givi bags

[belfastguzzi]

Don't want to be alarmist, but MG's rack, which is the same size and locates at same points (as far as I can see from your photos) has a weight limit warning on it. I need to check what it is – it's very low though. It might be on their web site.

[docc]

I agree with Jason on the weight behind the axel. I had my Teknos loaded pretty heavy last year in the mountains and didn't like how it affected the handling.

 

I'm looking to remake the frames to move the bags forward and lower.

[Guest davidb]

I am very happy with the handling. I loaded them up and rode up to lake alpine on hwy 4 reaching some very illegal speeds. I was a welder/fabricator for years and I liked the way the Non detachable rack was fabbed, so I bought it instead of making one, to save time. I will admit... I dont ride the guzzi as hard as I ride my beemer. And won't be riding the guzzi for awhile.(to the shop for rear main seal)

[Mal]

I have managed to fit Givi 36l panniers to my Le Mans, and I agree they are a bit ugly but as I don't carry pillions I've mounted them well forward (the rack is over part of the pillion seat), the centre of gravity is in front of the rear axle. The reason for fitting them was extended camping trips where easy to use,spacious and lockable panniers are useful (also they were sitting in the back of my garage from a previous bike), a few long trips using the techno panniers convinced me I wanted more capacity. If I ever get around to buying a digital camera I'll post some pics.

 

The whole assembly is pretty easy to take off so if I do decide to take a pillion l can unbolt them and use my throwovers). I've tested the Givis at 100mph and they seem fine, in a few weeks I'm off to Italy so I'll let you know how they work in the Alps but I have to admit they are a bit of a pain filtering through heavy traffic as they are a bit wide .

 

Mal

[P3GA]

Changing direction a bit, I couldn't quite swallow the cost for a GIVI hard bag set-up or even purchasing the Tekno's from TLM or Motomecca & shipping them stateside (heck the shipping was about half the price of the bags!) for the limited number of trips I take each year.

 

I've ordered a set of the GIVI T431 soft bags from R&L (Link below), which look pretty slick and were quite reasonable.

 

They expand from 19 to 25 liters, I'll have a review & post some pictures of them mounted on the bike once received.

 

 

http://www.cyclesaddles.com/home/Accessories/GIVI-T431.jpg

 

Phil

[guzzi323]

I just got finished moutning Givi's on my Scura. Though I'm sure my solution isn't for everybody, it'perfect for me.

Since my wife has made it clear that sitting on the back of my bike for 600 miles in a day isn't her idea of fun I mounted the bags further forward than typical. Though the passenger pegs can be folded out when the bags are on, a passenger would have a hard time getting even their heel on it. Also I didn't like how the buldges on the sides of the tailpiece cause the mountings to have to sit very far out from the bike. I cut the tail section to allow the brackets to fit much closer in. There's still 1 1/2 inches that the brackets could move further in before hitting the subframe but then I'd have to cut a huge section of the tailpiece for the bags to clear. Here are some pics...

 

 

 

And now with the bags.

 

 

As you can see, it's still pretty wide, but at least they dont extend very far past the end of the bike. I also like that the bags are a reasonable match for the styling of the bike.

 

I don't know if it's ideal, but it works for me!

 

Cheers!

[jrt]

Good Lord those are big bags. You could raise a family inside there.

I like the way you've mounted them up as close in as possible- one of these days (ya' right) I'm going to do the same with the technos that I have.

 

Looks good!

J

[Martin Barrett]

Very nicely done

I could have been tempted to have a spare tail section , or even have changed it to - is it Pauls replacement one first . Though he'll probably say it would ruin his aesthetics

 

I'm allmost tempted to do something simular with my Krauser K2s. But the red frames and white boxes with red doors would look a bit odd on the black and graphite Lemans. I'll stick with my teknos. Though hard cases that take a full face are a bonus.

 

Again nicely done , neatly executed I would have bodged it with a variable gap between an inch and a foot clearance.

