you the best of both worlds Slim and strong. It needs to hold the weight of the bike because it will fall over!

Here's some pics from the minimilist touring thread on ADV. A nice neat job.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...amish/adv4.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...amish/adv5.jpg

A trick I learned when using round tube, pinch the end a bit rather than try fabricating and welding an angled join on a joint. Also every one welds in a compressive support from teh footrests. but why not a tensive support from on high at aboutthe rear of the fuel tank to the rear bottom edge.

Caminado.. oddly I have a Nordika I bought here also...Nice to weld now without getting shocks :)

I looked in to making racks for my bike but went with premade ones. You will want 3 hard mounting points for each side then a bar to "tie" each of the side together at the back lower end, as there is almost no way to secure this area. As seen in the above pics but the rack in the pics look like SS look good but triky to weld. Do NOT use flat bar stock for the the rack suports, the round frame that the luggage is bolted to can be flat as it dose little suporting. But the rack suports, the parts that hold the rack to the bikes subfram need to vary strong and tuff. They flex with every bump and brake in time or they will brake a weld. If you must use flat bar stock fave a few welded up and have another folded over the bar stock and round rack.

Round tube is the way to go if you can if you see this too hard and need to go square tube (or rectangular) your rack will end up being hever for the same strength. A good weld will last longer then a bolt and it hold up better to the vibrations and hits. Bolting the mess together will be ok in town but on bad roads you may well be replacing bolts every few days the hols for the bolts will enlarge to the point where you will to some how have to find a way fix it. (like cutting it out and welding on a new piece.)

One thing I looked in to was getting square tubing that had a ID (inner dimension) gust bigger the the OD (outer dimension) of the rack. A few little chunks of this will help with any quick fix you may need.

Dont over build the rack I have seen some racks that just do not hold the luggage on the bike. There hever than the luggage (and every thing in it)

I had thought of that. Also, if you have a couple of bits of tube that have been cut open lengthways, they would make a good splint with a couple of hose clips.

I started building a my rack but got a bit stuck on the best lower mounting. Couldn't come up with anything I liked so have walked away. Hopefully when I re-start, I'll have a flash of inspiration.

A good tip when joining tube end to side (T-shape) is to put the tube in a drill press and run a holesaw the same diameter as the tube though it. This gives the perfect fit. The same can be achieved with a small angle grinder and a bit of fiddling. Another way is to crush the last inch of tube in a vice. If you slip a bit of flat up inside so it doesn't crumple, you get a neat fit.

With a tube bender you can get away with having far fewer welds - they are the weak spots. Dont butt weld, if you must have a butt weld of a piece of flat to round, put the round through the flat, weld both sides and grind off. If you use tube then dont weld on the bends. Put a brace behind each bend greater than 45 degrees. Anneal all the bends and welds - having "hard" welds and "soft" tube is where the frame fails. Ideally then harden the whole thing using heat and quenching in old engine oil.

If you are a crap welder like me, then use round bar so that you cant blow through as with tube.

See if you can find some pics of the Krauser carriers for BMWs circa 1980, or the BMW frames from the mid 1980s.

Here is a picture of one I built for my DL650, I built it a little heavy due to using Ammo cans. My battery is about to run down, I'll add some more pics later.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...6/IMG_0183.jpg

Some great tips there thanks, I'm definately going for round tubing myself, like I said I can bend tubing no bother, but welding? That's a different story, I can count my successful welding exploits on one finger. Fortunately I know a man who can.

So far it looks like:

• Round tubing is stronger than square for the sae weight.
• Welds are better than bolts.
• Flat bar can be used for the frame, but not for the frame to bike attachments.
• Pinching round tubing flat is fine.
• Attach it to 3 points per side minimum.
• Add a "crossbar" between them at the back.

So, next step for me, work out what luggage I'm going to use so I can see the fixings, and then I'm going to make a tester out of PVC tubing, to get the fit etc, I often do this, built a bicycle frme out of it once to see how it looked. That should help me line things up, and I can use carboard boxes as "panniers to check clearnace etc and then onto steel.

So, the inevitable question after, what about surface finishes to stop the rust setting in?

hey alex, what heppened to the panniers and racks that come with the derbi terra adventurer? i have been trying to get some for some time to adapt. are they not making them anymore? also if you are planning on welding you can get these which make the job a piece of p*ss

Magnet Products | Purchase and commission bespoke magnet products

Well I've got mine, and they're great, but it appears that it was one batch and they've now stopped having them (think they fell out with their suppliers). But I was asking for a friend actually who's just got themselves a Derbi Senda Baja something or other, and of course there's not a rack in site for them.

Don't be afraid to tack on a temporary brace here & there to hold things true. Just make sure your tack is somewhere that's easy to get to with grinder.

good advice there. the magnets are good but i remember they don't hold true easily. yeah the baja looks great; good luck with the project, don't forget to coat the mild steel (if you use any) as it will rust in no time.

Here's one I made earlier (about 18 months ago actually) for my CCM. I've previously made two luggage systems for my XR600 and used them trans Sahara so this was done with the benefit of that experience.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r.../_DSC7844a.jpg

I have welding equipment (and can weld reasonably well), pillar drill, grinder etc but no tube bender so the corners have to be done by cut and shut. The tube is 15mm diam, 1.0mm wall thickness and 12mm /1.0mm for the rack and rear brace. Thinner wall tubing can be tricky to weld without burning through with my diy level mig welder. There is an addition, not in the pic, that goes on the back to support spare tyres that was made from 12mm thin wall tubing from B&Q that I happened to have lying around and that is full of repaired burnthrough holes.

The whole thing (including the rack) weighs in at a bit over 3kg.

The other posts have pretty much covered the construction side but there are a few points I would make:

Cost. If no one make luggage for your bike then you don't have much choice but to make it for yourself but I posted elsewhere on here that it took about 20 hrs construction and set me back over £100 to do this one.

Last minute changes. As soon as I step back and think "right, that's that done" thoughts of altering / improving it crop up. I always want to add more loops for straps, brackets to bolt other stuff to (in this case a 2L fuel reserve bottle and a diy chain oiler), triangulate this and that (just in case). Don't paint it until you've done this bit. Think it through before you take the design to the welder as he'll get pis*ed of with you coming back every 5 mins saying "can you just weld this bracket on here" for the tenth time.

