Pirates’ Lair Stealth Backrest Installation with AltRider Luggage Rack

[SparrowHawkxx]

After getting a new 2013 Yamaha Super Tenere I have been searching for a backrest for the passenger and found two that I would consider:

Corbin - I liked the looks of the backrest but it mounts to the Corbin seat and was not convinced that I would like the seat.
Pirates’ Lair – The Pirates’ Lair Stealth Backrests are made to mount on the factory luggage racks.
I have a Pirates’ Lair Stealth Backrest on my VStrom 650 and it has worked well for my wife for the past three years. The backrest works well to support the back and for mounting a soft tail bag. The tail bag mounts with a strap that slides over a backrest.

I wanted to go with the Pirate's Lair Backrest but they do not make one for the Super Tenere. They make a backrest for the BMW R1200GS and after studying the pictures on their website, it appeared that the angles on the BMW R1200GS luggage rack were similar to angles on the Tenere. Their R1200GS backrest will also mount on a flat surface (not all of them do) so I thought I could make this backrest work if I got the AltRider luggage rack.

The AltRider luggage rack has a flat surface for mounting the backrest and the surface is larger than the factory rack so it will work better to support a soft tail bag. It is made of 3/16” aluminum so it should be strong enough to mount the backrest.

Installation
Accessories Used:
Pirates’ Lair - BMW R1200GS Stealth backrest
AltRider - Yamaha Super Tenere luggage rack

Additional Parts Used:
6 – 5/16” washers (I used stainless steel washers, just trying to match the other hardware)


Align backrest on luggage rack.
I spent quite a bit of time studying the placement of the backrest bracket before cutting metal.


See picture 1 below.
To center from side to side, I placed a straight edge along the outside edge of the AltRider countersunk mounting bolts then aligned the tips of the backrest bracket rear(shorter) “wings” to this line on each side.
The corners of the backrest mounting bracket can also be used to align to slots cutout in the luggage rack.


See picture 2 below.
To align front to back, you can look down from the top of the backrest and align the front surface of the backrest pad with the back edge of the rear seat. I have a thick mounting strap for my tail bag that slides over the backrest so I also had to account for this. If you do not use a tail bag, the backrest could probably be moved up to ½” forward from where I placed mine.


After the backrest bracket was aligned, I used a pencil to mark the location on the luggage rack.
I used the four holes in the backrest bracket “wings” as a template to draw circles on the luggage rack.



Plan how the backrest mounting bracket will attach to the luggage rack.
I thought the location of the holes in the backrest rear (shorter) wings could be used without modification.

I thought the holes in the front (longer) wings were just a bit too far out (If holes were drilled through the AltRider mounting bracket at this location they would be too close to the outside edge of mounting bracket).


Pictures 3 and 4 below show the final installation.
You can see part of the original holes in the front wings but they are mostly covered up by the washer and bolt heads.

 

[SparrowHawkxx]

Modification to the backrest mounting bracket.
A new hole will need to be drilled in the front (longer) wings of the backrest bracket.
The hole should be in line with the AltRider countersunk mounting bolts and centered on the width of the wing. Mark the location for the hole.
See picture 1 below.


Drill the new holes with a 5/16” drill bit and use a file to smooth the edges after drilling.
See picture 2 below.


Modifications to the AltRider luggage rack.
Reposition the backrest bracket on the luggage rack using the alignment markings previously placed on the luggage rack.

Mark the location for the holes to be drilled in the AltRider luggage rack as follows:

For the front (longer) wings on the backrest bracket:
Mark the location for the new holes that were drilled in the backrest bracket.
NOTE: At first, I skipped this step and drilled the first hole in the luggage rack using the circle drawn in the alignment procedure with the backrest bracket original holes. (see the extra hole in the picture below)

For the rear (shorter) wings on the backrest bracket:
The holes previously marked in the alignment procedure can also be used as markings for drilling. (no need for additional marks)

Use a center punch to make an indention in the center of the holes before drilling.

