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Hepco becker

Meldrew

Meldrew

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Messages
233
Location
England and Menorca
Having recently purchased the hepco becker crash bars and C bow frames for my Eldorado I can't believe the poor quality of fittings supplied with what is otherwise I believe a quality product.
The nuts and bolts supplied with the crash bars for the lower mounting points were the wrong size. The bolts were metric fine thread,God knows what the nuts were,managed to get replacement nuts from my local stainless steel suppliers who even commented about the poor quality of the fittings. The fittings for the C bow frames will be replaced imminently with stainless. I intend to send a message to HB customer services reference the quality of the above said items. It will be interesting to see what their response will be.
My advice to anyone buying HB products, bin the fittings supplied,don't even bother using them and source alternatives prior to fitment. On a positive note the crash bars look really good and the Cbow frames with Chrome 'Cs' look really good (in my opinion). I did order the HB rear rack but had to return it as I want to retain the separate rider /pillion seat option which is not possible with the HB products, therefore the Moto guzzi heavy duty rear rack has been ordered.
Cheers, ron
 
Meldrew said:
Having recently purchased the hepco becker crash bars and C bow frames for my Eldorado I can't believe the poor quality of fittings supplied with what is otherwise I believe a quality product.
The nuts and bolts supplied with the crash bars for the lower mounting points were the wrong size. The bolts were metric fine thread,God knows what the nuts were,managed to get replacement nuts from my local stainless steel suppliers who even commented about the poor quality of the fittings. The fittings for the C bow frames will be replaced imminently with stainless. I intend to send a message to HB customer services reference the quality of the above said items. It will be interesting to see what their response will be.
My advice to anyone buying HB products, bin the fittings supplied,don't even bother using them and source alternatives prior to fitment. On a positive note the crash bars look really good and the Cbow frames with Chrome 'Cs' look really good (in my opinion). I did order the HB rear rack but had to return it as I want to retain the separate rider /pillion seat option which is not possible with the HB products, therefore the Moto guzzi heavy duty rear rack has been ordered.
Cheers, ron
Click to expand...

The Guzzi rack will not fit with the Eldo seat either, you will have to use a Cali seat.
 
MG now do a specific rack for the Eldorado, it has the mounting plate for the passenger seat pad and I believe additional brackets for the deeper fender of the Eldo. I double checked with the dealer as it's a pricey item and they have assured me that the part number is specific for the Eldo.
Part number 2S000541, https://goo.gl/images/qvN5Vj
Cheers,
Ron.
 
Hepco & Becker bolts and nuts have always been of poor quality, long before C-Bows were invented. It was always my priority to find quality replacements. Peace of mind that I'll still have my luggage and the end of the journey.
 
Bike now in dealers for a service and having the genuine MG rack for the Eldorado fitted. Had to get them to try and remove one of the hepco becker bolts as I rounded it off when fitting, doh. Apparently the bolt sheared when they were trying to remove it and a stud extractor was subsequently used (glad i got a fixed price from them for the job).I have replaced all the supplied hepco becker bolts for the C bow racks with stainless steel items from my local supplier for the grand total of £1.20 believe that's about $1.50 ish US.
Still waiting for a reply to the email I sent to hepco becker about the poor quality of fittings supplied with their products.
Keep you posted.
Cheers,
Ron.
 
I've always immediately replaced the mounting bolts as soon as I received my H&B pannier racks, after an early bad experience. I have no reason to believe their quality control has improved any.

The rest of the product is excellent, so it's hard to understand why they let themselves down.
 
This input is not worth much, but, as Perfect Pillion :inlove: is making me breakfast -- it's usually the other way around, especially when she is in her Polish Princess mode ;) -- I'll peck out a few words on this.

I went the C-Bow route when I bought my Griso in late '11. Still have it; still like it ... tho my Thanksgiving-visiting-from-Atlanta brother is bringing me a set of hard bags today to replace the OK-but-only-OK soft ones I have.

