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TW Full Dresser
7
Last winter, I bought a used 2009, with 200 miles on it.
It came with a factory rack, wide pegs and hand guards.
I've been adding some accessories to set it up for camping, exploring, and maybe some LD touring.
For this I needed a flexible system to carry a variety of gear depending on the mission.
The criteria were carrying flexibility, easy of setup and reconfiguration, and low cost.
Although my system is a bit unconventional, I've got over a 1,000 miles on it, mostly Forest Service Roads in the Appalachian mountains, without any problems, so I've decided to post it here on the forum. As a general design principle, I've found that in attaching things that bounce, shake, or jiggle, fasteners that "give" (ie bungies) are preferable to rigid ones that tend to break when stressed.
Many thanks to those who have responded to my initial newbie questions.
The first step was to improve the factory rack.
I used 3/4" PVC fittings to build a Cycleracks-sized platform that mounts on top of the factory rack. It's attached with stainless hose-clamps at the front, and ball-bungies at the rear. There's a "wing" on each side of the rack, that can be placed in up, horizontal, and down positions. Down is normal.
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I had two 5 liter, German milsurp mini jerry-cans for extra fuel.
They are ball-bungied to each "wing" and supported by a short piece of wire-rack closet shelving for support.
Underneath each side, there was just enough room to bungie on one of the legendary storage tubes.
![]()
As saddle bags, I got four of the $4 German milsurp bags at www.cheaperthandirt.com
Each pair of bags attach with two $1 dog collars from the dollar store.
One set hangs over the rear seat, the other over the tank.
Utility clips attach the rear bags to the gas tank racks to keep them away from the spokes.
A small chain holds the two front bags from flying up.
![]()
A multi-pocket bag from the thrift store serves as a tank bag and is ball-bungied to the handle bars and Stearns seat pad
It slides over at fillups.
![]()
I traced the factory skidplate on an old plastic kitchen cutting board, added an extra 1/2" all around, and cut it out on the bandsaw.
After sitting in a tray of boiling water, it became flexible enough to bend and bolt to the bottom of the factory skid plate.
I sprayed it in aluminum paint to try to regain some manliness over THIS particular mod.
![]()
Also bolted a hockey puck to the bottom of the kick stand to provider a larger footprint and to have the bike stand a little more vertical since I'm a stand-on-the-footpeg-to-mount sort of guy.
![]()
Ready to roll
![]()
It came with a factory rack, wide pegs and hand guards.
I've been adding some accessories to set it up for camping, exploring, and maybe some LD touring.
For this I needed a flexible system to carry a variety of gear depending on the mission.
The criteria were carrying flexibility, easy of setup and reconfiguration, and low cost.
Although my system is a bit unconventional, I've got over a 1,000 miles on it, mostly Forest Service Roads in the Appalachian mountains, without any problems, so I've decided to post it here on the forum. As a general design principle, I've found that in attaching things that bounce, shake, or jiggle, fasteners that "give" (ie bungies) are preferable to rigid ones that tend to break when stressed.
Many thanks to those who have responded to my initial newbie questions.
The first step was to improve the factory rack.
I used 3/4" PVC fittings to build a Cycleracks-sized platform that mounts on top of the factory rack. It's attached with stainless hose-clamps at the front, and ball-bungies at the rear. There's a "wing" on each side of the rack, that can be placed in up, horizontal, and down positions. Down is normal.
I had two 5 liter, German milsurp mini jerry-cans for extra fuel.
They are ball-bungied to each "wing" and supported by a short piece of wire-rack closet shelving for support.
Underneath each side, there was just enough room to bungie on one of the legendary storage tubes.
As saddle bags, I got four of the $4 German milsurp bags at www.cheaperthandirt.com
Each pair of bags attach with two $1 dog collars from the dollar store.
One set hangs over the rear seat, the other over the tank.
Utility clips attach the rear bags to the gas tank racks to keep them away from the spokes.
A small chain holds the two front bags from flying up.
A multi-pocket bag from the thrift store serves as a tank bag and is ball-bungied to the handle bars and Stearns seat pad
It slides over at fillups.
I traced the factory skidplate on an old plastic kitchen cutting board, added an extra 1/2" all around, and cut it out on the bandsaw.
After sitting in a tray of boiling water, it became flexible enough to bend and bolt to the bottom of the factory skid plate.
I sprayed it in aluminum paint to try to regain some manliness over THIS particular mod.
Also bolted a hockey puck to the bottom of the kick stand to provider a larger footprint and to have the bike stand a little more vertical since I'm a stand-on-the-footpeg-to-mount sort of guy.
Ready to roll
