Got my bigger lids or its amazing how everything falls together

[ps6000]

I was looking at getting the larger lids. I posted an ad on the Deauville UK board to see if anyone had some for sale cheaper than ebay. A guy responded that I could have them for free. Where it gets really nice is that I have 2 friends planning to visit from the UK. I was able to get the lids shipped to them 10 pounds, then hand delivered to my door. They are sitting in a box now. I am going to buy some of the metal from bikebandit to make them easier to swap.

Long story short, got big lids, cost 10 pounds.

They need to be painted, so I need to figure out something with that now.

 

[skiper]

Clever - and very generous Deauville guy.. Good luck with the touring NT..

 

[charlie b]

Nice deal.

What do you need to make them easier to swap? They come with hinges and latch hooks already (or at least they should have). 4 hinge screws and one screw for the retention strap. 5 min each side.

I'd paint them black, like Phil did. They get scratched up too easy (at least the way I do things they did) to put a lot of money into paint matching and having someone spray them.

 

[ps6000]

They didn't come with the latches and I might be missing a nut.

Did he spray them black or use bed liner? Do you have a link to the post/picture?

 

[Rich]

What do you need to make them easier to swap? They come with hinges and latch hooks already (or at least they should have). 4 hinge screws and one screw for the retention strap. 5 min each side.

When I got mine they came without striker plates, the screws to mount them, and the screws to connect the straps. I guess the assumption was you'd reuse the ones from the stock ones. This works ok if you don't ever want to swap back and forth. So I ordered a set of striker plates and screws (BikeBandit) and used various other hardware to rig up BOTH sets and wound up with a setup where I don't have to remove/install self-tapping screws into the plastic:

 

[artemedes]

As far as painting, check this thread for some photos using Dupli-color bedliner. I like how it matches the black plastic on the tail and almost looks factory. I know some will want color matched lids, but i think this is a great DYI option.

http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/showthread.php?6001-Plasics-Painting/page3

 

[charlie b]

Phil will probably check in here and show a pic of his black painted lids.

Mine came with latch hooks and hinges so wondered what the issue was.

But, after you've had the large ones for a while you'll wonder why anyone stays with the narrow ones at all. If I wasn't considering selling mine at the time I would have tossed the narro wlids.

 

[Rich]

Phil will probably check in here and show a pic of his black painted lids.

Mine came with latch hooks and hinges so wondered what the issue was.

But, after you've had the large ones for a while you'll wonder why anyone stays with the narrow ones at all. If I wasn't considering selling mine at the time I would have tossed the narro wlids.

If you picked them up used I could see the latches (aka strikeplates), but as I said, mine came with only the hinges, as well.

I do have a ST1300 top box on my NT, so that influences the discussion that follows. The top box is my everyday "put something in it and go" solution.

I find the stock lids work fine for normal use. But I've got the large ones on right now as I am occasionally lugging stuff around on the bike. I'll probably put the narrow ones back on in a couple of months. Why keep them? Well, the large ones make the bike wider. With the narrow ones I can more easily worm my way into a better unloading position on the ferry, it takes less space in the carport, and I think the bike looks better with the stock ones. I found the stock ones adequate for a 3,000 mile trip to CO last summer.

 

[ps6000]

I think kenstone's came out looking great. Will probably try to do something similar.

 

[artemedes]

Rick,

I know what you mean. Even with the wide lids the rear width is less than than the handlebars. However, that didn't stop me from scraping my big lids. It happened only the second or third time I rode it after putting them on. The engine wasn't even running, I was paddling the NT out of the garage to start it. If I would have the stock ones on there would have been no incident. This time however I got a little too close to the rear of the other motorcycle and the license plate just barely scraped the new lids. I had done this exact routine countless times with the stock lids and never scratched them. I have never been actually riding and thought they width was a problem or caused me to not go somewhere. Like you if it was that tight I probably wouldn't be "riding" there.

So no major damage, the scrape caused a 7" long section where the paint is now missing. I tried some silver touch up paint thinking it would be better since the plastic is almost black. Well the silver I grabbed was too light and stands out as much as the scrape did before. Oh well.

I have not had any other incidents, but I was quite disappointed to pay that much to have them shipped from the UK and to do such a stupid thing while they were so new. So, YES, they are wider than you think when you first get them, but it doesn't take long to get used to them at all.

 

[Rich]

To elaborate further, the mirrors are widest part of the bike and are about 40" off the ground. The handlebars are next and mine are about 36" off the ground. But the large panniers are the next widest thing and they cover an area from about 20-30" off the ground, which puts them at bumper height. There are other things in my carport that the higher stuff goes over, but the rear can not as easily get by.

The maneuver I spoke about isn't lane-splitting in the usual sense. It's creeping past parked cars on the ferry to get me into a much more favorable position to unload. And what is most likely to impede me doing this? The bumpers of the last car in line and possible some coiled hose or rope on the boat at roughly bumper height. Often which covers I have can make the difference.

Incidentally, while turning, the rear tire of a bike does not track along the path of the front tire, but rather tracks inside the arc of the front. That's how I put a big gouge in one of my ST1300 bags pulling into the carport. This AFTER having driven one for years. The front cleared, so the back will, too, eh? Not necessarily.

 

[charlie b]

I did four 2000+ mile trips with the small lids. It was still nice to have the large ones. I could also leave off the top box most of the time since my helmet would fit in one side and my jacket in the other.

As to looks. I always thought the small lids made it look anemic. And top boxes look like warts, with small lids or big lids.

But, my current bike is a rat and I love it that way, so do what you want