Drill the holes in the luggage rack for the front (longer) wings using a 5/16” drill bit.

Remove luggage rack from the luggage rack mounting bracket.

Drill the holes in the luggage rack for the rear (shorter) wings using a 5/16” drill bit.
Cut a notch in the luggage rack mounting bracket as shown in the picture below.
File off the sharp edges after cutting and drilling.
NOTE: On my installation I drilled the rear holes without removing the luggage rack from the luggage rack mounting bracket. I will explain why I think it would be better to remove the luggage rack before drilling these rear holes:
Reference the picture below. With the Altrider luggage rack removed from mounting bracket you can see the hole just hits the corner of the mounting bracket. This causes a couple of problems;
1) when drilling through the luggage rack the bit will tend to drift off center when it hits the corner of the mounting bracket (I had to use a round file to shape the new hole)
2) when installing the backrest bracket the washer and nut will not have a good even surface to butt up to, only a small corner of the bracket. With a notch cut out in the mounting bracket, the washer and nut will then mount up to the bottom of the luggage rack. There is a slot cut out in the luggage rack at this point so the washer and nut do not have a completely solid surface to mount to with this method either but it is sufficient and is much better than just having the corner of the mounting bracket to butt up to.
See picture 3 below.


Clean up the metal filings. I used a vacuum hose.

 

[SparrowHawkxx]

Attach the Stealth backrest mounting bracket to the AltRider luggage rack. See Pictures 1 & 2 below.
Apply the vinyl peel-n-stick strips to the bottom of the wings (supplied with the backrest for paint protection).

For the backrest bracket front (longer) wings:
I cut 5/16” off the length of 2 Stealth Backrest mounting bolts.
Order of assembly: Stealth Backrest bolt and washer – thru the top of luggage rack and mounting bracket – 5/16” stainless steel washer (purchased separately) – Stealth Backrest lock nut

For the rear (shorter) wings on the backrest bracket:
Order of assembly: Stealth Backrest bolt and washer – thru the top of luggage rack– two 5/16” stainless steel washers (purchased separately) – Stealth Backrest lock nut
NOTE: The Stealth Backrest bolt threads do not go all the way to the head of the bolt so I needed two washers to keep from running the nut up to the end of the threads.




Installation Complete. See Pictures 3,4, & 5 below

 

[nwryder12]

I like the Givi bags. I had those on my Strom and considered putting a set on my S10. They look great.

 

[snakebitten]

Pirates’ Lair Stealth Backrest Installation with AltRider Luggage Rack

SparrowHawkxx,

You can work on my bike anytime.

I have had a KLR too long. I'm infected.

 

[NickBrewer3]

I really like your idea, just out of curiosity, How do you think the VStrom Stealth backrest would fit on the AltRider rack?

I just think the VStrom Stealth backrest bracket looks a bit cleaner and since you have one of those as well, you can probably answer whether the angle of the backrest and the mounting plate would work. Thanks!

 

[sportsguy]

...and is a permanent mount? Or can the backrest be easily removed, leaving the mounting plate only bolted to the AltRider rack?

Nicely done, btw.

 

[motoguy]

Good write up! Bike looks good.

 

[Gee-Tee]

Very nice work.

 

[SparrowHawkxx]

We rode the Tenere to Colorado last week and I just noticed all the comments.

NickBrew3
I think the VStrom Stealth backrest bracket would probably work however consider the following:
The mounting bolts are short but should be long enough to mount to the AltRider rack. (I measured the best I could with the bracket mounted on the VStrom and they appear to be about 3/8” long. The AltRider rack is 3/16” thick so you would not have any extra bolt length after putting the lock nut on). I believe the bolt heads are embedded in the bracket so you cannot change the bolts without modifying the bracket.
Another thing to consider is that the AltRider rack has cutouts in it so you need to consider where the mounting bolts will go through the AltRider rack. The two rear mounting bolts should be no problem (they should go through a solid part of the AltRider rack). Now look at the first picture in my post, the two green arrows pointing up are on the outside edge of a cutout in the AltRider rack. My best guess is that the holes for the two front mounting bolts would need to be drilled just to the outside of the outside corner of those cutouts. This should be ok but part of the mounting nut would overlap these cutouts (most of the mounting nut will be contacting the bottom of the AltRider rack so this should not be a problem). After saying all of that I think my main concern on using this bracket would be the length of the mounting bolts.

