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Penny Tech Pannier/Sidecase Mount

7K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  BillZ 
#1 ·
Let me preface this by saying that I freely admit that I am a cheapska...er, a tightwa...thrifty, yes thrifty...I am a thrifty bastard. So, when I decided to go to hard cases vs soft, I decided that I didn't want (couldn't) to spend the dough on Givi's, and threw down a scant $130.00 on some Sears/JC Whitney travel trunks http://auto.sears.com/MATTE-BLACK-T...catalogId=10624&N=600025909&productId=2022700

Purchased a large for the top case and two mediums to use as side cases. Before the flaming begins about buying these cheap alternatives, let me say that yes, I know these aren't as nice as Givi's and the like, and may not survive a tip over, much less an all out laydown, but seriously, if that happens, my side cases are the LAST things I'm gonna care about :)

So my next dillema was as such: do I spend upwards of $200 on a Givi/SW Motech sidecase rack to mount my $80 worth of cases, or try to fabricate my own? Remember the first line in this post, about me being cheap? Take a wild guess what I did. :) Went to the LOWEcal hardware store and purchased a 4ft long piece of 1 1/4" by 1/8" flat stock aluminum and with a hammer, Workmate, clamps and a ruler, made a simple yet sturdy side case mount. I apologize for the crappy picture quality...iPhone cams suck.



The second pic shows where I mounted it to the two forward holes in the rear rack. Mounted the lower part to the exhaust canister mounting bolt. Bolted the mounting plates that came with the cases to my contraption and voila, $6 and 30 minutes later, I can has sidecase mount too!

With the left over flat stock, I fashioned a simple gps mount too :)



Just happened to have a slighlty longer OEM bolt for the risers, so no loss of connectivity there.

As far as the cases go, I'm happy with them...cheap, effective, more water resistant than the soft bags I was using previously (which I'll probably be lookin to get rid of, so if anyone is interested...), and since the medium trunks that I used for the side cases are actually designed as top cases, they have the little backrest attached to them...some folks go to the bother of removing them, but I couldn't care less that they are there...shoot, I got pannier pucks, sidecase sliders...you don't :)
 
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#3 ·
Looks fine. What is that saying about the Mother of Invention?

Anyone can just walk in and pay retail! It takes a creative mind to come up with something just as good for less $$.

Now if this was another " buy a Chevy air filter and cut up to fit story....that's different.
That is the ultimate ridiculous Cheap for no reasonable cause.
 
#4 ·
E460 Givi

The Sears box is IDENTICAL to the E460
 
#6 ·
I was interested until I saw you blew money on a piece of aluminum.
There's too much of this wasteful spending. Couldn't you have found a cheaper way?
 
#7 ·
Great job!

Those cases look great! and as cheap as they are you can always replace if they bust up on a lay down.

I'd show off my Tupperware gps mount but am not in the mood to be laughed at today. I get enough of that from my teenage daughter. It costs $6.49 plus a little black paint and is Velcroed to my tank bag. Water proof, glare proof and good dampening by the bag. The downside it the looks I get. :thumbup:
 
#16 ·
Good one!

Great job! I'm leaning in that direction myself. Those of us who are old enough to remember what a "Desert Sled" is will know that those guys used to use an old coal shovel as a bash plate to protect their old Norton/Triumph/BSA desert racers from big rocks whilst blasting from Barstow to Vegas and other such locals out west.
 
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