Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => PRODUCT REVIEWS => Topic started by: sitler on January 27, 2006, 10:00:24 AM
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My girlfriend found a nice silver trunk on ebay for $90 so I took off my 1200's hand hold behind the passanger and fabricated a mounting plate to it. The hardest part was designing the recess in the sheet metal to dip down in the body work to reach the four screw holes. After that it was easy. I bolted together the first one I've made but I will weld any more I make. I also added a quick release backrest for me when I don't have a passanger. Now I am fabricating a Class 1 hitch for my Bandit to pull a 2' by 4' trailer. If you would like to see my mounting plate, e-mail me at auditorcs@juno.com and I'll send you a picture. I just bought a new welder so I can make you one.
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Which Bandit?
If you made something for a 2G B6/12 and it only attaches where the grab rail goes, be aware of the structure under the bodywork! It's been known to crack when it's the sole support for a trunk. The stock luggage racks mount like that and have a real low weight limit (5-10 lbs) for this very reason.
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Send us some pics of what you have done.
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Red, I have a 2003 1200 and you must be mistake about the tail as I could lift the back of the bike up with the hand grab. Nonetheless, my trunk is about 5 lbs.
Hey jlmoulto, how and where do I post my jpegs of the rack?
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Sitler,
Got the pic you sent...looks decent enough. Any idea what you would charge to make one of those? Also, what is the quality of the top case you bought?
btw I hope you plan on continuing to post...new ideas should always be welcome on a forum. I posted recently about fabricating something and no one else appears to have taken this project on. Got to be something out there a little less expensive than what Givi and others are charging.
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I don't have a mill so I could probably make them by hand for $75 (painted with primer so you can finish it the color you want). I just finished a trailer for my bike. I believe I can also build a mounting system for side hard luggage.
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Red, I have a 2003 1200 and you must be mistake about the tail as I could lift the back of the bike up with the hand grab. Nonetheless, my trunk is about 5 lbs.
No mistake! Here's some pics of what happened with a Krauser luggage rack that uses only the grab rail attach points. Krauser's instructions are adamant about never exceeding 5kg's of weight on the rack - and never exceed 130Km/H. The owner swears he followed Krauser's guidelines and this still happened:
(http://members.shaw.ca/simonjones/images/1.jpg)
(http://members.shaw.ca/simonjones/images/2.jpg)
(http://members.shaw.ca/simonjones/images/3.jpg)
(http://members.shaw.ca/simonjones/images/5.jpg)
He's not the only one to have had something like this happen with racks mounted in this manner. I haven't heard of anyone having trouble with racks that use the forward bungee spool mount in addition to the grab rail mount - like Givi & Ventura, regardless of weight and/or speed.
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I'm designing a new system that will use 2 addition suport points on each side for trunk and side luggage.
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If you would like to see my mounting plate, e-mail me at auditorcs@juno.com and I'll send you a picture. I just bought a new welder so I can make you one.
Hey lets see em!! :beers:
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(http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=60899664708.42332764708.1138835549267&photoid=49632764708&view=1&page=1&sort_order=0&albumsperpage=12&navfolderid=2006)
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Sorry. Webpage take password. I'll keep working on it.
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Try http://photobucket.com/ for a free place to host pics that'll let you share them on boards.
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(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f219/sitler/3b04d668.jpg)
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f219/sitler/IMG_0111.jpg)[/img]
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Thanks Red.
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OK...perhaps my eyes are deceiving me, but if you have the trailer mounted to the swingarm and the footpeg, wouldn't that eliminate the ability of the suspension to move? I must be mising something here.
Also, aside from that one issue, has anyone else ever had a problem with a broken frame on the rear?
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The bar attached to the upper frame is slotted so that it will slide upwards when the swingarm is compressed thus maintaining an unchanged hitch height (I learned this after a trial and...).
After viewing Red's pictures of the rear hand grab mounting bracket failure and taking into account the physics involved, I believe the failure was caused a passenger's weight being multiplied backward into the trunk by the driver's acceleration beyond that of a little old lady heading out to church.
I'm fully confident that without a passenger the trunk will be fine regardless of the speed or acceleration (so long as the trunk isn't overloaded), but since I occasionally may have one, I'm creating a 6 point mounting system for trunk and side luggage. Don't hold your breath though as my truck's oil pump has gone out (hopefully that is all).
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That's it??? Nothing but criticism? I admit I haven't seen hardly any the the member's bikes but is it that commonplace for Bandit owners to trick out their bikes like I have as fast as I have? Nobody has touched my bike but me since I got it bone stock from the dealer last August. This was my FIRST vinyl job!
That's okay though. I've gotten some local criticism too. Would you believe some people actually like the stock look??? But you might imagine the rubber necking I get when people see a trailer behind a sports bike.
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Is there one other Bandit owner in the world who has a driver backrest?
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I like the trailer idea and a friend has recently added one to his FZ1...pretty sweet I might add. How does the bike tow with it?
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The trailer fishtails with negative tongue weight which causes the bike to wobble a bit but with the lion's share of the load forward of the axle, I can get on it like there was nothing there and even forget there is. The trailer can carry 500 lbs. but I haven't had more than 100 on it.
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Hey sitler! I specially like the Rebar for the back rest! The duct tape of metal fabricating! But to do that too such a sporty/trick/ sweet/looking bandit!!! I have a 2001 intruder with less than 6k miles on it that does that stuff much better! Want to trade? I live across the sand bar from ya! Did ya see my riggins with rebar? Some slammed me for em others wanted a set, for nothing of course!! Good luck But the trailer bracket hook up does look suspect too swing arm movement!! Please be safe!! :beers:
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I like the rear rack. I wish you had a 1G.
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Is there one other Bandit owner in the world who has a driver backrest?
I've got a backrest for the pass. Closest I've got is the butt berm on my Corbin. Given my own posture on my bike, I don't know that I'd get much benefit out of a real backrest.
When I had my GS750, it had a luggage rack with an adjustable backrest that served me well when riding solo across the US,
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If I didn't have the bar risers, I doubt if I would even feel the backrest but since I do, it does give noticable lower back support. When I get on it, I really feel it holding me. It isn't really needed for the short hops I usually take but it just slides in and out of the trunk mounting plate with no fasteners at all. The main thing I like about the mods is that my bike is UNIQUE! :beers: