DRZ 400E Adventure Racks

[sevenpointsixtwo]

I can't wait for mine! I will give a full report on how your rack fairs through the wilds of Canada when I return. No crazy off-roading, but enough washboard to rattle your fillings loose!

You might drum up some business by posting over at Thumpertalk in the DRZ section!

[NewHampWoodsRider]

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom last week!
He's a stand up honest guy who knows what he is doing and can fabricate some very nice racks!
I would not hesitate doing business with him!

He is fabricating panier racks for my 2009 KLR650!
I saw the prototype and they look awesome!!
I cant wait to see the final product!!

Thanks Tom!

[Canuman]

These have been holding up very well (that's my black DRZE with the prototype racks.) I haven't been on any epic rides with them, but have done plenty of bashing through the bush on some rugged trails, and there haven't been any issues at all. The bike has taken a few naps without any problems. Tom and I are hoping to get up to Maine soon and really wring things out, but I'm positive on this system. One of the best things is that one hardly notices the rack when it's not loaded, and it's pretty tight to the bike when it is.

[MWValley]

Originally Posted by jackpiner57

Just thought I'd post up about the testing of the E racks. I have them on two different E's and so far so good.

I have been reluctant to tie the two side racks together with a bar around the back, because I'm afraid that if one side takes a hit, it will bend the entire aluminum sub frame out of shape.

As they are now, (both sides independent) you can bend the side rack back into shape if it takes a hard hit.

What do you guys think?

Tom, Every adventure story I ever read in print, like Odyssey to Ushuaia, goes into great length over and over about how often their luggage racks cracked and failed on "independently sided" racking systems. It would seem there's got to be a connection between the two sides. Could part of the connection between the two sides be somehow a fusible link? You know something rigid enough to connect the two sides in daily use but deliberately weak enough to shear under the right circumstances?

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by sevenpointsixtwo

I can't wait for mine! I will give a full report on how your rack fairs through the wilds of Canada when I return. No crazy off-roading, but enough washboard to rattle your fillings loose!

You might drum up some business by posting over at Thumpertalk in the DRZ section!

I can't wait to give it to you! Looking forward to seeing you this weekend. It's a good thing my racks are Canadian corduroy resistant.

Thanks for the suggestion about TT. I'll have to look into their requirements to post my racks.

Originally Posted by NewHampWoodsRider

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom last week!
He's a stand up honest guy who knows what he is doing and can fabricate some very nice racks!
I would not hesitate doing business with him!

He is fabricating panier racks for my 2009 KLR650!
I saw the prototype and they look awesome!!
I cant wait to see the final product!!

Thanks Tom!

Thanks, but the pleasure was all mine! I really enjoyed the trail ride we took and was impressed with the skills you exhibited in the rock gardens on the big KLR!

I'm in the process of making the jigs right now, and will be done with everything early next week.

Originally Posted by Canuman

These have been holding up very well (that's my black DRZE with the prototype racks.) I haven't been on any epic rides with them, but have done plenty of bashing through the bush on some rugged trails, and there haven't been any issues at all. The bike has taken a few naps without any problems. Tom and I are hoping to get up to Maine soon and really wring things out, but I'm positive on this system. One of the best things is that one hardly notices the rack when it's not loaded, and it's pretty tight to the bike when it is.

Glad to hear they're holding up! They should get a good workout with all the camping gear and such up in swamp donkey country.

Looking forward to the exploratory expedition!

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by MWValley

Tom, Every adventure story I ever read in print, like Odyssey to Ushuaia, goes into great length over and over about how often their luggage racks cracked and failed on "independently sided" racking systems. It would seem there's got to be a connection between the two sides. Could part of the connection between the two sides be somehow a fusible link? You know something rigid enough to connect the two sides in daily use but deliberately weak enough to shear under the right circumstances?

Tom and I had some deep conversations on this topic in the design phase. I was initially pretty firm on connecting them. I've come around to Tom's way of thinking now. For one, I think that many rack problems have to do with the nature of baggage people run on them. I once lusted for big, hard cases. I have them on other bikes. I will never run them off-road again. Soft bags are much more forgiving than hard cases in a fall. I've never come even close to losing one on the rough stuff. I cannot say that for hard cases. I just did a 3500 mile mixed-surface tour on my KLR with Wolfman expedition bags. I had zero problems. At times, I wished for greater capacity, but I'm glad I had to pack somewhat frugally. Extra weight was not my friend in the tough stuff.

I think that hard cases also tend to transfer harmonics to racks in a much different way. The soft bags really can't develop much of a resonant frequency, while most hard cases do at some point. It's the resonance as much as anything that leads to cracking.

That being said, it would be a relatively simple thing to add a rear loop. If Tom decides to offer one, I suggest it be an optional extra, which could be unbolted if not needed.

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by MWValley

Tom, Every adventure story I ever read in print, like Odyssey to Ushuaia, goes into great length over and over about how often their luggage racks cracked and failed on "independently sided" racking systems. It would seem there's got to be a connection between the two sides. Could part of the connection between the two sides be somehow a fusible link? You know something rigid enough to connect the two sides in daily use but deliberately weak enough to shear under the right circumstances?

Jeff, I appreciate the input! It's what drives me to constantly re-evaluate and improve my products.

In Odyssey to Ushuaia, I would love to know more about their luggage and what type of racks and what materials were used. When it comes to rack cracking and failure, I think that the materials and the type of frame connections come into play here. Tubular sections that have been flattened, bent and drilled out to make a connector are prone to flex cracking. A tube welded to a flat bar is stronger and less apt to flex.


