Thanks for the comments
Toner : Yes, that kayak trip was fun to photograph. I was almost tempted to go out and buy a sea kayak but I really don't need another expensive toy.
Den : Good guess! I was told that when the colors are in layers, it's because of the different grapes.
Mike : The top box is a Givi E280 Boxy, 28 liter capacity. Just big enough to hold a helmet, gloves and a light jacket...or in my case, a camera and a few lenses. It's mounted using a flat plastic kitchen cutting board rather than the curved plastic BMW "luggage rack". Works great and you need to look real hard to know that a kitchen utensil is attached to a BMW
Credit for the idea goes to Mixr who I think is still a member of this board. Here's his description :
Re: Fitting a Top Box onto an '04 bike
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I made my own.
Removed the silver plastic piece and replaced it with a shaped piece of thick teflon kitchen cutting board (cut to fit the taper of the angle brackets the silver rack sits on).
That bolts down using the same holes the silver rack uses and is about the same size. Means you can change it back when you sell the bike and there are no butchered bits.
Then I purchased a small givi universal topbox (360N) that comes with its own base plate. I bolted the base plate to the rack board and 'Bob's-your-Uncle' - job finished! Used stainless bolts and large stainless 'penny' washers to distribute the load.
Box clips on and off as per usual, leaving the nice smooth Givi base plate when it's off. The plastic BMW silver rack rails are strong enough for the small top box (Helmet size), but I would not use it if I was relying on it as a backrest and carried a pillion all the time. The Box and plate was AUD$100. Damn cheap solution and works just fine.
And here's a bottom view of mine painted flat black -(if you look closely, you can still see the knife cuts).