Paint. I used 2K paint on mine as I had the paint, experience and equipment. It gave a great high gloss tough finish (better than the rest of the bike!), but 2K paint can be dangerous to spray and the alternative, rattle can paint, always seems to rust after a few rainy trips. Best bet is powder coating although it's going to cost a bit. You'll really make a mess of it if you want to weld something else on after powder coating.

backofbeyond, that is one nice rack you have built. Impressive work!

Here are a few more pics of the racks with the cans on, and one with the bike loaded. I added a tool tube that was originally an owners manual tube off a tractor that you can buy at any tractor dealer or tractor supply house.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...6/IMG_0162.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...6/IMG_0161.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...6/IMG_0002.jpg

I used the square tubing for the main framing because I had some on hand and it is 1/8" wall thickness. For bending the smaller square tubing I just tacked one end closed and filled it with sand, that way it won't collapse. Then I heated it with a torch and bent it around a small jig I tack welded to my welding table. If everything is done correctly a weld joint should be stronger than the base metal you are welding, so you really don't have to worry about it cracking.

I was able to get a good quality rustproof paint in a pressure pack when I did mine. If you find some and are going to use it make sure you put 3 or more coats on cos Ive noticed in the areas where I didnt spray enough its started to rust.

Just a note
Crimping the ends of box section tubing is also possible you just have to be sure the seam is on a flat side. Its holding up well on mine.

Ive found those magnets actually effect the arc produced.

Enjoy it and give yourself plenty of time.
Its not a job to rush.

Neat! I'll have to go and do mine better now!

Maybe we have an eye for a bargain!

Here is my attempt: Suzuki DR 650 SE pannier rack

I do have to straighten it every time the bike falls over, though!

Looks good beddhist. I like the hinge mount, simple, strong, and quick disconnect. Well done.

Having never looked closely at what methods Metal Mule / Touratech etc use to mount boxes onto the frames what have all you diy guys come up with?
I've been using a copy of the old Craven panniers method where two rubber 'cups' on the box sit over upright metal pins on the frame for the top mount

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC_3626.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC_3624.jpg


This takes all of the weight but obviously also needs fixing at the bottom to stop it flapping / jumping off and I've used a kind of giant Dzus fastener that I think is genuine Craven stuff that I had lying around.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC_3625.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC_3627.jpg

It's worked well over two Sahara trips (hence the rust!) with no breakages.
Anyone know where I could buy a few more of the bottom Dzus type fasteners? Are they used for anything else? Craven's are long gone so no chance of going back to them

Just one more quick question
 

If you don't all mind and thanks for all the great contributions so far, maybe when we're done we can turn this into a guide so it doesn't just fall off the bottom?

It's about the frame to bike mounting "legs". People have said don't use flat plate, which makes sense cos it'd bend, but then you're left with a problem. Anywhere it meets the bike you'll need a bolt, and that means you'll need a flat bit to put that bolt through surely? So are people flattening then ends of their tubes for this, of have you all come up with something I'm not thinking of?

Looking at the picture gives some idea of what I've got to work with (although actually it's not the right bike). On this it'd seem logical to use the existing top box/hand-hold mountings. And it'd make sense to sandwich the side racks under the existing bits. So would just crimping tube be OK? Or would maybe filling the ends and drilling be better?

bit late?
 

Sorry if this is too late.. but here is my completely differnt take..

I decided that the entire "loop" design was not the only way (and ugly). As long as you have a 2-3 point fixing than you dont need the "loop" we all just got stuck into that idea..cus it does works but I did not like it... So I looked at different concepts. and Jesse's boxes had a great one.. so i stole it (well kinda, I based mine on it)..
I dont have detailed images of the rack.. I will take some this weekend (i hope) and post em.. but i have posted some picks of the panniers that go with em here
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...4-6#post200571

you can see how the boxes on the inside are "odd" shapes.. thus the rack was desgined to fit the bike and the the boxes to fit the rack.

Basically i am saying think outside the box.. why go flat and square...

I've not gone for flattening the ends of the tube and drilling because:

Firstly, it looks a mess (IMHO!).
Secondly, there are times when the end of the tube meets the next bit at an angle so you need to both flatten and bend. I've had breaks at this point in past constructions.
Thirdly, with thickish tube unless you've got a big vice (or a big hammer) it can be quite hard to flatten the tube completely.

Welding steel strip to the end of the tube and drilling this for the bolt is what I've done. It
does take forever though if you've lots of little bits that bolt together (as my CCM rack does).
I've no idea what the correct engineering approach is (I trained as a biologist!) but it's worked
so far.

Wow Beddhist.
Your system is very similar to ours.
Only ours isnt using a door hinge just simply 2 flatbar fingers sliding over the ends of a tube under our rear rack.
The securing post connects the whole lot is bent and is secured/locked with the panniers box lid lock.
Amazing we came up with such similar ideas.

We are happy with this method... Very quick and easy to unpack.

N+A

I found this somewhere in the net and I have it now in "my favourites"
Maybe in this same HU page.
Sorry but I can't remember.
It is useful anyway


rtw.xtz660 - Home made aluminium boxes

backofbeyond, here is a link to a company that carries dzus fasteners and others. They are used in aircraft, and auto racing applications just to name a couple. If you check Ebay Harley-Davidson's use these to hold their saddlebags on and you may find some there. My Road King saddlebags set on a lower frame rail and they are attached at the top mount with two dzus fasteners. My Ammo cans are just bolted straight on with a small rubber washer in between the can and frame to keep water out. I used some large fender washers on the inside of the can to spread the load of the fastener. I am going to use stainless steel button head allen bolts with nylon locking nuts for the final installation before I head to Alaska next summer. The button heads will keep things from snagging when loading and unloading.

Southco - DZUS

Alexlebrit, I agree with backofbeyond about attaching a flat plate for your tab to bolt through. Have your welder "slot" your round tubing with a wafer blade attached to an angle grinder and slide your flat plate into it and weld it up. That makes for a very strong attachment point and looks very clean. You can just crush it flat and drill a hole, but sometimes your tubing may get in the way of mounting. I used a heavy piece of round tubing in the mount on mine that attaches under the seat that just has the end flattened and drilled. This is a piece I cut out of a rear crash bar from a Harley-Davidson dresser. It had the end flattened from the factory and the tubing was at least 1/8" thick and looked like it was done in a very large press!