What kind of adventure would it be if the racks didn't break anyway? How many adventurers have had to have a broken rack welded by a burly Vodka swilling Cossack in the black fly infested wilds of Siberia and then are invited to the local biker club for more Vodka, pretty girls and shashlik? We love to read about that stuff!

I have given this a lot of thought, and I think tying the racks together would be beneficial in some cases, on bikes with steel-sub frames and hard side cases, I think it would be an asset. A fusible link is a neat idea, but might be prone to flexing and failure? I would like to make some prototypes to test that out.

On bikes with aluminum sub-frames I'm not so sure. I recently made a set of the "independent" type side racks for a DRZ-E that had previously taken a tumble and the sub-frame was already pretty twisted from an impact on the left side. I had to straighten it out some to get the new racks to fit correctly. I wonder if the damage would have been worse if it had a box structure connected to it at the time. I've been trying to keep the DRZ-E rack system as light as possible, but I will however develop a cross brace for those that feel they might need it!

Personally, I would never put hard cases on anything that I ride off road.
Soft luggage is lighter, absorbs impacts and is safer for the rider's limbs too.

Originally Posted by Canuman

Tom and I had some deep conversations on this topic in the design phase. I was initially pretty firm on connecting them. I've come around to Tom's way of thinking now. For one, I think that many rack problems have to do with the nature of baggage people run on them. I once lusted for big, hard cases. I have them on other bikes. I will never run them off-road again. Soft bags are much more forgiving than hard cases in a fall. I've never come even close to losing one on the rough stuff. I cannot say that for hard cases. I just did a 3500 mile mixed-surface tour on my KLR with Wolfman expedition bags. I had zero problems. At times, I wished for greater capacity, but I'm glad I had to pack somewhat frugally. Extra weight was not my friend in the tough stuff.

I think that hard cases also tend to transfer harmonics to racks in a much different way. The soft bags really can't develop much of a resonant frequency, while most hard cases do at some point. It's the resonance as much as anything that leads to cracking.

That being said, it would be a relatively simple thing to add a rear loop. If Tom decides to offer one, I suggest it be an optional extra, which could be unbolted if not needed.

That's some brilliant thinking Tim. I believe you're right about the resonant harmonics having a lot to do with stress cracking. It just makes a lot of sense.

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by jackpiner57

That's some brilliant thinking Tim. I believe you're right about the resonant harmonics having a lot to do with stress cracking. It just makes a lot of sense.

I wish I could take credit for brilliance, Tom. I was recently reading an article by some guys who were developing a new kit-built aircraft which gave me the idea. Resonance was a huge problem for them. They were using a welded chrome-moly steel for the airframe, which is similar to the tubing on the racks. They were suffering failures at certain welds no matter how much they reinforced the structure. It turns out their solution was to make things more flexible, not more rigid.

[jackpiner57]

DRZ-E Adventure Racks
----------------------------------------------


Features:

* Works as a 3 piece system to hold all of your gear.

* Side Racks are designed to hold any side bags including Wolfman Expedition Dry
Saddle Bags. Their metal strap clips fit into our side rack loops to hold bags tight to the rack

* Top Rack measures 16.5" x 14.5" andwill hold lots of gear in any type of large bag like the Wolfman Expedition Dry Duffel. The new RotopaX 1.75 gal. fuel or water pack fits right on. RotopaX ready cross plate for attaching/detaching the RotopaX Pack Mount quickly and easily with just two bolts. Has 4 large bungee loops to hold straps captive and allows Fastex type buckles to fit through.

* Top Rack sits flush with seat to minimize injury to the lower back if you slide off the back or are rear ended

* Easy bolt on installation with all fasteners and mounting instructions included.

* Painted Satin Black


$289.00 plus $28.00 shipping

[Canuman]

Trust me, these work. Good, well-designed stuff, far beyond what is available for the E elsewhere. Tom is the sort of fellow that follows you around with a tube of Loc-tite and makes sure every bolt is up to spec. He's a bit of an odd duck, but his welds are art and his heart is sound. He keeps some good dogs, and appears to love his wife, who appears to love him. I have no complaint here.

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by Canuman

Trust me, these work. Good, well-designed stuff, far beyond what is available for the E elsewhere. Tom is the sort of fellow that follows you around with a tube of Loc-tite and makes sure every bolt is up to spec. He's a bit of an odd duck, but his welds are art and his heart is sound. He keeps some good dogs, and appears to love his wife, who appears to love him. I have no complaint here.

Thanks Tim!

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by Roll-sen

I'd be in for a top rack if you offered that by itself.

That will be happening within the next week!

The size will be 16.5" x 14.5" and will have the bungee loops and a threaded mounting plate for bolting the RotopaX Pack Mount to. The plate will go all the way across which will eliminate two of the cross tubes and make it lighter.

The price will be $149.00 plus $14.00 shipping

[Roll-sen]

Originally Posted by jackpiner57

That will be happening within the next week!

Right on! I'll be watching for the announcement that they're ready and to place my order.

[NorthernCarver]

I have one of Tom's E racks on my "E".... I have crash tested it several times now and no problems at all!
Yesterday I used it to take my chainsaw out on the trail.
Good job Tom!

[jackpiner57]

Originally Posted by NorthernCarver

I have one of Tom's E racks on my "E".... I have crash tested it several times now and no problems at all!
Yesterday I used it to take my chainsaw out on the trail.
Good job Tom!

Thanks Sherm, I'm glad it's still in one piece! You can stop crashing now. The testing phase is over! I'd love to see some pics of your chainsaw mount.

We've gotta do some riding when I'm healed. Bill in Barnard has some gnarly stuff down that way that he's anxious to show me. It would be great if you would join us. Wait a minute, you probably showed him those trails!