Hondaline topbox from ST1300 onto ST1100

[RobsTV]

Had a Bestem 929 topbox on my '93 ST1100.

I now have this Hondaline topbox from a 2003 ST1300, with mounting hardware.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19460

The Bestem is great for the price ($80), but I can not fit 2 helmets in it, and the backrest pad is useless. With the Hondaline, same 2 helmets fit fine, and the wife loves the Hondaline backrest.

For the adapter mount, I simply used a scrap piece of 1/8" aluminum, about 8"x7", and drilled holes to line up with 4 ST1100 original holes.
Using ST1300 topbox main mount as a guide, and after seeing how it all would look, moved it to the rear about an inch, and drilled it's 4 holes.
Done.
Attach plate to bike. attach main mount to plate. attach plastic top plate to main mount. ready for box.
Anyone should be able to do this and be done in about an hour.
I am an electronic tech, not a painter, machinist or carpenter, so if I can do it.....
Neither ST1100 bike, nor the ST1300 topbox w/hardware have been modified or drilled on in anyway, so can always go back to whatever.

With empty topbox installed, it did seem to shimmy up and down a slight bit with no passenger, so I added below the aluminum plate a piece of scrap steel, 8"x7"x 1/4". Overkill, and might not help, since I did not yet test ride, and reports are on many of the original ST1300's setup shimmy's like that as well.

I will polish the aluminum plate up a little later.

 

[RobsTV]

Ended up buying ColorRite Aerosol base and topcoat plus clear ($100).
Sure are skimpy with contents.
Quickly emptied both base and topcoat.
Wish I could have done another coat or two of topcoat.
Three coats of clear on top. Still plenty of clear left.
Waiting a couple more days before rubbing it out. (not done yet).
It came out about as expected.
Far from perfect, but not terrible.
Slightly towards the pinkish side, or probably a better match for a '93 that has some sun fading (mine has none).

This topbox was silver, matching the orginal 2003 ST1300 it came on
It fell off the original owners bike at highway speed, and did a tumble.
Plenty of scratches. A little light wet sanding and filler work helped to get it about 96% smoothed out.

Edit: camera used for photos add some sort of yellowish orange. Ignore it.
Edit some more: added photo's of original ST1300 donor and ST1100 with Bestem installed.

 

[Lano]

Looks good to me. Where there's a will, there is a way.

 

[sirepair]

I have thought of the same thing. Your results confirm what I had pictured in my head (scary), that looks GREAT!

 

[Blrfl]

The Bestem is great for the price ($80), but I can not fit 2 helmets in it...

The secret to putting two helmets in a 929 is to put them on their sides with the flat parts (where your head goes in) facing each other.

--Mark

 

[RobsTV]

Old thread but needs updating.

After only two years, here is what the expensive Colorrite paint looked like.

Now it could have been the way it was applied, or it could have been the paint itself, (hot florida sun, but always garaged when home). After looking at many websites of paint doing this on many vehicles, painted by professionals, decided it was not worth the time, money or hassle to go through again. There is a reason painters only warranty work for a short time, and a repaint is not expected to last anywhere near as long as factory paint..

Ended up buying a new ST1300 Hondaline Topbox lid in Candy Glory Red R-101CU. Even after 20 years, the rest of the bike is a perfect match to the new topbox lid, which is a testament to how well the factory installed paint is. Should have just done this from the beginning and saved some cash and time.

 

[pieterv]

Thanks for the update. I was thinking of doing the same (i.e. painting), but shall now reconsider.

 

[sennister]

Old thread but needs updating.

After only two years, here is what the expensive Colorrite paint looked like.

Now it could have been the way it was applied, or it could have been the paint itself, (hot florida sun, but always garaged when home). After looking at many websites of paint doing this on many vehicles, painted by professionals, decided it was not worth the time, money or hassle to go through again. There is a reason painters only warranty work for a short time, and a repaint is not expected to last anywhere near as long as factory paint..

Ended up buying a new ST1300 Hondaline Topbox lid in Candy Glory Red R-101CU. Even after 20 years, the rest of the bike is a perfect match to the new topbox lid, which is a testament to how well the factory installed paint is. Should have just done this from the beginning and saved some cash and time.

I just saw this thread and was reading it like it was something new and not a refresh of an old post. I was going to post mentioning that I had fading issues with Coloright's kit. I repainted a saddle bag on my 93 and even way up here in MN, it faded really bad. In a year it went from a perfect match to looking nothing like the bike. I complained to them and they said that they have a different clear coat which has better UV protection. Offered to sell me another set with the different UV. I passed. A short time later someone popped up here with a set of bag lids from a 92. They cost me what the other kit ran.

 

[SupraSabre]

I just saw this thread and was reading it like it was something new and not a refresh of an old post. I was going to post mentioning that I had fading issues with Coloright's kit. I repainted a saddle bag on my 93 and even way up here in MN, it faded really bad. In a year it went from a perfect match to looking nothing like the bike. I complained to them and they said that they have a different clear coat which has better UV protection. Offered to sell me another set with the different UV. I passed. A short time later someone popped up here with a set of bag lids from a 92. They cost me what the other kit ran.

That's good info to know. I'm getting close to needing to do some painting on a few of the parts I have for my bikes. Since I'm going with the '04 blue on both the '04 & the 2010, I was just thinking of using the colorrite paints for some of the minor stuff like the front fender, sidecovers and tail section. But if a little sun kills the paint that bad that soon...Maybe I'll look around for a good painter. 4:

 

[sennister]

That's good info to know. I'm getting close to needing to do some painting on a few of the parts I have for my bikes. Since I'm going with the '04 blue on both the '04 & the 2010, I was just thinking of using the colorrite paints for some of the minor stuff like the front fender, sidecovers and tail section. But if a little sun kills the paint that bad that soon...Maybe I'll look around for a good painter. 4:

I should add that while I park in a garage all the time that is only when I am home. I commuted with the bike every day and it would sit out in the parking lot all day long so it would get hammered by UV. They made no mention of the better rated UV clear coat when I placed my original order.

In my case it didn't look all cracked like the photo above. But it did fade to a nice pink color.

 

[SupraSabre]

I should add that while I park in a garage all the time that is only when I am home. I commuted with the bike every day and it would sit out in the parking lot all day long so it would get hammered by UV. They made no mention of the better rated UV clear coat when I placed my original order.

In my case it didn't look all cracked like the photo above. But it did fade to a nice pink color.

A pink bike...how nice!... not!

Thanks again! My comuter bike sits out on a parking lot with lots of :sun1:. And although I have the Neilson Rigg cover on it, there are exposed areas! 4:

 

[RobsTV]

The photo shows my mainly garaged bike. Self employed, and use it a few times a week for service calls, maybe 16 hours exposure per week tops, otherwise always in the garage. Yearly 2 week road trips, and 3 or 4 day weekend trips a few times a year where it is not garaged. Have both the Nelson Rigg UV2000XL and the Dowco Guardian ultralite plus large cover, but the Dowco works much better and what I normally cover the bike with on trips. So the aging was not the result of a lot of sun exposure.

Broke the mirror/turn signal cover and bought a factory new one, which showed me that my 20 year old bike still matches 98-100% the factory new paint. That was the deciding factor of skipping another repaint, and sticking with original factory applied painted parts.