A bit off the wall
 

Well I've taken the advice and gone for round tubing, but I've been looking again at the "legs' that attach it to the bike. A lot of commercial ones are flat steel - despite what people have said on here, and I can see loads of advantages to it, it's easy to weld it to round tubing, and it gives a flat surface to bolt through.

So is it that bad?

Well, I reckon you have been given duff advice.

Round us stronger than square under TORSION
Square is stronger than round under BEND
Flat is just pants imho.

Make the racks so that the bottom is a cradle to sit the pannier in. Like the Overland Solutions racks.
Making the racks from square will also simplify the attachment of a mechanism to lock the pannier in place

My 2 bobs...

John

Jesse makes the rack of square tubing and they brake all the time, I have round tubing now and will not go back:
http://www.actiontouring.com/pic/rack.jpg

Ah-ha... but that aint your average diameter of rack tube, nor the crap mount points they usually have. Self made?

John

Sadly I’m not able to weld, I just took part in the design-process.

Looks good. Panniers bolted through the back?

I use a Tesch rack, (square), that's had bits "added", like a small cradle to sit the pannier on and then use a couple of stainless wing-bolts with 50mm stainless washers on them that screw into "rivnuts" (if you know what they are), that are mounted onto a brace in the corners of the frame.
I'm not particularly interested in "Quick Detachable" as it also equates to "Quickly Stolen:detective:

John

Thanks!

Yes the panniers are bolted, you can see the two holes for the bolts high up at left and right side. The panniers rests on the two “steel-mushrooms“ at the bottom and four rubber parts kill the vibration.

I have also tested various “Quick Detachable” solutions and have found them to be rather “Auto Detachable”. For me it’s not a problem to unscrew the two bolts to get the pannier of, I seldom do it anyway.

Just finished mine :-)
 

I used 20x20x2.5 SHS, and I think 30x6 flat black, and a bit of weld-mesh.
Powdercoated satin black.

Just in the nick of time too. I'll still have the burns from welding when I leave, RTW with a bit of luck.

Bike is a Honda XR650L 2008.

Also made the aluminium panniers shown in last photo. This pannier & frame project was a HUGE undertaking, mostly because of the way I wanted to do it.

Total width of the bike/panniers is now 990mm, which is only about 40mm wider each side, compared to the bars.

I'm in the process of doing a website, which will detail the whole bike prep project.

http://www.gabe-rtw.co.uk/PhotosforH...nierFrame1.jpg

http://www.gabe-rtw.co.uk/PhotosforH...nierFrame2.jpg

http://www.gabe-rtw.co.uk/PhotosforH...nierFrame3.jpg

http://www.gabe-rtw.co.uk/PhotosforH...ePanniers1.jpg

Making a luggage rack while on the road
 

While in Laos, I was having a problem with a sagging duffle bag, so I made my own rack for super cheap. Here is an illustration.

I just bought a cheap metal shelf (has plastic coating) for about $5, then I used some zip ties to secure it to the bike's back rack. This worked well! Preferably I'd have found some bolts with some thick rubber washers and some wide metal washers. Next time..

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/...002838.jpg?v=0

Hope this helps. I have more junk like this on my website.

Chris
Chris' Trans-Continental Motorcycle Adventures

Was just think (i know its not good) what about getting a shopping trolley and cutting it up to make the rack. It means you get a mesh that will stop your soft panniers from folding in and would also then allow you a load of points to hook your bungee cords to. Also if you plan on taking hard panniers, your rack plate also has a load of differnt places to connect on to.

Also at most its gonna cost you a pound for the trolley which im sure you could get back some how.:thumbup1:

Posted this recently in the Suzuki Tech section. The hardest part, IMO, of making pannier frames is fabricating the loops, hence us buying a set of used Givi frames which I then used as a starting point. I didn't have a tube bender, instead I bent the tubes around the MiG welder gas bottle in the vice. I've not been taught to weld (& don't consider myself good at it) but am able to securely join a few pieces of steel together. Cheap MiG's are easily available, I'd recommend that anyone buy one & have a go, just remember to wear the appropriate gear: welding gloves, mask (auto-darkening mask makes things so easy), coveralls & decent footwear (having dropped weld splatter on to my partners sandal wearing foot, this is a must :helpsmilie:). Also expose as little skin area to the UV light as possible unless you're in to instant suntans. If welding anything that's zinc plated, remove the zinc first, the fumes are not pleasant if you don't. Make sure you buy a MiG with a non-live torch i.e. it's only live when you pull the trigger.

"Just finished building these pannier frames for my partners DRZ in preparation for her trip to South America starting mid-August:

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...89_V7REp-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...56_sJcX6-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...51_w2CnB-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...09_86H3t-M.jpg

Few more here: DRZ PANNIER FRAMES - Steve's Photos

Started with the Suzuki rear rack and a pair of Givi pannier racks for an airhead GS:

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...52_pHcWf-M.jpg

Once I removed all the bracketry, I wrapped some 3mm x 25mm steel bar around the 5 litre fuel can before welding. Once I'd mounted the right hand loop, I lined up the left hand loop before mounting it. I could have kept the width down by locating the frames more rearwards but wanted to keep the centre of the frames in line with the rear wheel spindle. The two main mounts on each side are made from steel tube, 16mm OD with a 1.5mm wall thickness with 10mm stainless capheads passing through, secured with Nylocs. I then turned down some steel bar to match the internal diameter of the 16mm tube & then drilled 8mm holes through. In to 20mm sections of tube, I welded 5mm lengths of drill steel bar. Four of these provided the mountings for the mounts on the footpegs & the frame on to which I'd already welded a 6mm thick lug. By mounting to the frame itself, I've used the pannier frames to brace the subframe. Stainless 8mm capheads slid easily in to the front mounts.

I also incorporated a Tooltube for Tyre Levers etc, a bolt through the cap plus an O'ring will prevent the cap coming loose. The final part was the rear brace, 16mm tube used once again in conjunction with 10mm stainless capheads.

