hepco& becker luggage and shearing bolts

[dicebox]

Hi
I hope someone can help here as I have a showstopper problem with my luggage.
I have the Hepco & becker Xplorer set of luggage on my 09 R1200R. A 45 litre top box and 40 litre panniers.
Both the rear rack and pannier frames are fixed using the two bolts on each side of the rear of the bike that secure the mounting points for BMW system bags. Those bolts hold the lower arms of the rear rack and the holding plate for the pannier frames which attach and detach using a 'quick-lok' mechanism of three screws. There is a metal bar that runs from the passenger pegs to the frame that has two holes for two of the quick-lok screws. The third goes into the holding plate.
My problem is that on two occasions now, when the panniers and top box have been loaded up for a trip, the bolts have sheared, today it was three of the four bolts. Only the cross bars for the rear rack and pannier frames held the assembly on the bike or I could have ended the day very differently!
neither the top box nor the panniers were overloaded, it was all camping stuff that was chosen for its lightweight materials, I would estimate 5Kg maximum in each pannier and less in the top box.
Has anyone else had a similar problem? I looked today at the SW-Motech rear rack and pannier frame system and theirs appears to use separate bolts for the rear rack, although attached to the same plate as the pannier frames.
I've invested a lot of money in the H&B luggage so I need to make them work on the bike.

any and all help appreciated.


Thanks
Brendan

[ammolab]

Are your bolts those provided by H&B? Fasteners come in many grades and strengths so if you OEM bolts are failing UPGRADE to grade 8 bolts or whatever you can find that is strongest.

[dicebox]

The first set that sheared were the original H&B bolts, the second lot were purchased from screwFix, a wholesale trade dealer.

I confess to not knowing what a Grade 8 bolt is :-(

B

[MTBeemer]

Grade is a method of measuring the hardness of a bolt. Google it and you'll get a better idea than I can provide.

I too have HB 40 l. Xplorers on my R. I do not have the top box. Mine are mounted using SW Mototech mounts and I have had no issues. I carry much more than 5Kg in them.

[Shakey]

a grade 8 hex socket cap screw will probably have "8.8" stamped on the metal surrounding the hex socket. It certain sounds like you either have inferior chocolate bolts or maybe they've been over torqued?

[Lost Rider]

That's strange indeed.
It's very possible that they are shearing from being loose too, without enough torque it would be easier to shear IMO.
Try new bolts, make them nice and tight, maybe get some Blue Threadlock to be sure they are not vibrating loose while riding and then shearing.
Good luck!

Photos would help the internet mechanics too!

[dicebox]

thanks guys, just searching for a machine shop nearby to drill out the sheared bolts and rethread the slots and then I'll give your suggestions a go. I like the look of the SW Motech mounts, they just seem a more solid design.

Thanks
Brendan

[Lost Rider]

Is there any way to get a nut in behind the mounts so you don't need to bother with tapping/threading the mount itself?
Then you could use a nut with nylon/nylock to stop them from loosening and be able to tighten it up without worries of stripping the rack.

[dicebox]

Lost rider

thought about that the first time they sheared. the problem is that the mounting screws go into a small rectangle of metal that is welded to the frame underneath the rear light housing ( I had the whole rear end off to find this). The rectangle is about 1cm wide and appears to have what looks like a nut welded onto the side of the rectangle where the screws come in. as far as I could see, there is no way to remove that 'nut' and replace it with another.

thanks anyway
Brendan

[Lost Rider]

OK, now I get it. I thought the threaded part you spoke of was on the aftermarket rack.
Since I currently have my bike in pieces I took a look and see exactly what you mean.
You might be able to get a Dremel in there to grind away that welded on nut, after removing the plastic fender, allowing you to get a new lock-nut in there, but that might make taking the rack mount points on or off a bit of a chore, if you wanted that option. If you don't need to remove that easily or often doing something to strengthen that nut might help you quite a bit.
One thing is for sure, a well (not over) torqued bolt will provide more strength than one that's not and going into a nut with stripped or re-tapped threads.
Methinks that using a hardened bolt would probably help stop the shearing, maybe you were unlucky twice with soft bolts, but a hard bolt can transfer the next failure to the weakest point - the reworked OEM nut that is inconveniently welded on in this case.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your solution.

[MTBeemer]

thanks guys, just searching for a machine shop nearby to drill out the sheared bolts and rethread the slots and then I'll give your suggestions a go. I like the look of the SW Motech mounts, they just seem a more solid design.

Thanks
Brendan

As mentioned before, mine have been problem free. They also have a nice feature in that they are easily removed by using 4 Zeus fittings. This allows you to restore the clean lines of the bike when you prefer not to ride with side cases. SW Motech also has a tail piece for the R. The tailpiece allows you to add mounts for a variety of top boxes or luggage racks that also attach using Zeus fittings. I'll be selling my mounts and bags this fall when Jesse releases their new bags for the R.

[dicebox]

MT Beemer

did you use the quick-lok pannier frames? if so, was the adapter kit for the H&B panniers part number KFT 00.152.111? I'm not sure what you mean by Zeus fittings, I assumed the pannier frames came off, leaving only the mounting plate. Is this not so?

Lost Rider - thanks for confirming the observations of a mechanical dufus like myself :-). If I can get the holes re-threaded, I'll probably switch to the SW Motech quick-lok system.

Thanks again all

Brendan