The angle of the VStrom Stealth backrest would be the problem, it does not angle back far enough (the top of the backrest would be digging into the passengers back)

I agree the VStrom Stealth backrest bracket might look better but I use a soft tail bag most of the time so I do not even see the bracket that often.


sportsguy
The backrest is easily removed. The bolt in the center of the backrest bracket is removed, then the backrest slides forward over the rear seat and out of the bracket.


motoguy and Gee-Tee
Thanks

 

[Mike91]

Great job. Nice write-up.

 

[NickBrewer3]

We rode the Tenere to Colorado last week and I just noticed all the comments.

NickBrew3
I think the VStrom Stealth backrest bracket would probably work however consider the following:
The mounting bolts are short but should be long enough to mount to the AltRider rack. (I measured the best I could with the bracket mounted on the VStrom and they appear to be about 3/8” long. The AltRider rack is 3/16” thick so you would not have any extra bolt length after putting the lock nut on). I believe the bolt heads are embedded in the bracket so you cannot change the bolts without modifying the bracket.
Another thing to consider is that the AltRider rack has cutouts in it so you need to consider where the mounting bolts will go through the AltRider rack. The two rear mounting bolts should be no problem (they should go through a solid part of the AltRider rack). Now look at the first picture in my post, the two green arrows pointing up are on the outside edge of a cutout in the AltRider rack. My best guess is that the holes for the two front mounting bolts would need to be drilled just to the outside of the outside corner of those cutouts. This should be ok but part of the mounting nut would overlap these cutouts (most of the mounting nut will be contacting the bottom of the AltRider rack so this should not be a problem). After saying all of that I think my main concern on using this bracket would be the length of the mounting bolts.

The angle of the VStrom Stealth backrest would be the problem, it does not angle back far enough (the top of the backrest would be digging into the passengers back)

I agree the VStrom Stealth backrest bracket might look better but I use a soft tail bag most of the time so I do not even see the bracket that often.


sportsguy
The backrest is easily removed. The bolt in the center of the backrest bracket is removed, then the backrest slides forward over the rear seat and out of the bracket.


motoguy and Gee-Tee
Thanks

Thanks for the info!

 

[xr400guy]

Sparrow,
I ride solo and really need back support. I installed a rack where the passenger seat was. I attach a pic. Do you think this backrest would work on my bike?
Thanks

 

[SparrowHawkxx]

fishcat
The angle (relative to horizontal) of your rack should be the same as mine so I believe the BMW R1200GS Stealth backrest mounted on your rack should make the backrest angle (how much the backrest leans back) about the same as on my setup.

I am sure you would need to drill some holes in the rack and backrest bracket as I did. The front wings of the backrest bracket are long so you may even need to cut some off the length off them. So if you are comfortable with doing that I think this would probably work on your bike. If you decide to order one I would suggest just setting it on top of your rack (with some cloth or paper in between to prevent scratching) and have someone hold it while you set on the bike and see if the backrest angle is right. Before I ordered mine I talked to Pirate's Lair to see if Icould return it if I did not think it would work and they said I could.

The backrest can be removed by removing the bolt in the center of the bracket and sliding it forward over the seat. It looks like the top surface of your rack sets below your seat so if you wanted to remove the backrest you would probably need to remove your seat.

 

[xr400guy]

Sparrow,
Thanks for the reply. I am comfortable doing any of the machining work.
I checked with Pirates Lair and they are currently out of stock.
I never even thought of this mod.
My back will thank you ::017::

 

[SparrowHawkxx]

If you decide to do this, Let us know how it turns out.