XT600E - Rear rack weight carrying capacity ?
 

Hi All,
I have a touratech rear rack, it attaches to the hand grips and the indicator brackets.

On the box is says that it has a carrying capacity of 5kg, as I think most of them do. Can anyone tell me how much you have loaded without the indicators falling off ?

Im hoping for 20kg.

Thanks

I wouldn't be to concerned with 20kg.

I have tested mine with 100kg (my weight) on it when i lean over the bike to buttom out the suspension a bit to check chain tension.

It's not so much weight but the liability of induced weave carrying luggage can inflict. Manufacturers dont want to hold that liability. Also it's not weight but vibration that can damage your rear frame. You can carry a lot more with less chance of damage on good roads than say riding off piste in africa. If you do load up the back of the bike increase the preload so that you retain static sag. If you cant, compensate by dropping the front forks through the triple tree.

Someone on the back is different to luggage. Luggage is 'dead weight'. I loaded my XT600e 4PT with about 40kg's for a 2500 mile trip, but when I returned In had damaged the swingarm bushes. This was due to the bike bouncing up and down, but because of the weight it would wallow slightly from side to side as well. Shock damping was also buggered. This was all with Hepco and Beker proper racks, not just the tail rack. Installed a Hagon Heavy Duty shock and turned the preload up 1 notch from standard, plus braced the rear subframe. I'm riding the states now with about the same luggage as before, plus a bit more. O yes, and I'm 100kg's in the shade:innocent:

As people have said, it's not what the rack can carry, but other effects on the bike. You don't want the rear end of your frame to fracture half way through Africa when you are riding on rough roads, or to damage your shock, or weave at motorway speeds, etc. It's not just a separate bolt on subframe which you can bolt on a new one, it would need braced and welding. I'd say 20kg will be fine on smooth roads, but for your trip limit that to 10 or 15kg. (it doesn't sound much, but 15kg is the weight limit for a suitcase on a lot of cheap airlines nowadays, it's not an insignificant amount of luggage!)

I also sling a pair of soft panners over the seat, hanging over the plastic side panels, in front of the exhaust and behind my knees. This is a necessity with soft panniers on the XT because of the exhaust, but what it does mean as well is you are carrying the weight a bit lower and a bit more centrally.