Installation instructions/drawings or .pdf file

[Igo]

Maybe I should ask this in its own thread.
Do any of you have a .pdf file for installation of any of your luggage racks or top boxes? I really hoping to construct a purpose built luggage rack for my NT and I need ideas for mounting options. I would really appreciate whatever you have. Let me know and I'll send my email address.
Thanks a bunch in advance.

 

[RedLdr1]

For the SW-Motech I used go to Here and click on Related Files....

 

[Igo]

There ya go Red. That's the drawing.

 

[elizilla]

Igo,

Where the mounting screws go through the plastic grab rails, you will need some spacers of a very specific size. I have a local hardware store that is fantastic - they have anm entire second storefront just devoted to little drawers of fasteners, spacers, etc. But they still didn't have these. I had to order them from McMaster-Carr, and they came in a bag of 25. This project requires two. So I have extras. PM me your address and I'll mail some to you.

 

[Igo]

Fantastic.

 

[Igo]

Thank you sir. I am looking for an exact end result. The rack and mounting plate are going to be one in the same. It's not going to be too hard to do. I'm half way done already.

 

[elizilla]

I've sent the hardware.

Here's the deal with putting a home-made rack on the back of the NT...
There are four mount points. They are all in one plane. The rear two are visible on the stock NT - there's that near-level black plastic panel behind the seat, and it has two screw heads visible, those are mount points. The other two are farther forward and are hidden, you have to take off that piece of black plastic and drill holes to use them. The spots to drill the holes are marked on the underside of the plastic.

The grab rails are painted a color that looks like anodized aluminum, but they are actually stout plastic. They extend back into the tail of the bike, and the four rack mount points are supported by them.

I drew a picture. Bear with me, I don't have a fancy CAD package or anything - I drew it in Windows Paint. But here it is:

All four mounts are essentially like this. The red line is where the bolt goes. The blue is the plastic grab rail and the light blue is the tubular sleeve I just mailed to you. The red line is the path of the screw. The rack isn't pictured but it sits on top. So there's a tube shaped spacer, that sits on a washer. The washer sits on the plastic grab rail and on the metal sleeve which lines the hole in the grab rail. The bolt threads into a funny rectangular nut that fits into a slot in the bottom of the grab rail.

The two rear mount points already have the funny rectangular nut, and a washer/sleeve that fits into the hole in the grab rail. So you just need the tubular spacer of appropriate height, and a longer bolt.

The two mount points that are not already exposed, don't have any of the metal pieces. Just the hole in the grab rail, and the slot under it where the funny rectangular nut sits.

The funny rectangular nuts, I couldn't find any generic equivalents at Fastenal or McMaster-Carr, let alone my local hardware. But they can be ordered from Honda - the stock bike contains two, in the rear holes, and you just need to get two more. The metal sleeves, I mailed to you today. You will need to source the larger tubular spacers, in whatever length you decide you need, to set your rack level. And you'll need to source the washers and the bolts in the correct length. The bolts are M8 size.

Does this help?

 

[Igo]

I understand all of it. I hugely appreciate your efforts. So the tubular sleeves are either to fortify the plastic grab rails or to take compression off the grab rails and have the load sit on the sleeves; am I correct?
I will order the plastic nuts from Honda. Do you know the part numbers?
I use both McMaster-Carr and Fastenall. I'm a huge fan of McMaster-Carrs catalog system. You can find anything there.
I looked around work for some tube stock that had the girth of a top box spacer but we didn't have any. I'm going to have to go to a steel house to find some. I made a spacer for ricks bike with 1/4 flat washers and I had to drimmel out the ID to accept the bolt. Not ideal but will probably work forever. I couldn't find stainless washers that morning so I caked the washers in a caulk sandwich before compressing them. I gradgiated frum the Georgia schoow of Enginerics.

 

[Igo]

#14 GIVI part number? I have the drawings. Probably only $6 at Givi and $21.95 at Honda?

 

[elizilla]

The funny rectangular nuts are not plastic - they are steel. The part number is 61304-165-013. They are like an M8 nut welded to a washer, only the washer is rectangular instead of round.