The Givi frames cost £50 & I reckon I spent another £50 on 3 metres of steel tube, flat bar, welding gas & wire plus stainless bolts. So far I've spent between 30 & 35 hours on them, they still need to be removed, blasted & powdercoated. They'll be fitted with waterproof Ortlieb panniers. Total width is very slightly wider than I'd like but the weight distribution is much better for it. She'll be riding away from the cities, mainly in Argentina & Chile so width is not that big a deal as she won't be filtering through heavy traffic.

We'll be fitting blue bodywork from the other DRZ plus a Clarke tank, rad guards, Wolfman tankpanniers & tankbag plus a front mudguard brace. I've already fitted Talon lowering links & 'bar risers to allow the forks to be pushed through by 20mm. Rear preload is on max at present which is why it doesn't look that low. Once new chain & sprockets, pads & more suitable tyres are fitted, it will be pretty much ready to go.

Thanks to Louisdut for the idea for the additional can."

Hi Steve,

I've just got myself a set of Hepco & Becker mounts, from a Bandit, to persuade to fit my XT225.

I really like the idea of the 5 litre fuel cell. Where did you source it?

Regards

Reggie

Thats how I did it. Use 2,5 mm Alloy plate. Remove orginal rack to take new 3 cm down and get better center of gravity. Use pillon peg as a one support point to get better center of gravity.

http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2512572.jpg

An that how it look's on "Shake down"
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2565436.jpg

Hi Capo Sakke,

what an interesting idea.

Regards

Reggie

Here you go:

Ocean Slim Tank - Fuel, General Chandlery | Mailspeed Marine

They also do a cheaper version in white for water only. Cap's aren't lockable, we might just roll some duct tape around it to keep it secure on bumpy roads.

Common electrical conduit, made in 20 minutes. Cost? Scrape piece, free.

My bags are not supported by the racks, they only rest on them. Principle job of the left side rack is to keep bag out of rear tire. This system has worked OK on some rough going. They are attached but only to keep them from flopping up and down. Cross straps across the seat take most of the load.

Poor man's solution:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pXs6Z_85Tj8/S-...31_642oC-L.jpg

Mornin' Steve,

ta for the info.

Regards

Reggie

Hi Steve,

just ordered a pair from them today, one for me and one for my mate Doc.

They didn't have them in stock so I can expect them on Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks again for the heads up.

Regards

Reggie

Glad to help, post pics of the mounting when it's done.

Hi Steve,

I sure shall.

Regards

Reggie

there is a guy on the GS Forum who makes his own box's & racks, suggest you run a search on there. contact him

There's four on UKGS'er:

Vern who makes the "Worldbeater" ally panniers which seem to strong & held in high regard.

There's also Civil in N. Ireland who makes the "Caja Sahel" panniers.

Redcap makes basic well priced ally boxes which fit to TT frames & take TT fittings.

There's also Stahlkoffer who I think are based in the Midlands, they have a website.

The Caja Sahels are a bolt on fitment, not sure about the others though?

Excuse my ignorance but ?
 

I am well impressed with peoples knowledge regarding the building of racks for panniers. I have currently got a fabricator working on building a frame for an xt 250 Serow - he is making a great job of it so far and incorporating some of the ideas used here - e.g. tool roll/ spare fuel can etc. I have noticed that ALL the racks on here and the "off the shelf" racks have a bar across the back under the number plate - is this essential ? - the rack he has built so far is fixed to a rear rack - I don't wish to cut corners but this guys bill for labour is mounting up and the material costs are also increasing - what does this bar do ? - is it to prevent bending if the bike is dropped ? or does it have a more significant structural purpose - any replies gratefully received

Chizz

The reason for the bar across the back is to link the two sides together so they form a kind of box structure with the subframe rails and the vertical pannier mounting loops. Without it the boxes can flex in and out and eventually something will fracture.

Ideally you'd put the link bar straight between the boxes but in most bikes the wheel is in the way so it tends to be a bent version that goes round the back of the tyre.

Back of Beyond

Thanks for that - it makes a lot of sense - think I just need to be prepared to spend a little more time/money

Chizz

Just triangulates/boxes the frames - I've had Krauser and (have) BMW 3 point pannier frames and a Japanese lookalike system and all needed to be cross braced to stop the welds/bends from cracking. Even then we run straps around the panniers and over the seat to provide additional lift and support (think Playtex).

By cross bracing the frames you very effectively counter the considerable forces trying to push the panniers onto the bikes centre line. Simple example is a cardboard box open at one end - it collapses really easily. Put a brace in the open end and it remains strong.

I was thinking about this rear loop. From my experience, non-crash failures almost always occur with the rear loop. If you move the connecting-member (i.e. a straight version of the rear loop) that goes from the one pannier to the other further up (vertically) the pannier frame, so that it joins halfway up each side then you may be able to get away with a straight member.

I did this on an africa twin when the mule rack failed in Congo (using a strut from a folding picnic chair) and it is suprising how much more effective and efficient a straight joining-member is. The problem is the rear wheel travel being in the way. Food for thought anyway.

Hi Chizz,

any photo's of the project so far?

Regards

Reggie

Bike now blue to match the Clarke tank, swapped panels with the other DRZ. Fitted fender brace, lowered seat and lowering links, pannier frames back from being sandblasted and powdercoated. Also made protection plates for the clutch, generator & starter motor covers from 2.5mm aluminium plate.

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...82_ma6RX-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...50_RSGS6-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...91_xoE3A-M.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Motorcycles...19_djfF7-M.jpg

To do soon: fit rad guards, cut foam out of the original seat, modify Ortlieb panniers.

To do before start of trip: new tyres, chain, sprockets, new stainless countershaft spacer, oilseal & O'ring, check valve clearances, new pads front & rear, purchase Wolfman tank bag & tank panniers, fit aluminium plate to rear rack.

All pics here: DRZ PANNIER FRAMES - Steve's Photos

no pics yet
 

Sorry Reggie no pics yet - bike still away - hopefully will be complete in time for Ripley - although may have to paint in the short term - shortage of powder coaters in the Highlands

Chizz

Hi Steve,

she looks superb.

Hi Chizz,

I'm sure she'll be ready in plenty of time.

