I ride solo and take long trips once or twice a year with friends, so after buying my new SG in November I wanted to duplicate the excellent solo setup I had with my old RK using a vintage (circa 1978) Tour Pak and Corbin seat with backrest. I saw no point in installing a two-up Tour Pak rack on this bike so I opted for the solo version, but it had to work with a solo seat with backrest, or a solo seat with the backrest attached to the Tour Pak. I tried the latter and found it unacceptable. The support is too high, causing the lumber portion of the back to flex, plus being much too far forward even when the Tour Pak was adjusted to the rear-most position, and it took me about two miles of riding to realize this. An additional problem was that my Mustang backrest would not fit without hitting the Tour Pak when adjusted comfortably. So, I proceeded to implement my only great talent, jury rigging, to coerce the Tour Pak to fit me.

I had some 1.5 in., 1/8" thick angle aluminum strips lying around from making some wall-mount racks for my old RK windshields and Tour Pak, so I cut two 7 3/4" sections in my quest to move the Tour Pak back about 1 1/4". In the end 1" would've been enough, but I wanted to make sure I was covered. I replaced the original 2 3/8" bolts with 2 1/2" SS to cover the added thickness of the angle strips.

Here are some references in the photos:

A: New front mounting point, with spacers made from one nut and several washers. A more elegant selection of parts could've been found, but it isn't seen without bending down and peering under the Tour Pak, so cosmetic appeal was not a priority here.

B: Old rear mounting hole, shown on two photos with dotted lines to show location of hole under the angle strip. It is also the location of the stock spacer used for the original rear mounting point. The old front mounting hole, in the rack, which isn't shown, is between points "C" and "D" (forgot to mark it in photos).

C: New front mounting point. Hole drilled through both rack and angle strips.

D: Added mounting point to bolt the angle strip and flat portion of the rack. Without it, there was only one mounting point for the strips and flat portion of the rack on each side, which I thought would eventually stress from vibration and jolts. I had to drill a hole in both the rack and strips on each side.

I'm not sure who might be interested in this, as most of you have two-up arrangements, but I was adamant about using a solo seat with backrest and a solo Tour Pak. I plugged the holes in the front part of the lid with buttons used to fill Allen screws, painted black. I'm not real excited about the way this looks, although not bad, so the next phase of my jury rigging exercise is to find some small bags or pouches to bolt in these places, probably on the top right and left of the lid only, but haven't found exactly the right solution yet. I may also put another larger one at the bottom front behind the backrest, near where bolts "D" are located, since there is plenty of room down there. No hurry, as touring season is three months away, and I welcome suggestions.

I also glued some black vinyl sections to the angle strips where visible to cover them, as without them the appearance left something to be desired. These can be seen in the photos. I cut the front part of the angle strips to the shape of the rack for appearance, and this has no impact on structural integrity. I was going to similarly cut the rear portion, but that would've reduced the strength of the strip in that area.

 

It's good to see someone hereis creative enough to find a solution that isfunctional and looks good. Great job. This is the type of post I was hoping to find more of at this site. I get bored quickly with the "Which is best " or "My dealer installed". I look forward to more of your posts.

 

you did an outstanding job and it looks great on the bike.

 

Very nice job of solving a real problem. I have a police model EG and needed to raise the TP about 3/4" to provide clearance for the cop bags that are hinged differently than the civilian ones. I used automotive rubber suspension bushings which had the added benefit of reducing fibration at the points the box was attached to the box. Don't know if rubber bushings would help in your situation, but if you have concerns about vibration induced stress for the box it mightbe useful.

Also, when I removed the luggage rack from my box, I filled the holes with HD button head covers. Those come in a variety of sizes and styles from plain chrome to "HD MOCo," etc. Might be easier than matching paint on the plug ins with the TP and provide a less "jury rigged" look.

 

Thanks to all for the nice comments. I hope this can help someone in the same quandary.

I don't think I'll need to insulate the TP in rubber, as it was bolted direct originally and doesn't seem to shake around a lot.

I think that's the same item I used, but mine were plain, then painted black. I thought about using my touch-up paint and painting them Black Cherry, and might try that since I'm not totally satisfied with it as is. Using plugs with the HD logo is an idea and I might try that, if they sell that size. These are two sizes larger than the Allen plugs you see used on the outer primary, etc., which I think are 1/4". Those used may be 3/8", and are some I had lying around from old projects. I did try them unpainted and they didn't look bad, but now they're much less noticeable, and I don't think they need to be noticed. I may try painting them Black Cherry today since the weather sux for doing anything else. I don't think it would look worse than black.

I still want to at least try two small storage pouches, and although functional might look odd in that location. It would be easy to rig just by punching two holes in each pouch, then attach them with small bolts through a stiff flat plastic material inside the pouches for support. If I didn't like it, there would be no reason I couldn't simply remove them and go back to plugs. The holes are already there, after all.

I'm surprised someone hasn't offered a kit to plug the holes in some way, as I can't be the first person to want to remove the passenger pads. I looked at CCI, J&P, and Dennis Kirk--but found nothing.

 

Very Nice! I have the same setup but I used the Corbin Solo w/backrest with no fitment problems. You solved your problem tho!

 

Hate to ask you of a favour, could you post a couple of pictures with you in the saddle,

1st, just sittting with both hands on your legs.
2nd, both hands on the grips.
3rd, one hand on the throttle.

Just trying to get a visual of how comfy it is and the kind of room one has around you. I run a corbin solo and love it, kicking around the idea of the tour pack moved forward but it sounds better than it works. What you got going looks good and sounds fuctional, sounds like a patent pending idea.

 

Okay, I'll work on the extra photos, but it's dark now and I'll have to do it tomorrow. Recon says his Corbin w/backrest works without modification, but I wonder if he has the same incline I have. Mine worked, too, but when adjusted to clear the TP the incline on the backrest was too far forward for my tastes, and when it was positioned right it would hit the TP when I sat down and leaned back. Not a good thing. My 1 1/4 in. pullback was a bit more than necessary, and 3/4 or 1 in. would've probably been enough. At least now I know it will never hit, and it isn't too far back.

What you might do is try it unmodified, then move it back if necessary. The Corbin backrest doesn't swivel like the Mustang and there is no large adjustment thumb screw than sticks out the back, so I would think if you have even 1/2" of clearance it would be enough. When mine hit, it would be on that screw, but on the Corbin backrest it should hit with the padded portion, I would think. If so, that would be less worrisome and an occasional light tap might not matter.

 

That's a real nice job done there, Iclick. Been thinking about the same for my bike. You done did good!
Jerry

 

Awesome!If it were me I'd powdercoat the whole she-bang black and usehot toppers to cover the bolts. Looks great the way it is though...
Very well done.

lp