The sleeves fortify and take compression off the grab rails - but the grab rails still have to support the weight, since there's nothing under the funny rectangular nuts to support them. The washers sit on top and spread the load.

I also ordered a bunch of stainless M8 button head screws in different lengths for my rack, from McMaster-Carr. The tubular spacers came from my fantastic local hardware. I ended up using slightly different lengths for the front vs the back. I've been fiddling with the lengths as I keep changing my mind about just how high I want the rack to sit.

 

[elizilla]

Except the Givi ones are painted black and the Honda ones are unpainted, probably stainless.

The Honda fiche now says the retail price is $3.48 each. Which has changed from last year when it just said "Call For Price". I had a heck of a time getting them - three different US dealers told me they weren't available, and I finally got them from a guy on the UK forum who was able to walk into his dealer and just buy them - they had them in stock! Then not long after that, people on this forum said they'd been able to get them from their US dealers.

 

[Igo]

I'll use my washers until I know what height and level I want. The Corbin seat is a little higher in the passenger back than the stock seat was. Just clearing the seat should get me just enough space to hook some high tensil strength bungy cords I have under the rack plate. I sure hope I can get this thing to look nice.
I can use any 'ol 8M to get my depth after I figure height then go to a local Fastenall for some stainless button heads screws. I've got a 12x24 inch plate turn ed 90 degrees at 10 and 1.5 inches. I won't do anything else until I stuff the two Tour Maser bags I ordered and line then up on the peice. The bags will be here tomorrow so I won't get to them until next weekend. The bad part is I no longer have a shop so I have to visit the buddy who has the right tools for each of the task. This could take weeks before I have a finished product but it will be done before my Utah trip.

 

[Igo]

I was at a fabrication shop last week and just asked a guy what he would charge to do it. He didn't have any aluminum as his business is structural steel but I gave him $25 and 15 minutes later he brought the bent plate to me. I have no real idea what direction I'm going to take from here. I don't know which pards have what as I've not done any fabrication outside of work since moving here.

 

[Igo]

Hey, I didn't read the post but I just saw Andy's pictures. If the post has dimensions, just get the dimensions and print the pictures. Call "machine" and/or "fabrication" in the phone book and get it all done in one shot. His bracket is nice looking and extremely simple. Just plate aluminum sandwiches. Make sure to ask the shop if they do small projects and if they work in aluminum before you drive over to see them.
You project is easy. Mine is going to have some weird cuts and turns and is going to take much more hand work.

 

[Igo]

Except the Givi ones are painted black and the Honda ones are unpainted, probably stainless.

The Honda fiche now says the retail price is $3.48 each. Which has changed from last year when it just said "Call For Price". I had a heck of a time getting them - three different US dealers told me they weren't available, and I finally got them from a guy on the UK forum who was able to walk into his dealer and just buy them - they had them in stock! Then not long after that, people on this forum said they'd been able to get them from their US dealers.

I got your spacers today. How fantastic is that? I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these. I'll keep you posted on the progress. I hope you don't mind if I steal an idea from you but I'm going to try to put slides on my rack too. The bed is 12 inches front to back but it wants to hang over the tail light and I don't want that. And the closer up it goes the more options I have for creating a duffel backrest.
Well guess what. I just paid $12.50 for two of these funny nuts. I told the parts person that that took my breath away. I didn't pick on him, I kept it nice.
OK. My base metal weighs 10.5 pounds. I'm going to cut some fat out of it to bring the weight down and give me a variety of lash points. Let's cross our fingers.

 

[elizilla]

Well, if you are sliding your rack, I suggest slots for both pairs of mounts. I did slots for one pair and a choice of four holes for the other, and I am finding that to be a PITA. Version two of my rack is going to have all slots and no countersinking. It's also going to have bigger holes for the lash points.

And I am very surprised the package got there that fast! I just mailed it Saturday.