Regards

Reggie

Powder Coating
 

Great Pics Steve - this is a good example of what i am striving for - seen fabricator again today and come up with plan for supporting brace at back - as suggested in previous posts (thanks for the advice) this cant be achieved as a straight bar due to the movement of the rear wheel. Hopefully just a few days from completion now- anyone got any suggestions for a company that will do powder coating at a reasonable price- Scotland prefered but would send by courier if anyone can make a good recommendation - any ideas of approximate costs to do a rack and pannier frames

Chizz (Bruce)

Last week I paid £25 cash (with a receipt, they don't take cards) for our panniers frames & rear rack to be blasted & powdercoated in black. They also do white, silver & possibly red.

Happy with the finish, give Colin a call on 01865-882883, Oxford Industrial Finishers, based in Eynsham, just west of Oxford.

If they won't ship back to you, I'll collect on your behalf & ship back to you. They do take cheques.

Thanks Steve - that seems well reasonable and I appreciate the offer of sorting out the carriage - I am waiting to see if I can find somewhere within driving distance but if not I will get back to you -

Thanks again

Bruce

Hi Steve,

well after getting every excuse under the sun re delays, I received an email on Monday advising my tanks had arrived, so this morning I rode over to find the branch has been closed down!

Bloody great eh!

I don't suppose there's any brand markers on the tanks that show who makes them is there?

Regards

Reggie

has mailspeed marine closed or just one branch as I thought I may order a couple of those.

I've been trying to call Mailspeed Marine's West Sussex branch for a couple of days with no luck, phones engaged, sometimes get a voicemail stating that they're busy & to call again? Might email them?

I can confirm that the 5 litre cans do hold 5 litres but they need to be brimmed to do so & that filling the last litre or so needs to be done slowly or you'll get splashback. They're also a little tricky to de-cant in to the bike fuel tank. I used a funnel & still lost fuel. I was trying to contact Mailspeed to see if they offer a screw on funnel as none off my other fuel cans fit.

The only "branding" on our cans is oceanfenders "dot" com - typing it like this because when I submit my post, it translate to a long winded Italian equivalent?

I've checked the website, it's in Italian but with an English option. I came across other forums that referred UK buyers back to Mailspeed Marine.....

Managed to get through to Mailspeed Marine, they've just been exceptionally busy & they're still trading.

Hi Steve,

this is Reggie, on Doc's PC.

I spoke to the girls at the suppliers and they were as surprised at the branch closure as we were. They managed on Friday to get their suppliers to send a pair of tanks directly to me, at Doc's.

Regards

Reggie

My homemade racks for Tenere
 

Since I didnt have machine for bending tube pipes, I just bought used old, cheapest I could get rack from no matter which bike, spent 20€.
http://www.shrani.si/f/2L/HU/3Ox6smVq/img3399.jpg

Off course didnt fit, so i cut it... so I could use the frame:
http://www.shrani.si/f/3E/e5/1f0l24t9/img3400.jpg

Did some measurements to make a design...
http://www.shrani.si/f/y/CN/21Z4uFqD/img3406.jpg

Than some more chopping and cutting of extra pipe I bought for 5€.
http://www.shrani.si/f/1h/QW/15gog4EP/img3408.jpg

A little taping and positioning. Easy on one side, harder to make it mirror identical on the other side...
http://www.shrani.si/f/3J/Zk/1XHcbKje/img3407.jpg

Some more chopping and fitting...
http://www.shrani.si/f/L/Yo/1vlI4D5h/img3409.jpg

A few layers of hard paint...
http://www.shrani.si/f/1a/xa/4BFw7kGf/dsc01052.jpg

Gave a little attention on details also...
http://www.shrani.si/f/2r/K4/4djtyKvU/dsc01078.jpg
http://www.shrani.si/f/2N/td/lYWHl0r/dsc01083.jpg

Finished product:
http://www.shrani.si/f/1t/vj/1Se9WwIE/dsc01135.jpg

http://www.shrani.si/f/2s/Mv/1yfDZjqC/dsc01127.jpg

I predicted and made a spot for two tool tubes also, since I use homemade one sided exhaust, and made some room on the other side for tool tubes
Already dirty, but i think its ok:
http://www.shrani.si/f/2T/qo/27GwMkZw/dsc01191.jpg
http://www.shrani.si/f/1P/Pp/1SLhgd0g/dsc01190.jpg
http://www.shrani.si/f/o/10U/4lq1srNi/dsc01192.jpg

Hope you like it.

XT600E Pannier rack
 

Hi, here is my effort on my sons XT600E. I have taken a slightly different aproach by using mainly 8mm (5/16) solid mild steel rod rather than tube. I do not beleive this makes the racks any heavier than tube racks and is far easier to form. These racks covered a bike tour of 10K miles including about 1K off road without any problems. Cost about £4 in metal + 1/3 can of hamerite smooth. Andy

Ni3ous:
Nice racks and nice welding. The only thing I'd have added is a cross brace at the rear, it can help prevent the racks from folding in towards the rear tyre in the event of an accident.

Edit: not sure if you have a cross brace on the right hand side or not? Perhaps it's a mount for the Tooltubes?

Andysr6:
Tube is actually stronger than solid bar in many applications. Using tubing allows you to increase the outer diameter (OD) and thus the rigidity without a weight penalty. The only thing to watch out for when using tubing is to ensure that you have sufficient wall thickness if making tight radius bends as the outer section stretches and can become quite thin, weakening it in the process. If using 15 to 18mm OD tube, a wall thickness of about 2mm is okay.

Hello Steve.
Thanks for observation and constructive post.
I have predicted cross brace, and did make it. Its just not on the pic.
I believe that cross brace is ugly, and not nesessary when not using panniers.
So I will mount it on - only when using panniers.
I hope i thought it right about this.

Guys, interesting reading through the thread and I though it was worth while sharing with you our own experience.

Having trawled through the Hubb for a recommended set of lightweight soft Panniers for my wife's F650gs, we agreed on the Andystrapz Expedition Panniers for our up and coming trip from Buenos Aires to Vancouver.

The next question was where to get a pannier rack which was capable of lasting the 20,000 miles and was sized both for the panniers and the bike, not a simple task!