After reading about the poor-quality H-B fasteners here, I am getting nervous and may replace over the winter.

Anyway ... I recall that installing the H-B on my Griso was a monumental PITA because some Gastarbeiter with German as his second language and Google translator for English must have written the instructions. There was no rhyme and less reason to the usual Tab A and Part B litany. Everything seemed and was bassackward. :swear::banghead:

Interestingly, when installed the same set-up on my brother's V7 III Special last summer, it was, to my great but pleasant surprise, a quailty and correct set of instructions.

Time for breakfast; "Staff" has done well, but needs affirmation. :giggle:

Bill
 
Just a heads up for anyone who is thinking of purchasing the original MG rack for the Eldorado, beware if you have Cbow pannier frames because you cannot fit both as I have just found out the hard (expensive ) way.
Options therefore for the Eldorado: Any of the three racks/backrests made by hepco becker will fit with the C bow frames but you will have to change the seats to a one piece California touring seat or Corbin. (See Garwoods post). Other option, fit the MG rack and have a fabricator adjust the C bow mounting brackets to fit therefore retaining the heavy Duty rear rack and dual seat option.
I'm now going down the latter route as I already have the C bow frames and Buffalo big bags and the dealer has just fitted the MG rear rack.
Final wallet busting option.fit MG heavy duty rear rack and MG frames for MG leather panniers, this combined with the cost of the MG leather panniers will set you back about $3000 yikes.
Hope this helps if anyone is considering any of the above,
Cheers,
Ron.
 
Ok here goes, a general update and hopefully a few pictures. Having purchased the Eldorado swmbo said "no way am I getting on that without a backrest or better seat" so my options were to get a rack and fit a topbox, get a rack with a backrest, or change the seats to a corbin with rider and passenger backrest. I wanted to retain the large rider saddle so changing the seat was not an option for me so I decided to go down the Hepco becker route of getting their rack so I could fit a top box and C bow pannier frames as I had already managed to get hold of a pair of New (second hand) large Buffalo bags.
First problem I encountered was that the HB rack would mean changing the seat which I didn't want to do so the rack was duly returned and the Genuine Guzzi rack ordered.
Next problem, the C bow frames do not fit with the guzzi rack as they both use the same mounting point, so I was left with either go back with the HB rack and change the seat option or get the Cbow frames modified to fit. Luckily in the village where I live there is a small independent motorcycle engineering workshop (the guy builds and drag races his own bike and does CNC machining) so I took the frames to him and he did an excellent job of fabricating the brackets and re powder coating.
I also managed to source a second hand 65L top case, it was originally burgundy in colour but has now been re-sprayed in black (not sure if I'll keep it yet as it is a large beast), looks massive when fitted on its own, but not too bad with the panniers fitted as well.
The final accessory (so far ) is the rider backrest. Great lower back support, it's adjustable for height and angle and really helps to keep a more upright posture. Also really helps when you are "paddling" backward's when manoeuvring the bike.
Final thing still to be done is to get the passenger seat re-shaped for swmbo, it's going to be made wider (not that I'm suggesting she has a big ass) and more "pan shaped" similar to the rider saddle.
A few pics with everything fitted.
Null 1548950546314 Null 1548950438610 Null 1548950437113 Null 1548950100835 Null
 