 

[Igo]

It getting here and you having the part numbers are the biggest steps to getting this project done.
I'm going to have to stay after work to sneak time on the end mill to get these slots. Now is when CNC would be helpful but we don't have one of those.
I'll cut the slots really precise so I can keep them narrow. There is a foam pad on the bottom of my TourMaster luggage so button head cap screws will work just fine. With 4 of those in 1 square foot I should be fine. I may have to use lock washers but hope to get away with blue thread locker. I can see how taking up screws in two slots could become a test of coordination and patience. LOL. can you just mill your bolt holes together?
How many pounds or torque can I get away with when reifing the 4 screws down?

 

[elizilla]

I haven't been using a torque wrench on mine, but I've been calibrating my hand to a relatively low torque value, because I don't want to crush the plastic sandwich, and they don't seem to rattle loose at all.

I countersunk my slots and holes, and I now think that was unnecessary, and that I would rather have the extra material in there for reinforcement and go slots all the way. And add a washer on top to spread the load a bit. So I will likely make an entire new one, eventually.

 

[Igo]

OK. A fender washer will be alright.

 

[dannyjo]

I've sent the hardware.

Here's the deal with putting a home-made rack on the back of the NT...
There are four mount points. They are all in one plane. The rear two are visible on the stock NT - there's that near-level black plastic panel behind the seat, and it has two screw heads visible, those are mount points. The other two are farther forward and are hidden, you have to take off that piece of black plastic and drill holes to use them. The spots to drill the holes are marked on the underside of the plastic.

The grab rails are painted a color that looks like anodized aluminum, but they are actually stout plastic. They extend back into the tail of the bike, and the four rack mount points are supported by them.

I drew a picture. Bear with me, I don't have a fancy CAD package or anything - I drew it in Windows Paint. But here it is:

All four mounts are essentially like this. The red line is where the bolt goes. The blue is the plastic grab rail and the light blue is the tubular sleeve I just mailed to you. The red line is the path of the screw. The rack isn't pictured but it sits on top. So there's a tube shaped spacer, that sits on a washer. The washer sits on the plastic grab rail and on the metal sleeve which lines the hole in the grab rail. The bolt threads into a funny rectangular nut that fits into a slot in the bottom of the grab rail.

The two rear mount points already have the funny rectangular nut, and a washer/sleeve that fits into the hole in the grab rail. So you just need the tubular spacer of appropriate height, and a longer bolt.

The two mount points that are not already exposed, don't have any of the metal pieces. Just the hole in the grab rail, and the slot under it where the funny rectangular nut sits.

The funny rectangular nuts, I couldn't find any generic equivalents at Fastenal or McMaster-Carr, let alone my local hardware. But they can be ordered from Honda - the stock bike contains two, in the rear holes, and you just need to get two more. The metal sleeves, I mailed to you today. You will need to source the larger tubular spacers, in whatever length you decide you need, to set your rack level. And you'll need to source the washers and the bolts in the correct length. The bolts are M8 size.

Does this help?

Elizilla,
Something you said has helped make me feel much better. I received my Honda top box racks and hardware a few days ago, and this evening, after everyone else had left work, I spread the hardware over my desk and sorted it into little bags labeled for each step. I found that there were only 2 of the square flanged nuts included, but instructions show 4 when assemblying, so I was not happy and began looking thru my John Deere "parts search" for some replacement nuts I could get quickly.
But, according to your note, there are already 2 of the square flange nuts in the hand rail, so I'm back in a good mood. (How do they not fall off when hand rail is removed?)
I plan to ride my bike to work when the weather get decent, and do the install there after hours where the floor and lighting is good.
I understand nearly everyone has problems dropping hardware into nooks and crannies , so being one of the worst fumblers, I plan to stuff rags everywhere.
Another question came up: it mention short and long socket head bolts, but I have only one length of bolt, but two lengths of sleeves.. Will they work ok? Also, they are called flange socket head, but mine are plain socket head.
I sure had a lot of pieces that don't apparently go anywhere on the NT installation, including some nice rubber donut-y pieces.?
Sure wish you or someone else with good hands lived closer, I'd buy supper for their expertise.
After the top box, the power point goes on for GPS.
Any other suggestions welcome!