Fortunately, i met Gabriel Bolton who owns Zen Overland who offered to make up, weld together and powder coat a bespoke rack.

Gabriel is a seasoned Enduro racer and has completed his own rtw trip during 2009. Having a self confessed obsession with making everything Gabriel had previously made his own rack & panniers which are illustrated in full technical colour on his website.

By clicking here you can see a range of photos which illustrate the quality of the finish and the minor details which are fundamental to a robust, soft luggage pannier rack, powder-coated black, canted out at the bottom and provided complete with all spacers, bolts and (common sense) instructions for fitting.

If, like us you find yourself looking for a rack for your soft panniers, Gabriel may be able to help!


All the best,
Chris & Chloe
BUENOS AIRES to VANCOUVER | Chris, Chloe & two motorbikes across South, Central & North America

In my experience with racks, what you have done here is very good. Mounting the rack to the bike via solid bushes, with the tube welded directly onto the bushes.

Try and avoid squashed tube wherever possible. (I note you have one bit of squashed tube, but two solid bush connections on each side)

Another design
 

In case it helps to get ideas -or to find some defects to avoid- the rack on my XT the previous owner installed: very solid, but heavy as well. The 15y/o panniers are Swiss made, but look exactly the same as the TT (I read somewhere they were actually made in Switzerland). But these ones are hanging on the top bar and then pivot down to insert two screws through the holes on the solid bar crossing from one side of the rack to the other, and then screwed on the back with 2 nuts each. AKA, an absolute pain to mount and dismount (I am thinking on ways ideas to have an easier/safer system, but till now all imply welding...).

Three supporting points: footpegs, handle (?) and blinkers' holes. The panniers lay on a small bed, good to hold them but which to me looks like a blade if you fall at speed with no panniers on... :(

http://i.imgur.com/hJR2g.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BTrgB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RUEFV.jpg

Some painting in the balcony (artificial grass not yet ready to burn under arc welding!) :D

Hope it helps :smartass:

smashed bushes
 

why R the welded spacers stronger than the smashed bushes, OH i get it there us laterial movement on the saddle bag support

Pipe Rack
 

Some nice racks here; I've used a few pix to illustrate a couple of articles on my website.
I was looking to make a platform rack for my GS for the reasons I explain here, then it dawned on me that on one side at least, there's a ready made fixed platform: the silencer.
More details here.

Ch

Good idea but the engineer in me is worried. The single bolt from the V is a pivot point and probably includes a rubber bush. Load the silencer end and this makes a shear force where the pipe enters the silencer. Having destroyed a few silencers by rust and falling off, I'm pretty sure this is a weak spot (because the pipe was bent to shape) and when they go here they leak (because the pipe goes out of round). The vibration will probably cause a fatigue failure even if the actual load is low. I think your idea of adding a clamp round the far end of the silencer and running a bit of tube up towards the indicator is the solution, the pipe then is only loaded in compression and maybe a bit of tension.

If you get time, drill some holes in the channel, less heat conducted and less weight to load that pipe junction?

Andy

Actually, it looks like a one-piece system (or push-in, maybe?) but I agree the pipe couldn't take much dead weight so yes, exhaust clamp is on the way to hook the end up to the subframe. As it is the silencer is rubber-mounted at the pillion footrest so there is some movement there.
The exhaust clamp also makes a convenient point to arrange the the back brace to the other side. Just found a good bit of galvanised flat bar to do that.

Will see how hot it all gets but I'd be surprised if the wood gets too warm plus the ally is only a couple of mm so I doubt much weight would be saved by drilling.

Ch

Try copper
 

Now it's been thoroughly tested, I'll throw this rack into the mix.
Made from 15mm copper water pipe with Yorkshire fittings, it was constructed by the previous owner of my TTR.
Not being sure whether it was at all strong enough for trans-Africa, I thought - what the hell, it looks so elegant, I'll just go with it.
Do you really need heavy steel?

http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...64_crop112.jpg
The rack as it came with the bike, moved forward so the front sits on the pillion seat.
Plus Nonfango base fitted.

The jubilee clips that maybe you can see, hold 22mm plain solder fittings (an elbow and a tee), sawn in half and clamped around two joints.
That was my attempt at a bit of strengthening. It looked a mess, so probably wasn't effective, so I removed them before departure.


http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...89_crop112.jpg
With second-hand box.


http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...23_crop112.jpg
Rack loading, London to Khartoum (photo in Sinai). The Nonfango box is in there somewhere....


http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...011825_113.jpg
Rack loading, Khartoum to Cape Town (photo at Cape Agulhas)

20,000 miles in total, including a few hundred miles of dirt, sand and stones in each of N. Kenya, W. Tanzania, and Namibia. Plus bits elsewhere.
Plus the 40,000 tarmac miles the previous owner did, before I bought it.

It's still in use, carrying (slightly less) weight, and no signs of splits, cracks, breaks or anything else you can think of. A credit to the constructor. (ex-British Rail).

Do you really need heavy steel? I don't think so.
Quality of construction is key.

Copper tube, I like it, but would it work on the side holding boxes and dealing with crashes, or even as a platform?

I was looking into doing a similar thing with thin steel EMT (electrical conduit) but it required threading the ends to make right-angle bends - another tool I'd use once. Were it possible, soldering (like copper joints) would have been easier.
Avoiding welding does stir up the creativity.

Oops.... you just beat me to it Chris.

I don't want any flack for omitting this.....
It's right out of sight, so I always forget when singing the praises of this rack.
The pipework is filled with epoxy resin.
It makes all the difference. - Quality of construction.

I had a few offs, fully loaded, in Africa (generally on soft ground).
And more since returning home (green lanes).

But nothing serious - and I hope not to test it along such lines.

I continued the constructor's philosophy for attaching it to the bike, he used only zip ties.
If the rack gets hit, it moves and the zip ties give. (Or break).

When I moved it forward so a lot of the weight was placed on the pillion seat, I reduced the number of zip ties to the minimum that I thought was necessary.
When I inspected stuff on return home, I found just one had broken.

As far as holding anything on the side is concerned - I don't know.
But the entire weight of the Andy Strapz panniers is held by the rack, where it sits on the pillion seat.