[twhitaker]

Good looking set up. My HB bags are quite a ways forward. My wife has her thighs against the top front of the bags. There is also only about 2 inches of space behind the footpegs. I would be afraid of having all that weight that far back. We seriously overload the bags on trips.

 

We just got back from a 1875 mile trip. I would guess we had 35 pounds in each bag and our 40 pound camping kit was mounted on the tail rack in place of the trunk. Worked great.

[guzzi323]

I could have been tempted to have a spare tail section

 

I thought about picking up a 'donor' tail section to cut, but I decided I didn't need more bike bits taking up valuable space in the basement. Besides I change too much stuff on my bikes. They'll never be collectable once I get my hands on them.

 

I love the bags. 2 helmets can fit in one bag. Of course seeing as you can't use the passenger pegs with the bags on, I guess that point is moot.

[al_roethlisberger]

I think you did a great job

 

Perhaps it seems like major surgery, but if you plan to use the bags pretty regularly, I can't see that it really matters as the brackets are going to stay in place most of the time. And as mentioned, you can always get a spare tail section in the future if you like

 

Anyway, I like how it brings the bags in closer

 

 

The only thing I don't like is the exhaust hangar extensions that seem a bit less well crafted than the rest of the system

 

... and ... those bags are HUGE I think personally I would have opted for the next size down But to each his own. My friend had the same boats on his VFR

 

al

[guzzi323]

The only thing I don't like is the exhaust hangar extensions that seem a bit less well crafted than the rest of the system 

 

I'll be the first to agree with you on that one. That's part of an earlier modification. If you look closely at the 3rd picture (where you can see my cheesy hanger extension) you'll notice that the rear subframe doesn't bolt directly to the porkchop. In an effort to make the bike a little more comfortable for both my wife and myself, I made a little bracket to raise the tailsection of the bike leaving the exhaust and passenger pegs where they were to get a bit more leg room for the passenger. If you look at the first pic you'll notice that the tail section and exhaust cans run about parallel to each other now.

Overall it works pretty well. The passenger gets about 1 1/2 inches more legroom. I think I get about half that. The down side is the driver section of the seat slopes forward just a bit too much. I keep telling myself I'll take the cover off and put a small wedge of foam in there to counteract it.

 

The local hardware store when I was doing this didn't have plated metric allen bolts which is why that frame bolt is rusting. I haven't yet made it out to get a proper fastener yet.

 

I guess I have lots of tidying up to do.

 

... and  ... those bags are HUGE  I think personally I would have opted for the next size down  But to each his own. My friend had the same boats on his VFR 

 

Boats!! That's it. They're an emergency flotation device in case of water landing..

[tomsp]

hey dave, nice lake alpine run! wish i was with you.

[dlaing]

Hey Johnk Koester (guzzi323),

I like the set up!

What model mounts and bags are those?

[guzzi323]

What model mounts and bags are those?

Yhe rack is Givi's Wingrack. I also got the mounting kit and something called the stabilization kit too. I'm not certain I needed the stabilization kit. I dumped all the little hardware pieces together when I was doing it and I have quite a bit left over. A craftier fabricator than I could get just the wing rack and bags and make the rest. The bag mounts are reversed from what Givi had intended. What is the upper front of the mount on the bike is supposed to be pointed towards the rear for the rack option to bolt to. When I mounted it that way it stuck straight out just as the tailsection started tapering.

The bags are the 41 liter Monokey. They open from the side like proper huge bags with a key and there's a small flip top opening at the top of the bag that uses a combination lock. I'm surprised how much I like the little flip top door. Each bag come with 2 keys and if you order the bags inpairs they come keyed alike so you end up with 4 keys. I loose things, I like spares.

I also had to move the turnsignals from the fender to the side of the license plate light to clear the bags. I just removed the light housing and drilled a couple of holes similar to ther original mounts and it bolted right up.