agraham Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I thought I'd share my first mod I did for my new (to me) 6th gen. I had a full set of Givis on my CBR1000F. I can't live without at least one case so I added one to my VFR. I decided I didn't want to have the box hanging way off the back and up high this time tho (it looks especially unbalanced without side cases). I looked at the solo mounting frame that a member of this forum made and it's looks really good but it has a couple drawbacks: - time consuming to remove to carry a passenger - holds bag slightly higher than necessary in order to leave room for seat to come off. So bought a second stock seat from a wrecker ($60 basically new condition) and a Kappa K46 top box. The Kappa is basically a rebranded Givi E-series monolock box. It uses the exact same mounting hardware as the Givis. It was $220 bucks at my local shop. Kappa K46 It comes with these wavy metal bars which are designed to clamp to the bottom of a tube rack but actually work perfectly for fitting over the ribs on the bottom of the VFR seat: I put the mounting plate on the bottom of the seat and used a screwdriver to punch dents into the plastic through the holes in the waffle pattern that I would be putting bolts through: Then I taped the bars down over the holes and tested that the seat still fits on the bike properly: Note that once the bars are nestled over the ribs they won't line up perfectly with the waffle holes anymore. What you'll have to do is drill at a very slight angle so that the hole comes out the top at the right place. When you drill through, don't burst through the fabric just yet. Careful becuase your drill will drop through the foam like it's not even there. Now put the mounting plate on the top, push the bolts through from the bottom so the dimple the fabric under the desired waffle holes. Make a little nick on the dimple with a knife and then twist the bolt through the fabric hole. This should make a fairly watertight seal around the bolt so you don't get water skankifying your seat foam. Now cinch those puppies down. The foam will compress a lot causing the bolts to stick way out, so dremel them off: Tada: It feels rock solid. I do have to push the seat down pretty good to get it to lock on. This is because scrunching the plate down onto the seat has deformed it a tiny bit due to the fact there is more foam to compress at the front than at the back. I also have to push down on the back of the seat when unlocking it in order for the mechanism to let go. The bag's weight might be a bit of stress on that locking mechanism on the back when cornering, but I don't really think so because when you're moving you'll be sitting on the seat and holding it down. You can switch the seat for and unmodified one in a second. You also have the option of adding the Honda rack and bolting a second Givi monolock plate to it (they're only $20) so you can configure the bike for 2-passenger+trunk operation quite quickly. In a pinch a passenger could sit on the plate but it wouldn't be very comfy. I think it looks pretty sharp: If you are concerned about bolting to the plastic seat pan, you could buy a couple bars of five mil aluminum and put them in the channels on the underside of the seat and bolt to that. You could also get fancy and narrow one end of the bar and bend it to fit inside the channel of the two plastic hooks that connect the to the frame to reinforce them. If you are concerned about overloading the locking mechanism you could also bolt backpack straps to the bottom of the bag. You'd loop them over the passenger grab handles when you put the box on then cinch then down. I'm not worried about it tho and I wouldn't want to ruin the one-button removal of the Givi bags. My next project is to get the ColorRite paint that matches my bike and paint the box to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer V-FORE Posted May 20, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted May 20, 2010 Good Job :fing02: That will look sharp painted! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 That is exactly the idea I had when I first got the VFR. I dont like the typical mount for the top case that allows for a passenger, I personally think it looks goofy. I think this set up with the Honda hard bags would be H O T!!!! Congrats on the mod it looks great!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Nice. Especially when travelling at higher speeds, having the top box as much forward as possible is a lot better for aerodynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer rangemaster Posted May 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted May 21, 2010 Looks great, clever as hell! :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Neat idea. There is also Kanadian Ken's solo topbox mount that uses the grabrail mount points. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/57744-solo-racks/page__p__684067__fromsearch__1entry684067 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Neat idea. There is also Kanadian Ken's solo topbox mount that uses the grabrail mount points. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/57744-solo-racks/page__p__684067__fromsearch__1entry684067 Ohh those are awesome.....This place has the wheels in my head spinning in overdrive now on things to do to the VFR :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 It also gets the extra weight and CoG lower and farther forward with the box loaded. Great mod! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Something else that I am finding slightly friggin irritating is I cannot seems to find any bags for the VFR that are WHITE!!!!!! I found this set of Givi bags for ~$190 and I think they look great, but only silver, black, and matte black!!! FARRRRRKKKKKK!!!!!!! The Givi PLX166 http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?store_code=AML&screen=PROD&product_code=PLX166 What do you guys with white VFR's do instead of the 'Honda' bags that are $1,000+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agraham Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 Something else that I am finding slightly friggin irritating is I cannot seems to find any bags for the VFR that are WHITE!!!!!! I found this set of Givi bags for ~$190 and I think they look great, but only silver, black, and matte black!!! FARRRRRKKKKKK!!!!!!! The Givi PLX166 http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?store_code=AML&screen=PROD&product_code=PLX166 What do you guys with white VFR's do instead of the 'Honda' bags that are $1,000+ My plan is to get a rattlecan of paint from ColorRite.com that matches my bike. Then I'll tape the box up for painting and take it down to my local auto painters. I know a guy who knows a guy. I'll let him keep it until he's doing a car. He'll use his big sprayer that's already loaded with primer, my rattle can, his clearcoat. It shouldn't take him more than ten or 15 minutes so I'd be surprised if he wants more than $30 or $40. My color (pearl cosmic black) requires a base color and top color so I actually need two cans at $35 each. The whole thing's going to cost $150 and a certain amount of hassle. You also might need four cans instead of two for two bags. If your Givis are $550 and you wind up spending $250 painting them, them you might has well just buy the Honda bags. You can get them here for $874 http://www.accessories4bikes.com/product_info.php?cPath=35_228&products_id=4333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Something else that I am finding slightly friggin irritating is I cannot seems to find any bags for the VFR that are WHITE!!!!!! I found this set of Givi bags for ~$190 and I think they look great, but only silver, black, and matte black!!! FARRRRRKKKKKK!!!!!!! The Givi PLX166 http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?store_code=AML&screen=PROD&product_code=PLX166 What do you guys with white VFR's do instead of the 'Honda' bags that are $1,000+ My plan is to get a rattlecan of paint from ColorRite.com that matches my bike. Then I'll tape the box up for painting and take it down to my local auto painters. I know a guy who knows a guy. I'll let him keep it until he's doing a car. He'll use his big sprayer that's already loaded with primer, my rattle can, his clearcoat. It shouldn't take him more than ten or 15 minutes so I'd be surprised if he wants more than $30 or $40. My color (pearl cosmic black) requires a base color and top color so I actually need two cans at $35 each. The whole thing's going to cost $150 and a certain amount of hassle. You also might need four cans instead of two for two bags. If your Givis are $550 and you wind up spending $250 painting them, them you might has well just buy the Honda bags. You can get them here for $874 http://www.accessories4bikes.com/product_info.php?cPath=35_228&products_id=4333 Thanks so much for the link, these are the first I have saw them for sale inside the USA. Every other site i've found were in Euro's or British Pounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Macs06VFR Posted May 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted May 21, 2010 Really nice looking! I'm in the same boat on the (Pearl) white cases... Once in a while I see them on fleabay, but the price shoots past my threshold. Doubt we can get a group buy of 2. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Really nice looking! I'm in the same boat on the (Pearl) white cases... Once in a while I see them on fleabay, but the price shoots past my threshold. Doubt we can get a group buy of 2. :) yeah I guess I am gonna go the nelson rigg soft bags route for awhile, just to not have to wear the damn backpack any more. After July I can start saving for the Honda bags. Hopefully by the beginning of next year I can finally afford them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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