So to say the least, I'm pretty pleased with the whole thing.

I have a feeling I've seen the copper pipe rack at the Ace Café Adventure & Overland day, if it was yours I was very impressed. I didn't realise it was epoxy filled though, I wonder how much difference it makes.

Welding always seems to be the bugbear for DIY rack creation, and blokes who'll do a bit of welding for beer money seem harder to come by these days so maybe copper is the answer? Still got to learn how to braze though.

Yes, I like an excuse to have lunch (or breakfast) at the Ace. I think it's a great bit of heritage.
And yes, I think the epoxy filling in the rack makes the whole thing practicable. I don't think it would work without it.

This isn't the only copper-pipe rack, I've seen another a few weeks ago, somewhere around London, but can't for the life of me remember where.

Can copper be brazed? I thought soldering or silver solder were the only options for joining it.
Or does silver solder come under the heading of brazing?
If you can solder with a flame and separate flux, silver-soldering isn't too difficult. But practicing can be expensive.....

I thought the great thing with joining copper pipes is that the joints have solder built into a ring inside - as shown here. From the top picture of the TTR, it looks like those sort of joints were used.

With pre-soldered joints, all you do is link up and blowtorch it - the inner solder ring melts, cools and seals. Even i could do that although perhaps it's not as strong as hand soldered?

If an epoxy resin filling is the key to strength then I wonder if that makes aluminum tube an option and possibly cheaper too? Easy joints here or here (UK)
And copper or ally, could the epoxy double up as joint glue too?

I have done a fair bit of stainless steel handrail / ballustrading that is joined with epoxy and that works very well but uses precisely engineered fittings that have a couple of o-rings to control the glue.

In my opinion, copper tube just isn't up to the job for a rack though; it's too soft and I'm pretty sure that size for size, it's heavier than steel. Easy to work though and might be a way of putting together a prototype.

I use good quality seamless steel tube, with end plates or buckets at fixing points. I don't like off the shelf racks with the tube crushed and drilled for fixings. Easy, cheap but a bit crappy IMHO.

Here's one to throw into the mix........strength for weight, you'd be hard pushed to better wood. Some nice spruce would make a very strong rack :-)

In that case what is your opinion on these hex key joints, BYT?
Am I right in thinking they would need a fairly thick-wall tube not to deform under the screw and so you end up needing unnecessarily heavy tubing?

I think the key with copper is it's easy to join + the resin filling gives the strength as McC has shown. But it might get heavy on a full rack.

I agree. The last OTS bike rack I had had fittings like that. I was rather surprised. Acceptable if DIY but not when paying 220 quid +.

Talking of other materials reminds me of this one - a strap-on plastic platform rack, heated into shape.

Soldering
 

Information

You can solder

• * Steel
• * Stainless Steel
• * Copper
• * Brass
• * even Aluminium (but the solider is expensive and hard to come by)

If you cover or fill the inside of any solder item it will make any repair that much more difficult.

There are various types of solder, some cheap, some with better vibration strength. Best to go cheap as that will be more common in places where you may need a repair.

Failures on most things occur near the ends - you can strengthen the ends by putting another short length of tube side the first. You could solder it there too (to further increase the strength) provided you are not going to brazed or weld it.

Copper is heavier and more expensive than steel. For those reasons most people use steel. Copper can be tempered using heat (just like steel) to make it 'hard' (or stiff in non techinical terms).

The plumbing joints that include the solider will be as strong as those without, they are just more expensive (but reduces the labor cost so cheaper for people paying for labor, and you probable cannot get thoes without solider any maore anyway).

So, would it be possible to use self-soldering copper joints with mild steel tubing? Or would some strange reaction occur (like mixing steel and aluminium)? That might be the simplest solution for the incapable-of-welding.

The perk to copper pipe is that it's easily available, soft enough to bend without tools, cuts easily and there are ready made joints available. If nothing else that makes it very useful for prototyping, more useful than the plastic conduit I've used in the past as it can actually bear some weight which means you can test hang, and even ride with, panniers.

Then once we're happy it shouldn't be too hard to take the copper and get a steel version welded up.

Chris: your image of the throw-over plastic rack...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...k-pasterak.jpg

...takes me right back to my square one and thoughts on semi-rigid panniers. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who can see something in their head, but really struggle to translate that into a sketch. I could make one, but draw it? Do you have any more info on it? Type of plastic used etc.?

Phew, didn't think this would get such a debate going! All very interesting.

Yep. If that were a British website they'd be called Yorkshire fittings, which are used on my rack. Maybe, like many things 'old', that name's disappearing. Just need flux as well to make the joint.




Yes, that was in the back of my mind when considering whether to keep this rack. If it did split or crack, and the tubes were empty, repair would be simple. But filled with resin? It may be impossible. Other than wrapping material round the outside - hence my try-out with the fittings sawn in half and clipped around the joints as in the photos above.
But while the doubt was in the back of my mind, I kicked it right out and just got on with it......



Yep, you can still get those in builders merchants in the UK. The two mentioned above, split and clipped round 2 joints, are that type.



Yes, I've seen on the web just such a thing. Maybe it was on the HUBB? But it's out there somewhere, with instructions for construction.

Must go now, have an HU Mendip meeting to go to... and there's a big yellow round something in the sky! :Beach:

Yes - good to revive this interesting thread and get some ideas out.

Not heard of that being done, and even filled with resin I think the relatively soft copper joints would be exceeding weak alongside the stiffer steel. You'd want a well cubed structure, rather like this OTS rack

The strap-on rack - it was at least 15 years ago, I think he bought my Funduro. All I know is it was a sheet of PVC some 10-12mm thick.
See this youtube bending vid.
Now I think about it, it's not the 'soft' plastic of chopping boards or rotomolded kayaks, but probably 'hard' lexan-like acrylic (I don't actually know what these words mean, but I know what they refer to) like the stuff we use to make windscreens. That is more brittle when thin and also actually quite heavy, but I reckon at 10-12mm thick would be quite hard to break. Looking again at that rack, he did a very nice job. I might round off the front edge a bit.

