Re-set the Trax pannier boxes (at long bloody last).

[Waspworks]

Dont get me wrong, I love the S.W.Motech Trax product, but I.M.H.O they completely fu@ked up when they designed the frames to locate the position of these boxes on the Super Tenere...

1 - The boxes sit too low = WAY TOO LOW !!!... Low to the point that, god forbid someone is stupid enough to punt a fully loaded S10 into any sort of soft'ish stuff, they run the risk of leaving an ankle and half a leg (from mid tibia/fibula down) dragging under the box with any sort of "foot-on-ground" work.
And, they SIT SO LOW THEY LOOK UGLY..

2 - These frames were designed for 37ltr L/H (exh side) box and 45ltr R/H box... I wanted 37ltr both sides so you end up with a cock-eyed looking setup with the right box close in, and the left box out to clear the muffler.

3 - The boxes dont sit straight in line on the bike. For reasons only the designer would know, the boxes both sit angled along the length of the bike = The leading edges of both boxes are outboard considerably compared to the rear. The right box more so than the left.

4 - Did I say they SIT SO LOW THEY LOOK UGLY?

Anyway, I have very rarely used this luggage since getting it as I believe they SIT SO LOW THEY LOOK UGLY and had always planned on doing this re-positioning mod.
With Fathers day yesterday my wife says "why dont you go up to the shed and tool around/chill for the day".
I have been thinking about this mod particularly in the last couple of weeks as myself and a group of friends are planning our 3 day SouthWest of Western Australia "freedom tour" in two months from now and I will prolly end up being the pack mule for the bunch, so with the prompting from the wife, up to the shed I went for the day..

This pic shows the normal location of the boxes, with the right hand box installed as a set up guide for for and aft positioning..

I cut all the mounting arms of the left side box frame,

and set up a board across the seat to temporarily fasten the left side box in position allowing a nice close relationship with the muffler.

I then cut and tack welded the support tubes in place to be able to remove the temporary straps and support board so that I could repeat the procedure for the right hand box.

You can see the dramatic difference in height (100mm or 4") between the location from original and modified.

Both support frames now sit very much higher to the point where they dont even look too bad when riding without the boxes on.

The end result = Balanced width from side to side + up at a safe/good looking height + true along the centre line of the bike.

Looks a lot nicer in my opinion (and thats all that matters here).

All in all I am thoroughly pleased with this modification...
Just got to weld it up and powdercoat it now and we are ready for the freedom tour 2012..

Greg.

 

[Don in Lodi]

I've often wondered what the thought process was that put those mounts/bags so low. Everybody that has used the Motech mounts for their various bags look like they could drag bag in a corner. My Safari lids sit even higher than what you did. I think the Odyssey sit closer to flush like that though.
Great work as always Greg. Now you're gonna have everybody askin' you know what.

 

[tubebender]

Very nice!

Looks like you modified (bent) the top support tubes and fabbed up your own lowers.

Would you mind sharing some detail shots of those lowers and the forward mount points?

 

[Rasher]

To be honest I find the stock locations OK, as a road rider I would not tackle anything more than a rough mud or gravel track on this bike.

The only issue I had with this kit was the top box sits very close to passenger seat AND tilts forward (probably to keep a nice pretty flowing line) which means with a passenger onboard you end up with your cock crushed up against the tank.

Personally I would prefer them in the lower position, much as I admire the engineering feat of yours to put them where you want them, I want them low so as to minimise impact on handling, I can confirm the pegs go down before the panniers.

I would however agree that SW-Motech appear to be getting quite shite at design, perhaps a mid point would have suited better, certainly the top box is wrong, and they do not line up particularly well and look a bit skewed, they could also sit a fair bit closer to the bike at both sides.

I certainly do not think their design team ride motorcycles, or at least do not road test their own designs before putting them into production.

This is a real shame as the look and feel of them is very nice, and the crap bits have nothing to do with cost as it would be no more costly to have the top box better positioned and the damn things sitting square on the bike.

 

[Brntrt]

Well done, I like your look much better. The Trax finally look like they belong on the Tenere! ::008::

 

[snakebitten]

Way better! (For off-road and falling down)

I chose the less sexy Happy Trails setup, but thought the placement and symmetry was ideal. But now your setup has it all! Very nice.

 

[3putt]

Yep, I like the looks of them up high for sure. May have to redo my Trekkers.

 

[jajpko]

There have been some discussion on the Sw motech racks every since the Tenere hit our shores.
I won't say anything more about that.. LOL.

I do like the way you have redone your racks and believe you could sell those. Very nice..

 

[Waspworks]

Very nice!

Looks like you modified (bent) the top support tubes and fabbed up your own lowers.

Would you mind sharing some detail shots of those lowers and the forward mount points?

No problem. I can post up some more close up type pics in the near future. Perhaps it can wait till I have finished the whole job though.
As suggested elsewhere, these probably could be modified and sold on as a kit but it is not something I plan on doing.

More mods..

The other thing that has always pissed me off was the height that the centre box sat as well.
I plan on dropping the top box around 3" from it's current location and sitting it on an all encompassing rear frame, ala BMW R1200GSA.
To do this I will obviously have to remove the rear grab bars but I will incorporate new ones into the rear rack.

This is about where it will end up:

I think the BMW-GSA rear rack configuration is excellent - Super strong and very tidy/functional.

The intention is to fabricate a rear horizontal rack (+ grab handle) reasonably similar to what you see here.

Greg.

 

[Rasher]

I am not so clever so am planning to give the Top Box project to an engineer I know.

It sits too high and too far forward for use with Pillion, plan to also lower it and move it back an inch or two.

The grab rails are no good either, or at least not for my Mrs, her hands can't reach down to them.

This is where BMW do get things right, they check normal humans can fit on their bikes properly, the controls fall easily to hand (except indicator cancel for some reason) and adding a top box does not involve removing the pillion