Need Side Racks that will hold Pelican Cases.

[antisquare]

Hey guys,

Planning a pretty big trip on my 78' Special, I've gotten a lot of great advice from the forum about how to prepare myself and the bike for the journey. The biggest thing that is stressing me out right now is how to mount my luggage. I'm pretty committed to using 1520 Pelican cases on each side. I also require a top rack. I have not been able to find someone in my area to custom build racks for me. I don't have the resources/time to build reliable side and top racks myself before the trip. I can't seem to find racks for XS modes online. Can anyone help? Where do I find such things? I'm in Nova Scotia Canada and am hoping to be on the road for July 14th.

Any and all advice much appreciated.

 

[650Skull]

Buy a good set of saddle bags a tank bag then buy a good soft bag to tie in the back of the seat. get a good back pack that is easy to take on and off. when riding with this set up you will have an arm chair to relax in as the backpack will sit on the soft bag when riding. It works as that is how i have done a lot of my travaling

 

[antisquare]

Hey 650 Skull. Thanks for the advice. Going to do the tank bag and the softbag backrest for sure! but I have some breakable/valuable/water sensitive things I'm traveling with so I think I should try my hardest to make plastic cases work. Also hoping they would slow down theft of the most important things if I were away from the bike for a few minutes.

 

[azman857]

Have you considered shipping/mailing these breakable/valuable items? If handing them in person is of great importance perhaps mailing them general delivery and picking them up at the Post Office at the city where your going. That way you don't have to worry about them during the trip. At least untill your there.

 

[antisquare]

Hey Azman,

I wish I could, but I'm a documentary filmmaker so big part of the trip is having a camera, lenses, laptop and harddrives with me all the time.

 

[azman857]

That does make sense. Tools of the trade. Good luck.

 

[weekendrider]

Is the trip going to be in a film?
You've looked at the universal mounting systems like these?
http://www.motostrano.com/moraexlurasy.html

 

[Purplezinger]

I used a small 6 pack cooler (hard plastic) strapped to the rear seat as a backrest. This allowed me to have a ready supply of cold water when traveling. I always used crushed ice instead of the "blue ice" packs. After the ice packs thaw there is usually no way to refreeze them out on the road.

 

[Tomterrific]

Here is a rack and luggage frame. These are light cast aluminum. and fit very close to the bike. It is an exact Krauser copy made by Olympic.

http://legendsmc1.tripod.com/id19.html

I was inspired by 5twins install on his XS and SR and started my search.

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/bags/krauser/index.htm

I made my own brackets and found the correct screws but you may be able to get a kit here. I strongly suggest a kit if you can find one, even if some of the parts don't fit up you have enough to make the purchase worthwhile. These guys can get the rack/bag mount also.

Classic Cycle Parts
(614) 777-7987
4159 Lyman Dr, Hilliard, OH 43026-1228
http://www.classiccycleparts.com

Good luck and if you decide to go this route I have some ideas to mouint other than Krauser type bags to this frame. Also. I ran a metal strap bracket from the XS fender mount to the lower lugage frame attachment point putting this bracket in tension (very strong) and giving an extra bracket if one fails, which one did from vibration.

Tom Graham