SpaceDiver Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Hello all. I'm new to this forum and from what I have seen there is a wealth of knowledge out there to be tapped. Can somebody please advise me whether or not there is something amiss with the way my luggage brackets mount to the top of the tail section? I purchased the bike second (third?) hand and the bags came with it, not installed. After mounting the racks there appears an unsightly gap between the grab rail and body work. I have the rack first, the rubber skirt/spacer second then rail. I was expecting the assembly to sit flush to the tail section bodywork but, unless there is some other rubber spacers I'm missing, I just can't figure it out. Check the attatched image, hopefully it shows well what I mean. Help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceDiver Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Here's a picture of what I'm trying to show... Here's a picture of what I'm trying to show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MarkDetroit Posted April 7, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2015 Only thing we are missing is... pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigger4343 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I just installed that stuff on my bike not long ago. No gaps at all, the rubber spacer thing fills in the space. Her is the best pic I have at the moment of the rubber spacer under the grab handle. Hope this helps you a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceDiver Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Can't seem to get the pics to download! Aarrgh! Thanks for your pic Rigger, yours seem quite flush. I'll keep trying with the image(s) download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted April 7, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2015 Here's a nice post that was put up about installing 6th gen OEM luggage. It's been a while since I looked at the printed instructions - there are 4 spacers that are supplied that I believe are only used with the top case mount. It's a bit hard to tell from the second photo - but if you have them installed, try removing them and see what you get. Also, your seat cowl looks to have an issue as well - is the seat not latched down in the photo?http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/58564-6th-gen-oem-luggage-installation-guide/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceDiver Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Thanks for the insight Cogswell. I'll look a little closer to see if there's evidence of the 4 spacers you mention. The racks themselves seem unaltered at first glance. Perhaps the grabrail mounting points recessed in the bodywork have the spacers affixed somehow. When mounting everything I didn't see anything that seem removable. I'll check again. As for the seat cowl it is a very tight fit on the Sergeant seat (the three tabs have all been cracked and repaired at some point in there use ). Again the gap seems a bit wide but I can look past that for now. Thanks for the link too...I'll study the material for tomorrow's test! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigger4343 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Yours certainly has a gap that mine does not. If you have a spacer in there that is not supposed to be, like mentioned above, then that would certainly explain the gap. It was only about two months ago I think that I installed all my stuff. It was a new kit that had never even been out of the box and I do not remember any spacers that would cause something like that. Only thing I can think of is if the bushings that are supposed to go into the foot peg mounting point were put up there under the handles by mistake. Just took a couple for you to see a little closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 I still have those spacers and the top rack installed. No idea why they were in the installation kit. If you take out the spacers it should be perfect and snug down to the plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceDiver Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Thanks again Rigger, excellent photos. I should be able to get a real good look at what's going on in there once the work week is done. I'll take a good look for spacers too, Superfunk. I also had a thought; what if its the tail section shroud that has somehow dropped giving the extra space? Possible? We'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceDiver Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 99% solved! I'll say she's as good as she's gonna get. Seems it was more a bodywork issue as I suspected. Its like the taillight assembly was drooping somewhat and, the side "pods" too, creating the great gap seen in the original pics. I took everything off (no spacers anywhere) and saw that the plastic on the underside where the fender would attach could be pushed up effectively eliminating the gap at the rear. Similarly if the sides were pushed in the same effect was observed. Hmm. I put in a couple of washers were the tail assembly screws to the fender eliminator bracket to help prevent the tail drooping and when I reattached the body work I made certain to hold the sides up when tightening the screws at the front. This seemed to do the trick of filling the gap at the grab rails but there's still a question as to why, how and will it hold? I've added some photos (fingers crossed) that may illustrate better. Thanks to Cogswell, rigger4343 and superfunkomatic for your commentary and helpful insights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigger4343 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 That looks better. I started to think about that too because of the gap in the rear seat cover. I have only had my cover on once when i first brought the bike home and I dont remember mine having any gaps. Looks like it was a simple fix, glad you go it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Glad to help. Looks much more snug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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