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I wanted a rack like this for my bike, as I usually toss a large waterproof dufflebag on the back. The rack lets me lay it fore and aft, across the passenger seat, where it serves duty as a backrest.
Quite a solid rack. Mounting wasn't difficult, just swap out the front bushing on the bag mount and add the rear mount. It all bolts on easily. You can sorta see it here, if you wish:
It clicks on and locks in place nicely, A wee bit of rattle when empty, it'll be fine with the dufflebag on top of it. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with it.
If you're curious about which Amazon rack, it's this one:
Just be cautious about the WEIGHT you place on the rack. I noted with HD's racks they warn you to not put more than 10 lb max on them. This is, I think, because the rack is cantilevered from the docking points quite a lot, so that 10 lb has a very long "lever arm". This is also why the instructions for the HD docking kit emphasize when replacing the OEM bolts with docking kit bolts, that you need to first clean out any OEM thread locker with a thread chaser, remove any foreign residues with a cleaner, and torque the bolts to the HD specified torque (21 to 27 ft lb for my 2023 Breakout 117). Also, I noted that the docking bolts specified for my Breakout 117 are Grade 8 bolts.
Given the unusual level of detailed precautions that HD has specified, I suspect HD is providing these very detailed instructions because some racks that have been overloaded maybe have actually either loosened or sheared those bolts. HD is trying to limit their liability.
It is rather easy to overload these racks. My own "touring kit" contents emphasize low weight and small size for everyhting I carry, and still the total weight of my kit inclduing bag is almost 20 lb. So, i went with the concept of a waterproof bag resting on the passenger seat, and secured against falling off via lashing straps connected to the sissy bar. That gives me more confidence than using a rack, as we know the passenger seat setup is designed to carry the weight of a person, so anywhere from 100 to 200 lb.
The other issue with putting weight on a luggage rack is that it places the weight very high and very far rearward on the bike. That creates a "pendulum" effect when cornering. Most of the time a Harley is not really doing "cornerning" (like a sport bike does), but when you execute a sharp turn at a gas station or motel parking lot, or worse a u-turn, that weight suspended out both high and rearward can really bite you.
Jim G
Last edited by JimGnitecki; Mar 27, 2024 at 06:46 AM.
I wanted a rack like this for my bike, as I usually toss a large waterproof dufflebag on the back. The rack lets me lay it fore and aft, across the passenger seat, where it serves duty as a backrest.
Quite a solid rack. Mounting wasn't difficult, just swap out the front bushing on the bag mount and add the rear mount. It all bolts on easily. You can sorta see it here, if you wish:
It clicks on and locks in place nicely, A wee bit of rattle when empty, it'll be fine with the dufflebag on top of it. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with it.
no you dont it takes the place of a backrest on the QD hardware
So you can change from rack to backrest to only the docking points, right? But with this setup, you cannot have BOTH backrest and rack at the same time, right?
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Amazon Rack Installed