I must say that (today) I'm all fired up by these hex-key joints on ebay. Certainly stronger than copper. However...*

I've screenshot a number of them which I could visualise in assembling a rack - the usual elbows and Ts. The tricky bit is attaching pipe ends to the bike without doing the 'crush and seal' mentioned earlier, but some clamp types could be drilled and adapted to take a chunky bolt to the subframe.
And where the hex key force couldn't be expected to resist tension - such as downward loads on a platform base - you can just drill through it to use a regular nut and bolt, as well as glue.

I will probably go with 3/4 steel ECT mentioned earlier as it's dead cheap and comes galv/painted, but any tube, even hardwood doweling using wood screws instead of hex, works with those joints, I imagine. If I had clocked them earlier I would have done it by now.

* Added: ... I just received the clamps and they are for 1 1/8" OD tube with a 3/4" bore. I mistook those for the clamp dims not the pipe to fit them. What does the pipe bore matter? Thinking about it it does as the hex screw needs a thick-walled steel pipe to resist crushing while securing tightly. And of course their recommended 3/8th thick steel pipe of 1 1/8 OD will weigh a ton! I thought about trying to recover my mistake by considering wooden poles (28mm) or thick, 29mm OD ally tube, but the fact remains these cast clamps are hefty - 2-300g each? - way OTT for bike racks. Another flaw is that the overlap from hex point to max insertion is only 10mm - fine for a handrail or static structure, not so good for a moto rack. Drilled through bolts would be needed. So forget that idea...

The hex-key/scaffolding joints are cast and therefore brittle. They might be so massive that this won't matter, but hit one hard enough and it will shatter, usually where tapped for the grub screw. The field repair would be epoxy.

Copper would bend if you dropped the bike but could of course be bent back to shape. Epoxy filling would stop it crushing. Field repair could be solder or epoxy or a new fitting.

Wood is a great idea but takes skill. I designed a sidecar body in wood, basically copying aircraft techniques deHavilland used up into the 1950's. Light, strong and simple to repair with more wood or fibreglass. The trouble is that to do it properly you need to make forming jigs to hold it and the right temperatures to get the glue to cure as you form the laminates. You could also get in trouble in warm climates with the glue failing as the layers expand. The results could be first class, but bolted channel only requires hand tools and welded tube at least leaves me with something I might use elsewhere or can e-bay. The sidecar body ended up as bolted, rivetted and bonded aluminium sheet and angle (more Vickers than DH) and worked well, but a box not a rack.

Plastics wise you want something more like a Nylon or PVC. Lexan type stuff shatters and cracks when placed under enough load or the wrong temperatures. Again, it's jigs to form it accurately, the one in the picture I would guess was heated and draped over a former. The bottom angle could do with a bigger radius maybe? If drape forming, a spoon shape like the old plastic canteen chairs is stronger that the shape in the picture which is more like what you would do with laminated wood.

If you want to mess about with tooling, you could also look at glass or even carbon fibre. Your rack could be bullet proof!

Andy

Being a chippy by trade, I will one day have a go at a wooden rack just for a laff. I had even thought about knocking together a whole bike out of sticks.

For racks, I'll stick to good quality steel tube (it's only twice the price of poor quality stuff) and either Mig or Tig welding.

Seriously though, if anyone wants a rack making, give me a shout. I'll do mate's rates on the first one for a given bike. I will need the bike for a day or so.

Here's some pickies of the one I knocked up for my "S"

It'd be a little stronger made as a one piece but I wanted to be able to loose the pannier racks and just use the carrier. I did a little trip with this set up, 2500 miles including some trail riding in the Pyrenees whilst fully laden. The only thing missing to make it perfect are some strap loops on the top rack.
The one I'm making for my "E" will be a little different because the bike doesn't have a full subframe or rear pegs

That heater in the video is ok, but they show it being used on acrylic plastics. They are brittle.

I'd think it was grey in colour? In that case it is PVC. This stuff is not as brittle as the acrylic...

[yes, plastic rack was grey so = softer PVC. CS]

For the home workshop, you can bend PVC like sheet metal ... it will go off - white in colour - when bent too far... Before it gets to that angle .. heat it! That relives the stress and you can continue bending in successive stages to what ever angle you want. The thicker the sheet the less angle you can bend before requiring heating - say 10 to 15 degrees would be of for a 10mm sheet.
Heating? Use a hot air blower ..or a hair dryer...



Many different ways to make things

The two I prefer are

a) easily bent – if it is hit it bends ..and I can easily bend it back. Will work harden and fracture if bent too often.

b) Strong enough to support the bikes weight + me + luggage. Impossible to bend back unless you hammer it (and probably need heat as well).

I've built things both ways – each has it advantages. One I don't like is part way between the two - bends frequently and hard for me to bend back, try to aviod this :thumbdown:

Wooden rack...
 

And here it is.... at the Mendip HU meet, the day before yesterday.

How simple can you get? And it carries a rucksack/pannier as well!

There you go.

http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...81_crop113.jpg



http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...82_crop112.jpg

Wooden stick
 

Another great one for the collection.
Have to say though, I think twin shocks help with such minimalism.

I did something similar a couple of weeks ago to keep the bags out of the wheel, but didn't waste effort on jubilee clips ;-)

Junk the hoops
 

Thinking about racks for soft bags I reckon we can junk the tubular hoops which unless you can weld are a right PITA to make. Given that soft bags often have rigid backs why not make the rack with a plate instead? I'm thinking either 2mm aluminium or nylon like the Kriega Overland set-up.

You could probably use something like these clamps to attach tubular "legs" both to the plate and also to the bike.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/10-10AN-10-Si...,3!~~60_35.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/10-AN10-10-16...8Wg~~60_35.JPG

Found HERE and HERE. The easiest way to attach a bag would be to have something like an upside down pocket which simply drops over the plate with a strap at the bottom to hold things tight.

I've thoughts on bags but maybe that's for a different thread?

That's what I was thinking when I was considering making bags, only more a pair of upright poles on the bike onto which a pair of sleeves on the back of the bag would slip over. If the sleeves were something other than fabric and had open ends there could be a lockable element too.

There was some DIY bag chat here.

Did someone say 'Tough Rack'?
 

Dan’s DR-Z400SM | Brighton 2 Siberia

Notice how it uses the existing Suzuki rack. Light too.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_1...8/IMG_0410.JPG