Racks for aluminum side cases?

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I have a set of large Tusk Aluminum side cases (leftovers from my VStrom days), that are significantly more spacious/waterproof/secure than the OEM cases on my ST1100, and have been musing on how I might fabricate some side racks to mount these on my 2001 ST1100. I would want to use them only for my longer summer expeditions, so they should be easily removable, so I can use the oem cases the rest of the year. Has anyone done this? i.e. fabricated racks to use 3rd party pannier cases on an ST? Any tips/pics/pointers would be muchly appreciated.
 

Ron

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Never considered it but doesn't look that tough depending on your fabricating skills. An inverted "U" shaped rail across the top part of the box to duplicate the back of the ST bag. Pop rivet it on. Keep in mind when the rail slides to the forward position, it goes under a section to lock the top portion in place. Then another piece on the bottom to match the lock mechanism. A rubber bumper from Lowes or Home Depot to steady it against the lower rear fender. I wouldn't think it would be that difficult.
 
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Never considered it but doesn't look that tough depending on your fabricating skills. An inverted "U" shaped rail across the top part of the box to duplicate the back of the ST bag. Pop rivet it on. Keep in mind when the rail slides to the forward position, it goes under a section to lock the top portion in place. Then another piece on the bottom to match the lock mechanism. A rubber bumper from Lowes or Home Depot to steady it against the lower rear fender. I wouldn't think it would be that difficult.
doing it that way would limit the weight. I think Honda recommends under 20 lbs. There is not a whole lot of places to bolt any other type of mounts if any at all. The stock upper mount is plastic and not very sturdy.
 

John OoSTerhuis

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It's been done. A few years ago a fellow successfully mounted a set of Givi cases to a project ST1100. It looked pretty good (silver cases on a SSMST, IIRC), but it was a permanent replacement. I'll look in my archives for it when I get back to my desktop if interested.

John
 
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Thanks for the responses, guys. I wouldn't plan to mount the new rack against the current plastic (top) slide, these look too flimsy and the aluminum boxes, fully packed, are likely to have some weight. I'd want to weld tabs onto a fabricated frame, and mount the tabs onto existing bolts: The two mounts for the grab-handles (under the seat), and the hangers for the exhausts look like good prospects. Then a cross-piece behind the wheel to connect the two frames together should make a third stabilizing point for each of the frames. Then devising a way to hang the boxes on the frames so they can be locked on, but still removable becomes a secondary challenge. John, it would be great to see how/if someone else has done this, if you have it in your archive.
 
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Peter Sewinski (birdie_xx), STOC 1180, did the Givi sidecases install: Sewinski-Peter1-91ST1100.jpg Sewinski-Peter2-91ST1100med.jpg https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?25485-ST-restored He was on the site a couple of weeks ago. Regards, John :STOC: Ten Fifty-Eight
Super, thanks John. Following the linked thread shows some photographs from the rebuild, and its clear he used a Givi mount for the cases. What's interesting is where he found the mount points, he's used the two I mentioned (Exhaust hanger and grab handle mounts) as well as two I hadn't identified. Will need to pull off some plastics and explore some more. Thanks again for your response, this has been very helpful!
 

Ron

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doing it that way would limit the weight. I think Honda recommends under 20 lbs. There is not a whole lot of places to bolt any other type of mounts if any at all. The stock upper mount is plastic and not very sturdy.
Yeah, under 20 pounds. I have wink wink never put more than 20, pounds in a saddlebag wink wink. You could replace the plastic piece with a metal bar. I like mods that allow me to easily go back to stock.
 

Ron

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It looks as if he may have used the mounting points of the ST bar. He made a bracket to reach out to where it needed to be to mount the Givi bracket.
 

John OoSTerhuis

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Just my opinion, Scooter, but I'd sell those cases, buy a topcase and waterproof duffel and GO RIDE.*

I've ridden thousands and thousands of miles with the waterproof OEM panniers, Hondaline topcase, and large Ortlieb duffel. Plenty of room for everything including camping gear and food. Including a 29 day trip to Alaska and Arctic Circle in the Yukon.

Remember the backpacker principle: every cubic inch of space in a new, bigger backpack must be filled with more stuff! Do you really need the aftermarket cases? Just going for an adventure bike look..? :)

FWIW

John
* Official motto of the ST1100/1300 Owners Club (STOC)
 
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Just my opinion, Scooter, but I'd sell those cases, buy a topcase and waterproof duffel and GO RIDE.* I've ridden thousands and thousands of miles with the waterproof OEM panniers, Hondaline topcase, and large Ortlieb duffel. Plenty of room for everything including camping gear and food. Including a 29 day trip to Alaska and Arctic Circle in the Yukon. Remember the backpacker principle: every cubic inch of space in a new, bigger backpack must be filled with more stuff! Do you really need the aftermarket cases? Just going for an adventure bike look..? :) FWIW John * Official motto of the ST1100/1300 Owners Club (STOC)
Point taken. A duffel would augment the liters of space lost due to the smaller panniers, however I would need to entirely re-think my packing strategy, and that hurts. :) I had it all nicely organized on the Vstrom: with a large Givi topcase, which liked to leave available for stuff I might need during the day: Rainsuit, snacks, water, etc, and available space to accommodate my tank bag, jacket and gloves while I'm away from the bike. The Tusk cases nicely accommodate all my cooking gear, food, tent and other camping gear, and clothes for several days. Which leaves only the self-inflating mattress and sleeping bag (each in their waterproof bag) to be strapped across the back seat. At this stage its still a mental exercise to determine how best it might be done... I might just end up doing what you suggest. :)
 
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