Hey, I was the winner of this wonderful top rack way back in May of last summer. Since I was getting ready for departure on a major trip to Oregon from Ohio I figured I would wait for my return to give my honest opinion of the product. Well, I did the trip and forgot all about my duties.
Here ya go:
So I got my dream bike and upon first inspection of my new steed I noticed a sticker on the rear rack that warned about lifting from this device. I thought nothing of it until I drilled a hole in it to mount my backrest off my V-strom to keep my gal comfy. It looked like steel, but was made from plastic. Thinking it might be dangerous to do any wheelies to impress my honey for fear the backrest will break off I started to look for an alternative. After looking at the available aftermarket racks and the thought of re-morgaging the ranch to afford one I decided to have a discussion with my daughters boyfriend in hope he would make me one with his plasma cutter at work. He sent me a text asking me the name of that website so he could sorta copy one of the already designed units so I sent him the needed info. 2 minutes later I was told I won the monthly drawing on the Tenere forum and it was for a SW Motech rack for the Tenere. yippee. 2 minutes later I received a text from Alex (the boyfriend) saying his boss is cracking down and no more government projects would be tolerated. perfect timing! ::012::
After giving Twisted Throttle some information like the ship to address, shirt size and bike color I anxiously awaited my new parts along with a few other farkles I paid for and had sent along with the rack. First impression after opening the box and pulling out the rack. Wow, this thing is a heavy piece of steel. I was planning to make one out of Aluminum to keep the S-10 piglet from gaining any more weight. Installation was a breeze after I figured out that the long spacers need to be turned the right way so the bolts fit properly. If your rack is loose in the front you have installed them upside down like I did. The rack has several pre-drilled mounting holes for various manufactures mounting systems. I liked these- motech quick mounting bracket that allows you to mount anyone's case and easily remove with the included key set. A bit pricey, but I just won a rack so giving back a bit seemed like the right thing to do. I mounted an old aluminum tool-case I received from an employer when I was a technician. It was the perfect size, appears to be water tight and equipped with a combo lock. This will now be my kitchen and carry my jet boil and everything else to make a cup of coffee and some tasty nutrition while traveling abroad.
Bottom line:
The SW-Motech rack is an awesome addition to the Tenere and definitely out performs the plastic stock Yamaha version. It is solid as a rock and the pre-drilled mounting holes make it a breeze to add a top case. It also has space underneath where I now store my first aid kit.
Good job SW-Motech and thank you Twisted Throttle.
Cheers


