Top Box or Soft Bag?

**Fuzzy Duck** · #1 26 Dec 2001

I've finished building a rack and pannier boxes for my BMW R100 GS. This gives me 60 Litres of secure storage space (for a trip from Uk to Cape Town and back). I'm wondering whether to build another rack for a top box - I've seen an old life-jacket box (80 Litres of space) made of really heavy duty-thick fibre glass - which is quite light, but it is 73cm x 47cm x 36cm (quite big). I'm not sure whether to go ahead and build the rack or opt for a large Ortleib waterproof bag (possibly with a wire net to make it more secure). The 80 Litres is attractive - but it seems like a bloody-big box!

Any suggestions/comments?

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Fuzzy Duck

[This message has been edited by Fuzzy Duck (edited 27 December 2001).]

**Grant Johnson** · #2 27 Dec 2001

Are you travelling solo - or is it going to be in the way for a passenger?

Do you really need the box?

How full are your panniers when loaded? Is there somewhere to safely park helmet and riding gear when off the bike?

Are you carrying all the heavy stuff like tools well forward and low down? If nothing is forward, that's a lot of gear at the back and will mess up handling. If no passenger, move the box forward and use it as a backrest and helmet/gear storage.

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

**Fuzzy Duck** · #3 27 Dec 2001

Hi Grant - (fantastic website by the way) - here are the answers:<UL>[*]Yes I'm travelling solo</LI>[*]I haven't tried loading up the panniers yet - but I expect them to be full as I'm taking my own tent, stove, tools, etc...</LI>[*]No I guess I don't really need the box, but I like the idea of security (and being able to store riding gear in a secure box when I go walkabouts).</LI>[*]I plan to fit an ammo box or boxes to the bash plate, or the really neat way you fitted them above the cylinders to put most of the tools in</LI>[/list:u:727d140a94]
Any more comments welcome.
BTW Grant - any chance of some photos of your extendable top box - it's a great idea, but I'd like to see more how you built/used it.

**Grant Johnson** · #4 21 Feb 2002

Re sliding top box,

It's just a box that fits over top of another box. The outer/upper box lifts up and off leaving an open box.

If I were doing it again, I'd make the base out of 1.6mm or 2mm ally, and the vertical walls out of 1mm.

Outer box is literally just a plain ordinary box that fits over the outside of the inner box - make it out of 1mm.
The outer drops onto the inner box all the way.

The seal for the box - the outer box has a strip of hard foam rubber on it's inside at the "lid" that matches against the upper edge of the inner box. got that?

Hard to explain, but very very simple in execution.

Make sure there is sufficient clearance between the two - ours is just adequate at about 4-5mm overall difference in outer dimension of the inner and inner dimension of the outer.

Don't make it any taller than you need it, better wider and lower. Just needs to be big enough for a helmet and jacket.

Latches- basic latches, loop fits over a hook, snap the lever down. When the box lid is up, padlocks through holes in the very corners. Improvement ideas welcome...

Detailed photos I don't have, but will be doing something in the next month or so. I have a bunch of work to do on the bike, and need photos (due to popular demand...

) of some of it so will do the box and more details as well.

By the way, my system is NOT optimal - it was designed in a vacuum of ANYTHING for ideas to use in 1986, and has evolved only slightly since, in backward out of the way places such as a borrowed shop in Gibraltar. When I designed my boxes, I had never seen or heard of aluminum being used for boxes, in fact everyone suggested I use fiberglass. Fortunately I didn't like fiberglass - too much experience with it on boats!

Anodizing the boxes prevents the black aluminum marks from rubbing against gear, and hardens/strengthens the ally.

Ammo boxes are too heavy imho. You can get adequately strong and much lighter elsewhere. Make them if needed out of ally. Not complicated. See the photo of mine on our bike page. They took an afternoon to make, and work great.

Note that we are travelling two-up, with several cameras, 6 lenses including a big long one, 2 flashes, misc bits, 150 rolls of film and a big tripod, a laptop and cd-rom drive and more - so your load ought to be a lot less!

Hope that helps!

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

**hughc** · #5 28 Aug 2002

Could I get some info on the wire net that
was mentioned in the original post?

Thanks
HughC

**Fuzzy Duck** · #6 28 Aug 2002

These are made by pacsafe - and I since bought an 89 Litre Ortleib bag - so I'm probably going to get one. Details at http://www.pac-safe.com/

If you live near Leicester you can pick them up from Blacks in their summer sale - from £30 - £40 depending on which size you want.

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Fuzzy Duck
(I'm quackers about bikes)