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Touring Hardbags And Other Reccomendations


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So I have decided next year to venture out of my comfort zone and do my first European tour. Going to look to start in Amsterdam and work my way south for a few days toward France and return back to the UK via rail before riding north for the final leg back to North Yorkshire. A good few days ride, but one I need to prepare for, fitting my VFR1200 DCT. Next summer at the earliest, since most of the upgrades are pretty costly. That in mind, I am looking for the biggest set of Givi side case(matte black) that I can fit on my bike, while having the stock exhaust. I want bigger than the V35. Mounting hardware(with part #s) and pics would be great help. Was probably going to do a Givi Maxia E55 for the top unless someone has a better idea. A set of Admore Lighting signals is also on the list. Also anyone who has any ideas on any particularly useful upgrades besides a gps to make the trip better would be helpful. Except for a set of Heli-bars the bike is stock. Thanks much for your input.

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I have both a Givi E55 and a V46. I run the smaller V46 for around town and commuting, and switch to the E55 for long rides and weekend tours. I prefer the SW Motech Alu Rack instead of the Givi rack, but that's a personal choice. The SW Motech top rack is very stout and can easily handle the E55 plus a good amount of luggage load in it.

I also have V35s on SW Motech's quick release rack. The V35 works just fine for my needs. If you want to go larger, you can get the SW Motech rack that let you attach most of the "flat sided" panniers available on the market. IMHO they don't look as nice as the V35, but if you need the size...

Twisted Throttle is the US distributor for SW Motech. UK probably has a different distributor.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-quick-lock-evo-sidecarrier-honda-vfr1200f-10

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Volfy i was looking at the E41 givi cases. Little bigger in a matte black. They are very large cases and my concern is the stock exhaust. I have yet to see pics of a VFR1200 stock exhaust with big 41 liter cases. Anybody rockin i would love to see pics and parts # for racks. Im with you on the sw motech racks. I am becoming more and more partial to them everyday. Thanks.

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JC Whitney top case fits Givi rack. JC case is 1/4 or 1/5 price of Givi.

$40 or $50 versus $250 for the case. See prior posts. :beer:

Not sure if they ship to UK. :sleep:

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Volfy i was looking at the E41 givi cases. Little bigger in a matte black. They are very large cases and my concern is the stock exhaust. I have yet to see pics of a VFR1200 stock exhaust with big 41 liter cases. Anybody rockin i would love to see pics and parts # for racks. Im with you on the sw motech racks. I am becoming more and more partial to them everyday. Thanks.

If you use the SW Motech rack (pic below) to mount flat-sided cases like the Givi E41, I'm pretty sure they will clear the stock exhaust. The rack itself looks to be clearing the exhaust, so whatever cases you mount to the outside should too.

phpBupT7l.jpg

Not to sway your choice of panniers, but when I was shopping for pannier, absolute capacity wasn't all that important What was important to me was the ability to fit my XL Shoei X-11 helmet in either side. The Honda OEM pannier couldn't (I tried), otherwise, I would've gone with those. The V35 barely fit it, but it did. I didn't think most of the "square" panniers will. Just a thought.

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I have the SW-Motech (Trax) system on my KLR and it is easy to install, solid and the cases are well-sealed and good quality. Plus they are actually quite cheap as a set. Not sure they fit the aesthetics of the VFR but it's certainly an option.

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When I was looking for a rack for my top case, it was between the GIVI rack and the ALU-RACK. OEM is nice, but a little outside my price range if it's going to need modifications to work.

After seeing these posts, GIVI was out.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/73788-kappagivi-topbox-bracket-failure/ (Post 1)

or this:

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/61254-givi-topbox-bracket-anyone-installed-one-yet/page-2 (Post 12)

The ALU-RACK looks nice and I haven't had any problems with it after I finally got it installed (but that's another story).

edit: Not sure what happened to the 2nd link.... It used to work, but I can no longer find that thread....

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If you go with either of the SW Motech pannier racks (EVO for slab-sides, or Contour for V35), the top mount attaches to their top rack (Alu Rack) mount, so it's a pretty clean install.

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If you're stuck on givi for bags, the SW-Motech mount system is universal and tough as nails.

As an added bonus, it's unobtrusive and easily removed... and lockable.

Personally, for my daily commute, shopping excursions, touring etc... I went with SW-Motech and TRAX Alu-boxes. They are ugly, but tough as could be and water tight. I can easily fit way more gear, tools, clothes, children and puppies in these things than I could ever need.

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That was with 8 days of gear simply in the panniers.

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This is with the SW-Motech frames removed. You can see a black tab by my license plate bracket and passenger footpeg, those are the mounting points for the panniers. The top case rack is obvious.

Exhaust clearance would not be an issue IMO. Ground clearance can be. (Don't ask me how I know...)

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those Trax bags are the same ones I had on my '12 Guzzi Stelvio - very nice on an adventure bike, but as mentioned....not sure if the aesthetics match the VFR's mission statement :cool:

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those Trax bags are the same ones I had on my '12 Guzzi Stelvio - very nice on an adventure bike, but as mentioned....not sure if the aesthetics match the VFR's mission statement :cool:

The 1200 complains every time I mount the bags on it... I can hear her whispering, "Get that crap off of me you inconsiderate bastard... I'm not a Ryder Truck dammit!"

Then we hit the road and all is forgiven when I twist her over 6k. :wink:

Those do look tough as nails.

They will hold the bike off the bodywork when blown over in a 60mph gust with no damage whatsoever...

Ridiculous storage with an added bonus of a frame-slider in a pinch. :unsure::mad::rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some of those look like they could challenge the recommended weight limits once a rider fills them and gets on. :unsure:

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  • 3 months later...

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