DR650SE Index Topic #14 LUGGAGE & RACKS, ACCESSORIES

This is the second one of these I've made. My wife's XT-250 was first, added to her Borrego Rack for our recent trip to Death Valley. Crudely manufactured from T601 Aluminum angle stock, it attaches to the Borrego with rubber-coated metal strap clamps from the electrical section, it's hell-for-stout, and REMOVEABLE from the Borrego without leaving any hickies.

I already have a RotoPax 1 gal set-up mounted to the front of the Borrego, and can add a second 1 gal (which I did for DV) using their extension piece.
I keep a vintage one-off Marsee bag (I used to work there...) mounted to the Borrego at all times, so now I have added about 80 square inches of additional cargo "shelf" with 10 tie down points drilled into it for bungees, etc.

Worked so well I refined the design a bit, and here it is:

After powder-coat, before fitting diamond-plate "floor".
Raw stock I used sitting next to...for comparison.


Final fitting before powdercoat


Finished, with my RotoPax set-up, and Marsee bag.

Fits my needs to a "T".



My first one mounted to the Missus' XT 250 in DV. Wd did nearly 900 miles with that little bike and rack loaded down with no issues.

Here's the SW-Motech rear rack. All black. Small. Sleek. Heavy duty construction. Many tie down options. Can get an optional top case plate that will attach to it for easy top case removal.

I had aluminum plates cut that bolt right through the Suzuki luggage rack.

even though he did not say, shadyrascal is selling these for use w/ oem rear rack for those that need a strong and large rear rack. he really has a nice great simple & effective design that is sold at a very reasonable price. i have one of the unavailable ebay bbq racks but if i needed a dr rack i would get his.
that botton one is perfect for touring as it's wide w/ a rear lip support for a dry duffel bag. after tour you can then unbolt it and use the oem rear rack for daily riding.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=646599

I went with the Wolfman side racks, Expedition saddle bags, and a Pat Walsh Designs tail rack. A few pics of the install...

Remove stock grab handles or factory rack


The stock indicators install right onto the PWD tail rack (slightly higher location, as well) and the tail rack is mounted inside the Wolfman side racks, I added the washer between them to help prevent the pieces from scrubbing the powder coat off of one another


All bolted up and ready to go




I like the flat plate-style racks over bent-tube and bar racks for the rear. It seems much easier to drill and bolt stuff to when needed. With mine, I have a spare Givi mounting plate for a top box that I utilize for commuter-duty, and for longer hauls or off-the-beaten-track excursions I bent a piece of scrap alum into an L-bracket so that I can mount my Kolpin 1.5gal fuel can vertically and still have space on the tail rack for a duffel.

I went on a 5-day trip using this inexpensive setup. I think I paid $5 for the scrap of aluminum, and maybe $3 in stainless nuts and bolts.


Mark and drill 3 holes in the OEM luggage rack



Mount a heavy piece of aluminum using stainless steel bolts, flat washer, lock washers, and nylon lock nuts.




This is a 45L semi-waterproof duffle, and the bottom has a semi-rigid foam liner.



attached with a few strong bungee cords

Inexpensive soft-bag guards and modular luggage racks:

http://www.dualpurposebikes.com/suzuki.html

Getting some ammo can panniers on mine as an alternative to happy trails. Will post pics when I get them on.

mine of course is 3rd world country.
pre-owned suzy rack & one of the kids old backpack slung on.
then i'm runnin a small fanny pack under the fairing since i've axed the keyed switch & instruments. a net over the tank makes my gloves handy & any road finds can be scooped up & semi-secured at low speeds.

Just finished up this set of side racks and rear rack for my DR650. I think it turned out pretty awesome. The side racks are sized appropriately for my saddle bags even though they may seem a bit small. Hopefully it'll give some of the other garage fabricators a little inspiration to make your own.

Very nice

I just bought Moto-gear universal soft bags. I can't seem to find any side racks for the dr that are under $80... Anybody know of any?

I spent way too much money on my setup but it works very well for what I use it for:

Happy Trails silver 7.5 Teton panniers
Happy Trails side racks
Happy Trails Top rack w/ Givi 255 plate using a Givi 460 topcase (used for commuting only)
Wolfman Explorer medium duffle bag

The Givi topcase setup is great for going back in forth to work. The HT sidebags and Wolfman Explorer duffle bag work great for camping and touring.

updated wolfman side racks w/ hard bag mount option.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=729632

Hi Shu,
Do the panniers move around much. I have been looking at these for my DR but the mounting system for them worries me. Thanks Roger

Roger-
These bags probably would move around and get in the way without a little modification. Here's what I did:

1. Use the supplied velcro on the side of tank.

2. I sewed a small 'dart' on both sides of the top yoke piece onto itself so it fit the tank more tightly. You can see the 'dart' on the right side of the bag pointing from the gas cap to 2:00 in this pic: (I'm no seamstress. I just folded it, pinned it and went back and forth several times on my mother-in-laws old machine. Done.)



3. I sewed a small loop on the front of each bag and clipped a piece of small diameter bungee cord rubber around the front of the tank. This is sort of visible on the front side of the tank in this pic:



4. As i said before, I added a drainage grommet in each side so they don't hold water inside.


Some will think this is too much work and just buy bags ready made with straps etc for $$. For me these bags are the right size, a good price and fairly well made and stout, and I don't mind doing some monkeying around to make them work right for me.


............shu

Wow, it was neat to click this thread and see this picture pop up:



Doug (my husband) rides this one now and has been very happy with his luggage and tool set-up; he swaps between pelican cases and the Yukon soft bags, and he painted the tool tube a nice manly black.

Now I'm in the midst of setting up another DR for myself and trying to sort thru luggage. The M-S racks and bags are no longer available, but Happy Trails makes the SL rack and Mojave bags:

http://www.happy-trail.com/Mojave-Soft-Luggage/Happy-Trails-Mojave-Side-Bags-Pair.aspx

The Happy Trails DR rack & Mojave kit is about $400

Then there's the nice stuff from Wolfman. The DR rack and Expedition bags are about $400.

Either one of those kits would be bullet proof, I'm sure. But in the interest of keeping luggage weight low and forward, I'm wondering if I'd be better off with the Happy Trails OSR or Ebay side rails and fasten my choice of saddle bags to those. What do you all think??

Sarah

Yes, it was a totally shameless copy by me. I've had my tooltube attached exactly the way you figured out how to do it and it's been there for 40,000 miles, including some pretty rough riding. Stuffed full of tools, never a problem.

Thanks Sarah.............................shu

Bump for me; I'd like to hear some opinions, please. Here's what I'm looking at so far:

Happy Trails SL rack and Mojave bags:

http://www.happy-trail.com/Mojave-So...Bags-Pair.aspx

The Happy Trails DR rack & Mojave kit is about $400

Then there's the nice stuff from Wolfman. The DR rack and Expedition bags are also about $400.

Either one of those kits would be bullet proof, I'm sure. But in the interest of keeping luggage weight low and forward, I'm wondering if I'd be better off with the Happy Trails OSR or Ebay side racks and fasten Ortliebs or some such to those. What do you all think??

Sarah <!-- / message -->