Fully tourable Sportster - quick release luggage system

[chornbe]

April 5, 2008 - Quick release tour bags setup. Not exactly the average Harley setup

I got hold of a set of used Givi Wingrack bag mounts. These are meant to be multi-fit racks and you need a bike-specific hardware kit. Buying them without the hardware kit, I was able to get them dirt cheap; cheap enough that experimenting with them to see if the idea works was OK. Turns out it works pretty well. I had originally intended to install them permanently on the fender struts. After test fitting it and taking some pictures, my friend Wayne convinced me that we should mount them on the quick-release tour rack that holds the existing Givi E45N tour trunk.

So, I packed up the Wingracks and headed over to Wayne's Elkton Skunkworks for the initial work. Without the type of bags I wanted to factor into the test fitting, we completely guessed at placement and clearances, and as it turned out, once I got the Givi E21s in, we messed up a little. There was too little clearance between the tops of the E21s and the bottom of the E45N tour trunk. It was possible to open the bags, but it was difficult and nearly impossible with gloves on. But as a first revision, it was excellent.

Finally, I re-drilled the tour trunk rack and moved the Wingracks down 2 inches and back about an inch. That opened up all the clearance necessary to use the bags, easily access the locks and pop the bags off as designed. Worked out perfect.

To space the Wingracks out and clear the shocks, we used some tubular spacers that Wayne and I measured up and cut. Then I made a bracket for the lower holes to make the entire assembly a bit more rigid.

Using the quick-release tour trunk rack and mounting both the top box and the saddle bags to it, the bike can go from "tour mode" to "sport mode" in about 10 seconds. I still have to get a lock for it, but I now have a fully tourable Sportster.

sportieBags_0001.jpg - The Sportster in full tour mode, both saddle bags and the tour trunk installed. These consist of a Givi E45N top box and a pair of Givi E21 saddle bags mounted on the Wingracks.



sportieBags_0002.jpg



sportieBags_0003.jpg - The bike is fully ridable with just the saddle bags installed for something a little closer to "classic" style (though there aren't too many Harley Davidsons with a full Givi outfit).



sportieBags_0004.jpg



sportieBags_0005.jpg - The bike can also be used with just the top box for the "sport bike" type of touring mode.



sportieBags_0006.jpg



sportieBags_0007.jpg



sportieBags_0008.jpg - And of course the rack and bags can be fully removed for stripped-down use of the Sportster.



sportieBags_0009.jpg



sportieBags_0010.jpg - The bags removed from the bike can be stored elsewhere when not needed for touring.



sportieBags_0011.jpg - The bags and rack can be installed and removed as one assembly in a few seconds.

[Sport-Touring]

[doylejj]

Neat setup.  Makes the Sporster an all rounder.

[ray6576]

Looks good.

[Rincewind]

I was watching for your geeked-out Sportster at the meet on Sunday.  

[chornbe]

I didn't make it.

But it's coming to Clearfield

[1KPerDay]

May 5, 2008 - Quick release tour bags setup.

That bike must be fast...

[steve.ski]

Great R&D with a nice result.

What's the weight capacity on those bags?

[chornbe]

  That bike must be fast...

yeah, I gotta fix that.

[chornbe]

Great R&D with a nice result.

What's the weight capacity on those bags is?

I think they say 10lbs each. I used 5/16" hardened hardware and stainless fasteners. Near as I can tell, the only "weak" points would be the actual contact points on the Wingracks. But on previous machines, I've loaded bags *way* beyond limit when I had to, and never really had an issue.

[JamesG]

Yeah, I've regularly put well over twice that in weight in my E21s mounted on like custom brackets on my YZF.  GIVI boxes are tough.  

[chornbe]

So I took my dirty, grimy, sludge-covered Sportster with the bags installed (Tourster?) to the dealer yesterday to pick up a small part I needed (and no, it wasn't something that vibrated off while riding, either   ). They just happened to have the Harley demo truck there and a ride was starting up as I was arriving. About 30 people waiting their turns, one ride just returning. I pulled into a spot, waved thru' the window to the sales manager and took off my helmet, unzipped my Meteor jacket, set the helmet on the bench at the picnic table and went inside.

Went in and picked up the locks I ordered (these are used to lock the quick-release racks on the bike), chatted a bit with the parts manager and the hot girl who works there, then got stopped by the sales manager asking where I'd bought my latest bike. "That's the 883 I bought from you!"

"But that's a Roadster isn't it?"

*smile* "It is now. And then some. I did some work to it."

"Holy shit! THAT is your 883 Standard??? I have to go take another look at that."

By the time I got to the front of the dealer and outside, there were about 20 people standing around the bike and I gave a quick discourse on all the work I've done to it, what choices I made and why, then gave a demo of the removable luggage, from just the top bag, then the sides, to putting them all back on and then pulling the whole assembly off. One guy shook his head and walked away. The rest were firing questions at me; what brand, how much, where did I get them, would it fit [this model] or [that model]. I had to explain a few times that I'd built the setup and that only the basics - the underlying rack and the bags - were store-bought.

Overall reactions ranged from "I wouldn't do that to MY bike, but it's cool" to "I'm going home and looking through my garage."

hahahah Great time.

[Geoff]

Good job!

Nice to see Givi bags that fit close to the bike. The typical fitment should have a "Wide Load" sign across the back.  

[atadaskew]

One guy shook his head and walked away.

Maybe he'd have like it more if you glued some fringe to the bags..

Nice work!

[CosmicHD]

chornbe, your bike looks excellent. That is a great idea! I have been wrangling with some luggage options myself. I really like what you did there.

[chornbe]

Thanks. I can take some detailed pictures and such.

It's a Harley quick-release luggage rack mount, Givi Wingracks (tho' the generic hardware would work too), some tubular spacers (made from conduit   ) and some stainless hardware.

It was a lot of fun building it, and I use it all the time.

[Geoff]

Chornbe, you should talk to the folks at Harley about chrome plating your luggage system and adding it to the company's 1000-page P&A catalog. I believe it would sell.

[Scratch33]

Nice setup, chornbe.

Last week at the RoadRunner rally there was some guy from Jersey there riding a Triumph cruiser (America or Speedmaster; not sure which) with a H-D Tour Pack cribbed onto the rear, that had GWRRA stickers all over it.  It was whack lookin', but I guess it worked for him.

[51 New West]

Holy thread revival!  Well, I'm 8 years late to this thread, but if anyone has the pics from chornbe's original post I would love to see them.  I've got a Triumph Trident 900 that is an excellent touring machine, but I have always liked the 1200C Sportsters and would love to do a little touring on one.  I especially would enjoy belting it up my mates with their "Big Twin" HD's who claim a Sportster just isn't capable of much at all :-)

[Oilhed]

I thought the Sporty SuperLow was a good start for a tourer, except the super low part.
They need the same thing with a 30-31 inch seat height and long travel suspension.

[rajflyboy]

I don't know oil

She looks pretty good just the way she is