Narrowing side bags mounts

[RokonRon]

I mentioned I had moved my bags in almost 1 1/2" on each side in the "aux tank" topic and someone wanted to see pictures, since its getting off topic for the aux tank discussion I thought I'd start a new topic, so here it is.

I removed the passenger grab rail then removed the silver plastic part that has the rectangular loops that look like they are there to mount bags, but aren't. I broke out my trust hack saw and started cutting away the plastic so I could mount the bag racks to the frame. At present I using some small spacer on the top two mounts, but I'm thinking I can remove them and bring the bags another 1/4"-1/2" and that will give me a little over 3" narrower bags overall.

The black part in the 'left front top mount' picture is the silver plastic piece the I took the hack saw to, I painted it black because it was black plastic under the silver paint. I don't like the looks of it and will spray it silver the next time I have it off.

I put spacers in the front lower mounts then cut 2 3/4" out of the rear lower support loop and rewelded it.

Here are some pictures. I've got a couple more of the right side, but it wont let me upload more than 5 pictures at a time. If anyone wants to see them I'll post them.

 

[kwn306]

Nice job, bike looks totally different.

BTW, how noisy is that pipe?

 

[RokonRon]

BTW, how noisy is that pipe?

It's louder than stock, but not too bad. It has a nice rumble to it, it sounds like an Italian motorbike should. I like it!

 

[kwn306]

In the picture you posted with the ferry with Mr. Happy.........who / what is the manufacture of the mirrors that you are using and are those anti-vibration isolators screwed into the mounts before the mirrors were installed?

 

[RokonRon]

In the picture you posted with the ferry with Mr. Happy.........who / what is the manufacture of the mirrors that you are using and are those anti-vibration isolators screwed into the mounts before the mirrors were installed?

I had to look that one up. I got them from KLR650.com. There are actually two parts, the bottom is a Mirror Vibration Isolator 033-9996 and the top is the Mirror 033-1117. The mirrors have a ball joint at the bottom so the mirror can be push out of the way for off road riding.

 

[RJVB]

These

Interesting, would they work on all Guzzis, esp. those nice chromed stock Norge ones with their nifty ball joint? :laugh:

 

[kwn306]

In the picture you posted with the ferry with Mr. Happy.........who / what is the manufacture of the mirrors that you are using and are those anti-vibration isolators screwed into the mounts before the mirrors were installed?

I had to look that one up. I got them from KLR650.com. There are actually two parts, the bottom is a Mirror Vibration Isolator 033-9996 and the top is the Mirror 033-1117. The mirrors have a ball joint at the bottom so the mirror can be push out of the way for off road riding.

I thought so, going to have to purchase me a set, I am sick and tired of looking at my elbows with the stock mirrors. :lol: The people at KLR 650.com are great to deal with, purchased many farkles for my 2006, then the middle son totaled it falling asleep and running off the road at 2 AM one morning He was sore for two weeks but no damage to him......I wanted to kill him but the wife got in the way :roll: Some day I will own another.

 

[bigtex]

Thanks for the pictures Ron. That really is pretty straightforward, something I hadn't looked closely at.

Unfortunately, I got one of the early Mistral pipes and it is just a tad too loud for me run on a regular basis. Maybe it is time to play some more with it.

 

[HenkL]

Hi,

I am planning to narrow and lowering my side backs as well,
Can you show some more pictures ?

Regards, Henk

 

[RokonRon]

Hi,

I am planning to narrow and lowering my side backs as well,
Can you show some more pictures ?

Regards, Henk

Henk,
Here are a few more pictures


The hardest part of narrowing the bags is dealing with the lower front mounts, near the passenger pegs. I didn't want to do anything drastic to the front support arms in case I didn't like the results and wanted to go back to the original mounts. That's why I have the large spacers on the front mounts. Since I like the results I'll be adjusting (read bending) the front support arms to match the passenger peg mounts and get rid of the spacers.
Hope this helps,
Ron

 

[HenkL]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the pictures. It gave me some ideas and finally decided to not cut in my Stelvio but using 4 small stainless steel plates 67x30x5 mm to mount behind the original holders.
I narrowed it by 70 mm ( 2 3/4")total and lowered it 37 mm (1 1/2") The construction went a bit backwards.
I cut the lower support at one end and seperated the other end from the fixing plate. Than I shaped it to fit and fixed one end with a supporting screw (temporarely). Next week I will have it welded and painted again.
I am very confident with this solution as it does not effect the sidebars of the original bags.
I will enclose some pictures now. (5 is the max.) I have some more if you are interested.
Regards, Henk

 

[RokonRon]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the pictures. It gave me some ideas and finally decided to not cut in my Stelvio but using 4 small stainless steel plates 67x30x5 mm to mount behind the original holders.
I narrowed it by 70 mm ( 2 3/4")total and lowered it 37 mm (1 1/2")

Wow, that's a great idea. I never really like those useless slots things on the sides and not being shy with the hacksaw I just hacked them off, but I can understand how some might not want to go that far.

I will enclose some pictures now. (5 is the max.) I have some more if you are interested.

More pictures are always better. I'd really be interested to see what you have done to the lower front support arms, since I've decided to keep the bags narrowed I'd like to get rid of the large spacers I used to attach the arms to the passenger pegs.

Ron

 

[HenkL]

Hi,
I cut the existing weldings with a cutting machine. The one with the front end mountingplate is a bit difficult, but if you do it carefully it can be done. I also bend this end to fit and bring in line with the bag support construction. The other end of the support is grinded to fit with the old welding part. Because I also lowered the construction the adjustments are bigger than in your case. You can make things fit exactly if you carefully do the work. The welding still needs to be done.
See the pictures and good luck !
Regards, Henk