Top Bag Finally On The Kawi
I am so pleased to finally have this top bag mounted on my Concours.
Yes! It’s on! I finally have a top bag on my Kawasaki Concours.
Tom, who designed and built the rack for me to mount this bag on the bike, gave me a call a few days ago to say he had it ready. I rode out to his place and he put it on and voila! There she is!
I had been really naive in contacting Tom to do this for me. My mechanic, Joel, had mentioned that he had a friend with a Concours like mine who had built a rack for his own bike. Not really thinking it through, I figured he could just do the exact same thing again to help me out. What I didn’t consider was that the bags were different, and therefore required different mounting equipment. Essentially, Tom had to come up with an entirely new and different design than what he had used to mount his own bag.
This simple-looking design belies the nuances Tom designed into it to make it truly aesthetically pleasing.
If you look at the bracket it at first seems to be a simple four piece crosshatch design. What you don’t see is that he used different material on the back cross-member so it would elevate the back and give it just the right pitch. Also, for the same reason, the two pieces coming front to back were bent upward just the right amount. Really great work. Thank you so much, Tom.
So, as you can see, this design definitely puts the weight of the bag on the bikes rear fender bodywork. I had been concerned that doing this might be a bad thing, either because the bodywork might break under the weight or the shift in balance would affect the steering. That concern was mostly allayed after I spoke with two people–Tom being one of them–who had put racks on their Concoures with no ill effects. I just figure if it is usually mostly empty, leaving room for helmet and jacket when I stop, the only time there will be excessive weight is when the bike is not moving. That’s what I’m hoping, anyway.
So Yahoo! I can’t wait to show up at the next ride and have my buddies gather around saying, oh look what Ken put on his bike. I’m pleased.
Biker Quote for Today
We know you’re a poser if all your leathers match.
Tags: kawasaki concours
