[retmotor]

The Cycleracks bag supports came today as well. I thought I'd throw a pic or two of these up also.

I did not know this, but Don says these bag supports are designed to work on the front rack too.

 

[r80rt]

Those are great, you'll like them. I mounted a pair of 50 cal ammo cans to mine.

 

[srs713]

Another member used clear tubing on the loops to keep the paint from grinding together.



Cut four pieces to length, then I believe he boiled them (?) to get them soft enough to go on easy.



I'm gonna have to start saving up for a rack & set of these.

 

[ridgeline]

i got the same rack i was thinking of getting a set of those for my bike would like to see a picture of what you decide to put on them

 

[retmotor]

Srs, I saw that about the clear tubing too. I was thinking I'd run down to the hardware store tomorrow and see what I can find.



Ridgeline, I'm on the fence about how I'm going to use these. I have a Kolpin gas can on order so I'm going to see what that looks like on these. Don at Cycleracks says guys have put the gas cans on these supports and hung them off the front rack. I don't have a front rack, but I wonder what that would look like and how it would affect the handling, if at all. I'm also looking for a rifle boot that I may try and mount on one of them. And I'm looking for something that'll work as soft panniers, like molle packs. I wish I was one of those guys that could think of something and then just see it in my head, but that's not me. Anyway, I'll post up as I try different things.

 

[srs713]

They look like (at least on the left) there is room to mount a tool-tube on the inside of the plate.



Maybe even two on the left and one low on the right (below the muffler). Or a tube on the right and a fuel pack on the left.



Then just drape soft bags over them, or mount hard boxes on the outside.



I'm gonna search the forums for a pic of these from behind to get a better idea of how much room there is.



While I definitely want a rear rack, I'm not gonna get a front rack until I find one that sits OVER the headlight so I can load it up and not block the light for road travel.

 

[frog13]

They look like (at least on the left) there is room to mount a tool-tube on the inside of the plate.



Maybe even two on the left and one low on the right (below the muffler). Or a tube on the right and a fuel pack on the left.



Then just drape soft bags over them, or mount hard boxes on the outside.



I'm gonna search the forums for a pic of these from behind to get a better idea of how much room there is.



While I definitely want a rear rack, I'm not gonna get a front rack until I find one that sits OVER the headlight so I can load it up and not block the light for road travel.

SRS....my thoughts also on the front rack.....would be nice if Don would make one as suggested.Hmmmmm,if enough of us showed interest,maybe,just maybe Don would do it?.

 

[flingwing1969]

They look like (at least on the left) there is room to mount a tool-tube on the inside of the plate.



Maybe even two on the left and one low on the right (below the muffler). Or a tube on the right and a fuel pack on the left.



Then just drape soft bags over them, or mount hard boxes on the outside.



I'm gonna search the forums for a pic of these from behind to get a better idea of how much room there is.



While I definitely want a rear rack, I'm not gonna get a front rack until I find one that sits OVER the headlight so I can load it up and not block the light for road travel.

Tool Tubes mount fine on top, without blockage - my bride commented that it looked like I had rocket launchers on it. I originally mounted them under the rack but moved them up just to see how they'd do. They work fine either place. I use my bike a lot around the ranch primarely during daylight hours - it's nice to slap a small chainsaw gas can and a container of chain oil on the front rack and my tools in my bags in back.

 

[Rhodetrip]

Here's a picture of Mrs Trip's bike with seahorse cases mounted on the bag supports.

 

[retmotor]

I did pick up some tubing. Two feet is enough for both sides. I bought the 1/2" OD (3/8" ID) stuff. It's too big. The next size down will be a heck of a fight getting it on, but it's probably the way to do it. This size leaves a gap between the tubing and the support. It'll just collect dirt. I wonder how heat-shrink tubing would hold up for this application? It'd be a heck of a lot easier to install.



The Kolpin gas pack came today. The way Cycleracks has the supports pre-drilled, it's a bolt-on deal -- no drilling needed. I'll snap some pics tomorrow when it's light out and I'll pay special attention to the view from the rear so you can mentally measure for tool tubes.

 

[retmotor]

Regarding the tubing:

Here you can see the tubing is too big. On the right side I got a little too hot with the heat gun, so it stretched some. The last piece I got on without heat. Heat is not really necessary for this oversize 1/2" OD:

Here it is with the Kolpin gas pack on the rear of rack. I didn't realize it would mount at the front of the rack and at the rear:

Of course at the rear of the rack you have interference with the turn signal:

And mounting that Kolpin is this easy:

Because of this, I guess it'll be a good idea to take the support off before strapping down a large bag of dog food or kitty litter:

As promised, the rear views:

And what it looks like mounted from the side:

 

[flingwing1969]

. . . And what it looks like mounted from the side:

The Kolpin can also be mounted to the inside of the plate, so you can mount a bag AND the can.

 

[small's]

Those turn signals are flexible enough to bend out of the way if you put the bag mounts back a spot.

 

[retmotor]

The Kolpin can also be mounted to the inside of the plate, so you can mount a bag AND the can...[/img]

Oooohhhh... I like that. Thanks.

 

[flingwing1969]

Oooohhhh... I like that. Thanks.

When I got the bag/can mounts, they were a bit loose and rattled a lot so I was tempted to weld them onto the CycleRack but I went with the tubing route instead. Leaving them not permanently fixed allows the mount to swivel up to provide easy access to the inside mounted can's release knob. The tubing grips just enough to make removing the can a bit easier too.

 

[ridgeline]

i really like the idea of mounting the gas can on the inside and having the bags on the out side just wondering about if it throws the balance off by much with having the weight of one gas can on the one side

 

[flingwing1969]

i really like the idea of mounting the gas can on the inside and having the bags on the out side just wondering about if it throws the balance off by much with having the weight of one gas can on the one side

I haven't noticed a big problem - a gallon and a half weighs in around nine pounds, the fuel pack sits quite low on the bike, and I usually carry some tools etc that I put in the bag on the other side and only light stuff in the fuel pack side. I think carrying a couple of fuel packs on the rack, way above CG, would create far more issues than that little weight on one side, even if one doesn't offset the weight with heaver loading on the right.



I like it anyway.

 

[mrbracket]

I was curious how people have mounted the fuel cans to their TW... Now I see!

 

[B-dub]

There's a couple of threads on here somewhere about shortening the turn signal stalks. Not that hard, as I remember. If it was mine I would trim the ends of the bag supports so they didn't extend above the cyclerack. Nice setup, thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[retmotor]

Flingwing, I did not get those bag supports, the ones with the inside mounting plate. In fact I did not even know it was an option. As you can imagine, without them, the gas pack comes no where close to being able to fit.