BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I know we have discussed this before but I need some direction. I have a V46 Givi topbox that I want to mount on my R. I have the E250 universal mounting plate. What is the best way to mount the box? Has anyone tried any other mounting plates that work with the Givi topbox? I've read that some riders have used longer screws to mount the universal plate. Has it held up with the topbox loaded? I don't want to give up my Givi topbox. It was the best addition I made to my Honda ST1300. Now i want it on my R. If someone could include pictures of their installation I would appreciate it. Thanks.

I have a Givi universal monolock type mounting plate on mine. This came with the box, an E20N. It is mounted on top of the BMW luggage rack. The mounting hardware that came with the kit does not work with the BMW rack, I had to fabricate some of my own parts and buy longer bolts to make it work. I used straps of 1/4 inch aluminum under the luggage rack, and 3/16 aluminum for spacers betwen the two plates. But now that it's finished, it is very strong.

Here is the underside of the BMW rack. You can see that I cut the ends of a strap at an angle to fit into the recess under the rack. You can also see the relief cut in the center of the strap to clear the center rib of the BMW rack plate. I could have settled for making a slight bend in the plate, but I got fancy with it. Because the top of the BMW rack is not flat, I cut a strip of 3/16 spacer material and drilled it the same as the lower strap. A stack of fender washers would do the same job. It's just there to keep the two plastic rack parts from bending when you tighten the bolts. Three bolts hold the two plates together. There was an existing hole in the bottom of the BMW rack, I just enlarged it and put the third bolt there, with more spacer material between the two parts. Use locking nuts.



Here it is looking from above, with the trim removed.



Here it is mounted on the bike with the trim installed. I left the silver BMW trim part off because I didn't want to mark it up.



Here it is with the bag installed.



I like this Givi E20N case because it's light, and it holds a full face helmet with room left over for lunch. It's just slightly bigger than a saddlebag, they are 31 liters, this case is 37 liters. Perfect for commuting. Also the styling is plain, I don't like the other cases that look like the starship Enterprise landed on the bike. It was pretty cheap, about 100 bucks on eBay. It is strictly light duty, you wouldn't want to carry a lot of weight. But the same mounting plate can take a lot of different bags, if you want more capacity

These inexpensive boxes were missing from ebay when I made the last post, but now they are back.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0271152687