New Luggage Rack

[Bobby G]

Finally got my long awaited luggage rack for the '99 RSV. Ordered from CruiserCustomizing.com for $84.95, including all hardware. It really is very nice, but very scary to install if you've never done something like that before. Once you start drilling holes in your truck lid, there's no going back!

 

I followed all of the instructions to the letter, at least at first, but quickly found out that the 1/4" holes don't allow for any wiggle room to get the bolts lined up to the rack, no matter how exactly you measure and line them up. Due to the curvature of the trunk lid where the rack sits, I had to keep enlarging them a little at a time until I could start the bolts into the rack properly. They ended up being about 7/16ths in diameter, but the tapered billet washers are wide enough to cover these completely, as are the rubber mounts that keep out the water. I also added a little silicone gel to totally seal the holes, and some blue lock-tite to seal the deal.

 

Very important to not over-tighten the bolts as I can see where the fiberglass/plastic will certainly crack in very short order. They just need to be slightly snug.

 

All in all, not a very difficult install for anyone who is going to add this really nice rack, but like I said, a little scary making them holes! (I added a few pics. Hope you can see some of the detail.)

 

Remember what Confusious said: "Measure, measure a thousand time - - but drill it only once"!

 

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Pretty scary I suppose when your bike is 11 years old, but REALLY scary when your bike is 11 DAYS old....

 

 

 

[Snaggletooth]

Congrats on getting the rack on. It is a bit nerve wracking making holes in the cover. I had some sort of home made rack on mine about the size of a six pack when I bought it and finally found a NOS rack to install. Two of the original holes would not work so I ended up with six holes in mine. I just filled the old holes with bolts,chrome acorns and bib washers to seal them off.

 

I made a couple of aluminum support braces for the inside of the trunk to give it a little bit stronger base to attach to. Had to add a little bit of curve to them to get them to lay flat against the surface. I wanted to beef mine up a bit becauce I carry a pretty good sized trunk bag when I wander off.

 

I used some rubber bib washers to add a little more sealing around the holes as I had to ream out two of the original holes to get the bolts to line up. Threw on some chrome washers to top them off. When I did the interior of the trunk I covered the braces with the same material to make them.....not so obvious.

 

So far it has held up pretty well. No sign of stress crack and it's solid.

 

Hope you were pretty careful with that loctite. That stuff is hard on ABS.

 

But again congrats on getting it mounted.

 

Mike

[Kregerdoodle]

looks good, I got mine from WingStuff and after a year it is rusting, I keep it in side, I should have cleaned it real well and clear coated it when I first got it.. hope yours holds up...

[Sylvester]

Four little things called star washers help a lot when you load the rack. They spread the weight over a larger areal

 

[Kregerdoodle]

got any pics of these???

 

 

 

Four little things called star washers help a lot when you load the rack. They spread the weight over a larger areal