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...my brand new el-cheapo Emgo trunk! Okay, it's supposed to be quick release, but that was ridiculous. I'm tooling along up I71 doing about 70mph when I felt something touch my back - which was a little weird considering I didn't have a passenger. I figured out pretty quick what it was - my trunk had come loose and got sucked up into the burble behind me. I balanced it was well as I could while I slowed down and headed for the shoulder, and as I got off on the shoulder that's when it went bouncing past me.
Luckily it was on the shoulder too, and I was able to retrieve it without getting run over. The part that holds it to the bike had broken, and as luck would have it I didn't have anything in the trunk to secure it with. So I looked around in the tall grass next to the shoulder, and the motorcycle gods smiled on me. I found an old mulch bag, and I twisted it into a field expedient rope and secured the trunk via the carry handle. Luckily I was close to a hardware store and popped in for a bag of extra large zip ties and strapped it down.
This is the part that broke -
Not much in the way of securement, and obviously not up to the task. I didn't particularly care for that mounting plate anyway, so today I did a permanent installation. I used the old mounting plate as a drill guide, and drilled the trunk itself for bolts. Then I picked up a light duty wire fence post at the hardware store for the internal securement. I wanted something that wasn't going to flex and get the plastic all out of whack. I cut pieces from the post to the appropriate length, drilled them where they needed it, and attached using the old brackets on the bottom.
This is what it looks like inside -
And underneath. My rack's inner tubes are a little more shallow than the outer ones, so I made some shims out of some flat bar stock I had in the mancave so it wouldn't pull the plastic down and deform the trunk. They weren't quite thick enough, but it was nothing several wraps of the handy man's secret weapon wouldn't fix. Now they're thick enough and waterproof.
I think I like it better like this anyway as I didn't really have a reason to be taking it off to begin with. It sits about 3/4" lower, and to me it just looks better.
So if you buy one of those $65 Emgo trunks, my advice is don't trust the factory mount. Bound to fail at the most inopportune time. But as for this one - it AIN'T coming off again. And keep an eye out for my next thread titled, "It came off again!"
Luckily it was on the shoulder too, and I was able to retrieve it without getting run over. The part that holds it to the bike had broken, and as luck would have it I didn't have anything in the trunk to secure it with. So I looked around in the tall grass next to the shoulder, and the motorcycle gods smiled on me. I found an old mulch bag, and I twisted it into a field expedient rope and secured the trunk via the carry handle. Luckily I was close to a hardware store and popped in for a bag of extra large zip ties and strapped it down.
This is the part that broke -
Not much in the way of securement, and obviously not up to the task. I didn't particularly care for that mounting plate anyway, so today I did a permanent installation. I used the old mounting plate as a drill guide, and drilled the trunk itself for bolts. Then I picked up a light duty wire fence post at the hardware store for the internal securement. I wanted something that wasn't going to flex and get the plastic all out of whack. I cut pieces from the post to the appropriate length, drilled them where they needed it, and attached using the old brackets on the bottom.
This is what it looks like inside -
And underneath. My rack's inner tubes are a little more shallow than the outer ones, so I made some shims out of some flat bar stock I had in the mancave so it wouldn't pull the plastic down and deform the trunk. They weren't quite thick enough, but it was nothing several wraps of the handy man's secret weapon wouldn't fix. Now they're thick enough and waterproof.
I think I like it better like this anyway as I didn't really have a reason to be taking it off to begin with. It sits about 3/4" lower, and to me it just looks better.
So if you buy one of those $65 Emgo trunks, my advice is don't trust the factory mount. Bound to fail at the most inopportune time. But as for this one - it AIN'T coming off again. And keep an eye out for my next thread titled, "It came off again!"
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