Last edited:
Meldrew said:
Ok here goes, a general update and hopefully a few pictures. Having purchased the Eldorado swmbo said "no way am I getting on that without a backrest or better seat" so my options were to get a rack and fit a topbox, get a rack with a backrest, or change the seats to a corbin with rider and passenger backrest. I wanted to retain the large rider saddle so changing the seat was not an option for me so I decided to go down the Hepco becker route of getting their rack so I could fit a top box and C bow pannier frames as I had already managed to get hold of a pair of New (second hand) large Buffalo bags.
First problem I encountered was that the HB rack would mean changing the seat which I didn't want to do so the rack was duly returned and the Genuine Guzzi rack ordered.
Next problem, the C bow frames do not fit with the guzzi rack as they both use the same mounting point, so I was left with either go back with the HB rack and change the seat option or get the Cbow frames modified to fit. Luckily in the village where I live there is a small independent motorcycle engineering workshop (the guy builds and drag races his own bike and does CNC machining) so I took the frames to him and he did an excellent job of fabricating the brackets and re powder coating.
I also managed to source a second hand 65L top case, it was originally burgundy in colour but has now been re-sprayed in black (not sure if I'll keep it yet as it is a large beast), looks massive when fitted on its own, but not too bad with the panniers fitted as well.
The final accessory (so far ) is the rider backrest. Great lower back support, it's adjustable for height and angle and really helps to keep a more upright posture. Also really helps when you are "paddling" backward's when manoeuvring the bike.
Final thing still to be done is to get the passenger seat re-shaped for swmbo, it's going to be made wider (not that I'm suggesting she has a big ass) and more "pan shaped" similar to the rider saddle.
A few pics with everything fitted.
View attachment 16367 View attachment 16368 View attachment 16369 View attachment 16370 View attachment 16371
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, it's taken a bit of work (and cost) having the original C bow fixing points re fabricated and powder coated but at least I now have usable pannier mounts.
 
whatthe said:
did the guy use the bottom of the shock mount again for a support point?
Click to expand...
He cut the top mounts off then welded a plate across so as to use the same fixing points as the MG carrier which is bolted to the subframe. The lower mounting point which uses the muffler fixing bolt remains the same. I will try and post some pictures when the weather improves and I can get the bike out of the garage.
 
Meldrew said:
Ok here goes, a general update and hopefully a few pictures. Having purchased the Eldorado swmbo said "no way am I getting on that without a backrest or better seat" so my options were to get a rack and fit a topbox, get a rack with a backrest, or change the seats to a corbin with rider and passenger backrest. I wanted to retain the large rider saddle so changing the seat was not an option for me so I decided to go down the Hepco becker route of getting their rack so I could fit a top box and C bow pannier frames as I had already managed to get hold of a pair of New (second hand) large Buffalo bags.
First problem I encountered was that the HB rack would mean changing the seat which I didn't want to do so the rack was duly returned and the Genuine Guzzi rack ordered.
Next problem, the C bow frames do not fit with the guzzi rack as they both use the same mounting point, so I was left with either go back with the HB rack and change the seat option or get the Cbow frames modified to fit. Luckily in the village where I live there is a small independent motorcycle engineering workshop (the guy builds and drag races his own bike and does CNC machining) so I took the frames to him and he did an excellent job of fabricating the brackets and re powder coating.
I also managed to source a second hand 65L top case, it was originally burgundy in colour but has now been re-sprayed in black (not sure if I'll keep it yet as it is a large beast), looks massive when fitted on its own, but not too bad with the panniers fitted as well.
The final accessory (so far ) is the rider backrest. Great lower back support, it's adjustable for height and angle and really helps to keep a more upright posture. Also really helps when you are "paddling" backward's when manoeuvring the bike.
Final thing still to be done is to get the passenger seat re-shaped for swmbo, it's going to be made wider (not that I'm suggesting she has a big ass) and more "pan shaped" similar to the rider saddle.
A few pics with everything fitted.
View attachment 16367 View attachment 16368 View attachment 16369 View attachment 16370 View attachment 16371
Click to expand...


Hello , may i ask where you purchased that riders seat backrest ?
 
Hi Brad, Backrest was purchased from Utopia backrests. UTPR. com.
Don't think it's advertised on the website yet but contact Bob, I'm sure he will give you all the details, cheers, ron.
 
My pleasure.Cracking piece of kit, well made and really comfortable.
I have lower back problems and this really helps.
 
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