[Jay Little buffalo]

Ok so i been looking around and the prices for sissy bars and a trunk rack for my bike is a little steep. Soooooo i am going to get some steel tubing and fabricate my own... about 10 yrs ago i used to fabricate awnings for peoples homes so this should be a breeze. Now should i stick with a round style or maybe do a small square tubing not caring if its chrome i will paint it to whatever color bike is going to be...... any suggestions would be great...

 

[lucky]

yea i have one......weres the pics???? and how much would you charge for racks?? that is if you were to make them and sell them on the forums (that is if you wanted to)because i have been tosing the idea around for a rack that way i can mount another fuel source on it for my bike

 

[LowLife1220]

funny i was just considering making a sissy bar for my bike today. 'course mine was going to be made out of a bent piece of rebar cuz i'm white trash.





make sure you post pics once you get it built up. i'm eager to see how to do it right.

 

[cxlover]

I,ve also been Thinking of this. More the rack than the bar but the combo looks better than just a rack haning in outer space imo



I just don't have a good way of bending steel and I don't want to weld to my grab bar. Guess I could get some piping and make spacers for the Custom's rear

 

[mnd]

This is what I came up with:











I need to think about how to mount the sissy-bar before I get too far down that path.

 

[Blindstitch]

I would think that you could weld your sissybar solid at the front of where the rack starts and just bend up a U shaped piece. Or do you want it removable? In that case I would probably weld a tube to each side with a hole drilled in it.

 

[mnd]

Turn signal relocation:







Pannier racks:







I'm still thinking about the sissy bar problem. I'm thinking I'll make it so it can hinge forward and act as an extension of the rack for when I'm solo and want to carry more stuff.

 

[Slimandduater]

Looking good.. can't wait to see the sadle bag mounts on the bike.

 

[mnd]

Looking good.. can't wait to see the sadle bag mounts on the bike.

I ran out of acetylene yesterday so that was all the work I could get done this weekend.



(ETA) I did take the bike out and run around on unpaved roads, to beat up the rack a bit.







Held up just fine.

 

[Teacher Tim]

What you're doing looks similar to what I had in mind for my bike. Is that conduit you're using, and are you brazing the tubing instead of arc welding? It looks great! I'm not really planning on a luggage rack, but I am planning on building pannier racks to add some Ortlieb QRL waterproof saddlebags from Aerostich. What are you using for your mounting points?

 

[Slimandduater]

what are you running for a shield and luggage?

 

[mnd]

What you're doing looks similar to what I had in mind for my bike. Is that conduit you're using, and are you brazing the tubing instead of arc welding?

Correct. I'm using 1/2 EMT conduit. EMT is specified as "mild steel" so you won't get performance like 1020 DOM tubing. This means that whatever you build is going to be heavier for a given design load (ie: you'll use more material to achieve the same strength.)



Like DOM, EMT is formed and welded, though DOM generally has the seam ground away while EMT has a seam you can feel on the inside of the tube.



I'm using an air-acetylene torch and flux coated brazing rods. I hand notch all the joints and use the torch to create a generous fillet. I'm confident that the joints will fail after the actual EMT.



*** WARNING ***



EMT is galvanized on the outside and in many cases as an organic coating on the inside so be very very careful when working with it.



Know the symptoms of zinc poisoning and understand how to reduce your risk of exposure to fumes.



I do all my work outside and try to stay well upwind.



*** END OF WARNING ***



EMT is just fine, provided you don't mind the weight penalty and limits imposed by conduit benders (5" diameter bends.)



I'd love to be building with DOM and have a TIG welder, a real pipe notcher (actually a bandsaw and a jig would be better) and a real tubing bender.



These things cost money and take up space, neither of which I have much of right now so for the cost of EMT @ 1.95/10 feet and acetylene & brazing rods I'm pretty happy with it.

It looks great! I'm not really planning on a luggage rack, but I am planning on building pannier racks to add some Ortlieb QRL waterproof saddlebags from Aerostich. What are you using for your mounting points?

My rack attaches to the four grab-rail mounting points. I used angle iron & round bar to create lugs that the tubing slips over, and then brazed the tube to those lugs.



The pannier racks currently attach to the shock lugs and bolt to the front rack mounting lug. I need to add an additional mounting leg on each side to connect them to the passenger footpegs. I've got the flat stock mounting points installed but need to cut and bend them a little to allow the slotted round bar mounting lugs to be mounted in the right position.

 

[mnd]

what are you running for a shield and luggage?

Windshield is a National Cycle "Deflector Screen" and the tank bag and tail bag are Cortech ("Sport" tail bag and 18L "Super" 18L tank bag.) I've also got the "Sport" saddle bags.



Quite happy with the National Cycle screen and less happy with the Cortech gear. I'm not especially rough on my gear but the Cortech stuff doesn't seem like it will last long with regular use (that is, it seems like occasional duty gear, rather than something that would deal with lots and lots of riding.)

 

[Blindstitch]

Windshield is a National Cycle "Deflector Screen" and the tank bag and tail bag are Cortech ("Sport" tail bag and 18L "Super" 18L tank bag.) I've also got the "Sport" saddle bags.



Quite happy with the National Cycle screen and less happy with the Cortech gear. I'm not especially rough on my gear but the Cortech stuff doesn't seem like it will last long with regular use (that is, it seems like occasional duty gear, rather than something that would deal with lots and lots of riding.)

Any chance we can get a shot of them loosely held up against the bike. Maybe with zip ties or shoe laces. In my head they look a hair big but they could be perfect.

 

[mnd]

Any chance we can get a shot of them loosely held up against the bike. Maybe with zip ties or shoe laces. In my head they look a hair big but they could be perfect.

The pannier racks?



The loops are 16x12.

 

[Slimandduater]

thanks... I like this build, might copy your ideas for my AV build

 

[Blindstitch]

16x12 might actually be a hair big. It just depends on how big the saddlebags that go on there are. But that's not going to stop it from looking sweet.

 

[mnd]

This seems popular with the KLR650 crowd. Can't beat the price.







Still no real progress on the pannier racks. Been riding instead of working on them.

 

[Interstater]

The guy on this site fabbed up some brackets to fit a generic backrest to his Valk. Something like this could be done to fit a backrest to the CX or GL, or to the EMT rack shown above. It may not be easy but it would be doable, and the result would be nice.



http://f6rider.com/Articles/10_minute_super_valk.htm

 

[mnd]

Finally warmed up enough to goof around outside, so I finished the lower pannier rack mounts. The loops are way too big and I'm not all that happy with how they mount to the bike. Oh well, learning experience. I think the next set will be DOM tubing, now that I've got a flux wire welder and access to oxy-acetylene.