I have been keeping an eye out for a used HD tour pack for some time now & am surprised by how many of them are cracked, does this only happen when they are dropped or are these prone to stress cracking from the vibration/pressure from the passenger pushing back & flexing the box?

 

Age, vibration, overstuffing, all take a toll on tour paks. Dropping after a removal will certainly bust the older ones up. The unit sits on the tail and it's kinda like a rattlesnake's rattle in that the vibrations and road bumps travel through the bike and all of that is multiplied at the "end".

The newer ones are made of a nylon-based material and are not as brittle.

 

I think some of stress cracks come from overloading and stuffing them, I have a 2000 screamin Eagle Road Glide, it came with the removeable chopped tourpak, my wife didnt like the way the small backrest pad hit her in the back, so I found an older...mid 80"s tourpak at a swap meet...it had a luggage rack on it...paint was real bad...and no mounts to install it on the bike, My local dealer had a broken bottom half of a late model tour pak, he gave it to me...i got the inner mounting plate...antennea mount an rubber floor mat out of it, Bought a full size back rest and quick mount bracket, ....so now I have two tourpak's...a tall one and the chopped one...a local painter matched the orange paint for $75.oo...50 for the tourpak ...80 for qiuckmount...so you do one for cheap if you seach and spend a little time at it

 

lots of the ones you see on EBAY are dealer damaged/accident damaged ones that are being sold to recoup some of the cost of the one it is replacing. I swear stealership techs make a good side income selling takeoff parts on EBAY

 

The only time mine cracked was when I went end over end in 1988. Hell, I thought it held up pretty well considering the bike slid upside down on it's top for about 30 ft[:@]. I've had a factory tour pak since 1987 and have never had one crack. I've overstuffed, overloaded and always had a luggage rack (overloaded too).

 

I cracked the lid on my tourpak while backing into a basketball pole. It was even in my own driveway. And I even put the basketball pole there. Sometimes I do stupid stuff!!!

 

I have even see them cracked brand new on the floor at the dealer with less than 8 miles on the bike. Was looking under one just before installing the King Tour Pack on mine.

Can't remember what Iwas checking out but did find the bottom of one in the showroom cracked wide open from what I don't know that either. Maybe shipping damage or the techs over tightend the business out of the hardware.

 

On my 95 the trunk cracked around the upper forward hinge. This started after a long trip with my wife and a bag on the trunk rack. We opened and closed the bag several times because the camera was in the trunk. I ended up putting a small aluminum plate in the inside behind the crack and having the lid touched up. The new trunks are plastic, not fiberglass like the older ones. Don't expect them to hold up like the older thicker ones!!

 

HD MOCO could definately 'beef up' the construction of the king tour pak. A local metric aftermarket shop...scootworks.com makes its own tour pak. It basiclaly looks just like a king tour pak with a couple changes...
[ol][*]The lid hinges are hidden inside the pak similar to a hidden hinge on a kitchen cabinet door[*]The laid fibergals is 25-40% thicker than stock, especially on the hinge side and the latch side and at all four corners.[/ol]The pak is about the same price as the HD one. If i hadnt already bought a HD one ebay (yes...had to get it repaired due to cracks) I would have bought one of theses. Even the HD luggage rack, tail lights and all other tour pak accessories fit.

MOCO...wake up and make your products better...this is a prime example.
dont get me started on the fairing brackets....[:@]