Installing the OEM Trunk yourself or dealer?

[Gabe]

Hey gang,

Looking for some insight into those who may have or may know how to install the OEM trunk (with the appropriate nubs, bolts, brackets, etc.) My parts just arrived (everything I need to do it), but I'm hesitant to spend the dough to have the dealer mount it (labor charge) as it can be quite expensive. As such I'm considering doing it myself if the technical expertise required is minimal (I would imagine).

Has anyone removed/installed their own luggage rack before? What is generally involved? Any recommendations on procedure, how tight, and expected headaches? I'm relatively tech savvyy and can finagle my way through most things, but the last thing I want to do is have it go flying off with a trunk full of stuff at 70 mph and cause an accident or destroy it... (it wasn't exactly cheap).

Thoughts & opinions welcome!

Thanks in advance,

- Gabe

 

[Warren]

Read the instructions a couple of times. You do have to drill a couple of holes that are fairly large. I had to buy the correct size bit. I installed mine in my apartment parking lot with minimal tools. You will have parts left over which is what confused me the most.

 

[elizilla]

It's not too hard.

The holes Warren mentions? They are actually marked on the underside of the panel, so it's easy to get them right. Don't fear this drilling - the part comes off easily, it's soft and easy to drill, it's well marked. There's no drama there.

The gotcha is that the area you are working over has a bunch of dark crevasses that small bolts and spacers will roll into, never to be seen again - so you want to stuff some rags in there to catch them. The instructions will probably say to remove the grab rails - this is only necessary so you can see what you are doing. Which is reason enough, the first time - hard to do it by feel when you don't know what's in there. However there are metal spacers under the grab rails that will fall into crevasses, so cover more crevasses rather than less, with your rags. DAMHIK,IJK.

While you are in there, you could clean out the heavy sticky grease from the pannier latches, and replace it with something lighter like Dupon Teflon Multilube, to forestall the dread pannier latch problems. Please let's not have a giant diversion about that in this thread. Gabe can go read all about that in the other threads. I merely suggest it here because he's going to be in that area, and taking things apart, so this is a good time to do it.

 

[RedLdr1]

I installed the SW MoTech luggage rack with no issues other than losing one of the silver collars in to the depths of the NT... :rolleyes1: The large holes in the black plastic cover can be dremeled out if you don't have the correct drill bit as it is soft plastic. This a pretty much a straight forward bolt on....

 

[Silver Ranger]

It is about as simple as you can get other then the stick on plastic parts. It is also a good time to install a light kit in the case. It will be simple to get to the tail lights when you have things apart. Good luck.

 

[Chuck 500]

This task should be fairly straight forward. I installed a J C Whitney trunk on mine. Had to scout around at Ace for some bushings to use as spacers for that. If you don't have a shop manual, get or borrow one. It helps in getting things apart and back together correctly. As Katherine indicates, it can be done without removing the grab rails. However, getting the square nuts in place and securing them is MUCH easier with the rails off. The rails are actually fairly easy to remove and install.

Take the warning about the dark spaces VERY seriously. It think there is some sort of small parts vortex back there. Easy to thwart though with plenty of rags.

The holes are easy. Once you get the rear cover off, you will see the locations marked on the bottom. I drilled pilot holes at the marks then used a common drill bit. The plastic is soft so keep a good grip on it.

Good luck, this is a great first project.

Chuck

PS. This is from one who others watch for the comic relief.

 

[RedNigel]

I am getting one too...So just to make sure I understand, this job is easy and the only real danger is losing parts if not careful???

The reason I ask is my dealer thinks its about a $100 job, which I might pay just not to have to do it myself, even though I could.

 

[larrylarry75]

I stuffed more rags into crevices than Omar-the-Tent-Maker owns and still managed to send 3 of the little bugger-all bits into the depths of, uh, that dark place down below. I'm fairly experienced at such things - Ducati's eat well nuts like rice crispies - so I thought I had all the exits covered...duh...:tongue:

The hole you'll need to drill is simple and made even easier if you happen to own a set of Forstner bits. I bought a set years ago for some long forgotten job and it turned out the exact size I needed was among them. Think of this project as an excuse to invest in oft-needed tools; also you may be able to make a case for justifiable expense to herself so you can save the dealer $$.

Bottom line, DIY, it's not hard and you won't have to part with any of your $$. Hey, you could even save enough for a Cee Bailey screen! (You might want to keep that to yourself...:wink

LL75

 

[Gabe]

Awesome, thanks for the tips and information guys! I'm definitely much more informed about the work. Much appreciated!

-Gabe

 

[firefox111]

Good info here. Where did you buy your trunk? The dealer where I bought my NT700 from will give me 10% discount if I order from them. Is the OEM trunk available cheaper than 10% off the Honda's MSRP?

 

[Warren]

yes, much cheaper from online sources like accessories4bikes.com. If I remember correctly I saved in the 30% range.