Got the spacers from TT earlier this week and finished a 2-bag installation. Here is a quick look from a few angles.
In bright light, the bags look a shade lighter than the seat. Overall, they match quite well. They attract dirt faster than a diaper, so I am sure that the look will change over time.
The overall width of the bags is 35.5 inches. I measure handlebar width at 33.5 inches. So, an additional 1 inch per side must be accounted for when squeezing into narrow spaces.
I attempted to come up with a repeatable scheme for mounting the bags, so as to be as low as feasible while still having exhaust clearance.
What I came up with was marking a straight line across the raised portions on that back of the bag. These marks served as the TOP of the upper drill hole. The mounting bracket has perhaps 5mm clearance on either side of the raised portions, so side-to-side alignment is visually easy.
The result is a compromise - just enough (hopefully) exhaust clearance and not too offensively high of a mounting position. I would love to hear and first-hand feedback from the Vee2 crowd regarding their experience with exhaust clearance.
Tall bags force a width-limit on passengers ... not such a bad thing.
I use a dramatic mounting motion that looks like a Jean-Claude Van Damme spinning side kick. I learned it from riding a TransAlp with Givi E36 cases (side + top). It helps to maintain my persona of being just a bit unapproachable.
Looks great overall; great color match, including the socks.:grin2: It would be nice to have them sit flush with the seat, but I guess maybe because they are so big, that's what you have to work with. I have some Duratools that are pretty large, but sit flush. I think mine are only around 34l though.
I think your ready for Desert Storm 3. Seriously, well done.[/QUOTE
Yeah,
All I could envision were some desert tan firearms and accessories to match! Maybe Suzuki can offer an OD Green model and we can get those matching cases too! Fun. :grin2:
To be thorough ... I looked at and excluded the following due to various factors (colors, raise features that hinder mounting, etc.):
Nanuk
Husky
Gator
Monoprice
MCM Electronics
Pelican 1500 might be the best for a robust work-around, as it only requires shaving down an exterior ridge. SKB and Seahorse having mounting holes in the channels creates a few problems (spacer to line up the interior mounts, re-engineered seal since rubber washer is near a corner, etc.).
So, now I just learned about Condition 1. Their #801 box appears that it could work for me ... anyone have experience with them or able to show the mounting surface on the bottom?
I'm not sure what your mounting problem is exactly when you are speaking of ridges. I am guessing you are saying they are in the way of the case sitting flat on your rack? If that is the case, could you make a spacer to shim the box up a bit for the ridges to be off the plate?
I get what you are saying about spacers and I have seen examples where this would work.
However, case in point (image from Snarky on advrider):
I consider the mount to be compromised if it is either on a ridge (photo) or near a corner that prevents the rubber washer and bracket to sit flush. Some folks have shaved down the ridge on the Pelican 1500 - while not ideal, it may be an option.
I used a $2.00 Walmart cutting on each of my side cases, mainly to try and flatten a depression in the box from the molding process, but it then served as a raised surface as well, that turned out beneficial for me as I made my own mounts.
Cutting board material (HDPE) is probably stronger than your case, and a 1/4" thick piece cut to what ever shape you need and sandwiched between the plate and the topbox would allow your ridges to float. Paint it tan and you would not even see it. You could then use almost any case you want. Basically, a Givi or Shad adapter plate is almost the same type of thing. Even if you used four bolts and spacers with fender washers for some surface area under the box, the center of your top box would never deform in normal use.
I can't remember though how you planned to mount your case to the rack.
Thanks, John. My install is using the same TT bracket shown in post #18. You are right that a solution can be rigged-up, but am being stubborn and looking for a perfectly elegant solution. Having a pair of 40L side cases at my disposal affords me the luxury of not acting on the top case right away.
RCnNC made a nice quick release mount for a Pelican type case. Doesn't Twisted Throttle make a mount for a Pelican case?
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