Sneak peak at what I've been workin on...

[dieziege]

No, it's not so bad.

It's not so much the labor as having something fairly unique... even if nobody else on the planet would want it... kinda like that wooden bike flynrider posted a pic of... these boxes are my version of that. Well... my first version of that. I'm quite sure the madness will continue.

Another pic: this one with the lid off so you can see the backing plate for the cross brace. (Click for larger)



An unnatural angle... (click for larger)



One box up close (click for larger)


OK, I'll stop with the pictures now.

[PostHuman]

Does the 250 have enough torque to carry luggage?

[dieziege]

Enough HP, yeah.

With me, all my gear, these cases, 50 pounds of stuff in the cases, and my tank bag w/ GPS I'm still well below the max weight allowed. Even with the 15t front sprocket (which lowers the torque so to speak) and the lids off the boxes (which makes them into two scoops facing forward into the wind) the bike had no problem accelerating with traffic or going 90MPH (which seemed like a reasonable test speed for "open top resonance testing").

[onlinesmurf]

Excellent work. What if you were to put cut open the sides facing out and weld/rivet on some hinges either blocked from opening all the way by a plate stopping the hinge or via chain bolted to the rest of the bag. Something like this (perhaps a wider angle).

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The chain would be from the top of the narrower panels to the side that opens and could be removed via carbiner clips or something of the sort.

This would give you a quick access to the bags and even allow you to put longer things that you want to hangout a bit. If you put to U rings on the opening side of each bag you could even have a good place to attach bungies if you wanted to (across the top of passenger seat of the bike), that could keep things in place if you had a wierd side load. You would lock them with a padlock or even one side with a disc lock and the other with a bike chain. If you have those.

I think your innovative nature is badass. I like what you are doing even better than all the mods other people; do that are all bolt on or just following what they have seen other people do. I myself am guilty of that.

Again good job.

[earwig]

dieziege, I like your custom "bags"... I am just curious, did you build these out of being bored or as a hobby? Do you know like the bags that are on the market?

[dieziege]

Earwig.... I'm building an aluminum airplane as a hobby... these were more of an amusement. Plus they're a non-critical place to practice my aluminum working...

There are no similar bags on the market.... Happy Trail, Jesse Bags, Moto-Sport, ZEGA, Hepco Becker, and others make aluminum panniers... really nice but not exactly the same things... first because they cost from about $800 to $1100 (maybe more) once you've mounted them, second because they don't make any to fit my bike, third... well, they're just different. Boxier, thicker material, different design goals, etc. And of course it is cooler to have *my* bags, fitted to my bike (and my intended type of use). These were sized to fit the camping gear I want to carry, and the standard stuff I'm most likely to carry (gallons of milk and such). The dimensions are a bit odd by normal standards (19"-22"Lx7-8"Wx10.5"D) but they fit the available space and give me about 1500 cubic inches of storage per side. The more conventional paniers would've required an exhaust rework or would've looked goofier.

Most importantly I'm a weird sort of cheap. That's a big part. Huge. These were about $65 out of pocket ($130 including all materials used) including the LED turn signals (not counted in most hard case prices), and don't think I could get equivalent for less than about $500 even if anyone made them for my bike. A set of Happy trails panniers for a V-Strom 650 with mounting hardware will set you back $785 unfinished.

Onlinesmurf... that's a cool idea. My plan right now is to attach tie-down hooks to the cases so I can bungee a tent, or other long package to the tops. It was funny... when I carried the rear brace (the angle aluminum part that ties the boxes together) home from the metal store I did so by strapping it with packing tape to the grab bar on the bike... I'm sure some people were wondering why I had aluminum angle sticking out a foot in either direction...it'd be much nicer to be able to loop such things to the tops of the boxes. Flip side is it'd suck if you got rear ended. The boxes are sized to allow inserting ~20" items such as a self-inflating sleeping rolls without forcing anything... they are actually 22" long inside along the longest stretch. I can strap a standard 4-person dome tent lengthwise on top of one box... though it sticks backwards off the box approximately 8".

In the longer run (a month from now? After I've used them a while but before I'm ready to spray them yellow anyway...) I'm planning to make some boxy lids that will store a few MSR fuel bottles or other stuff in the lid, and bring the tops of the boxes level across the seat back. That'll allow strapping a load across the seat and both boxes.

In the longest run, I'll probably make new boxes after I've had a chance to use these a while and figure out what I like/dislike... aluminum is cheap and experience is gold.

[Beach]

Looks great, you could just polish them and leave it. Go over it once a week with Never Dull and all would be well. They would match the pipes.

You got me thinking about strapping a couple of mail boxes to the Hawk.

Keep up the good work and post all the pics you want.

[CNF2002]

I'd paint em to match the bike. The hard angles of the bike itself would make these look fairly stock IMO.

Definately find some way to make them waterproof. Maybe weatherstripping on the inside? And I'd recommend looking into a insulation of some sort (and padding) for the interior. In the sun they are going to become little ovens!

[dieziege]

They're gonna be painted to match the bike. Polished aluminum is pretty... but too much work for the likes of me. Did you look at the dirt on the bike in some of those pictures? That's a week since it was last washed! As for looking "fairly stock" ... I started out planning to really match the lines of the bike but simplified everything down to this just to keep fabrication simple. It still matches fairly well.

They'll be waterproof. I've been playing around with a few thick coating materials that will seal the interior up nicely. Can't make changes after doing that though so I'm holding off for a while. I'm in SoCal so I don't expect any rain until February anyway

They'll also have insulation in key places. The bottoms will be doubled (inner and outer aluminum with some insulative layer sandwiched) to keep exhaust heat from boiling anything... not that it is all that bad from what I've seen but it's still worth dealing with. Anything I'm really worried about overheating will probably be seperately insulated though.

Mailboxes would've been a lot easier! Doh! Though they would've been more expensive... unless I just rode around until I saw a mailbox I liked, bolted it to my bike, and rode off... shoulda thoughta that....

[KarateChick]

Veeerrryyy interesting......diez......very interesting.....

Absolutely cannot and will not miss your bike should I ever encounter it on the street.... (Hey, it's neat though...definitely unique)