Trunk mounts

[Jared]

I know that Wampus' trunks are great, but I was wondering what else was available? Anything?

Has anyone made one that turned out well and is sturdy? Let see some pictures!

[cactusjack]

Wompus makes the only ready-made platform for mounting a trunk on a Nomad, that I know of. Everything else is a custom one-off creation.

[oldbikers]

Reply I made my own it is really quite simple here is a picture of mine:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm125/oldbikers/2008_0717trunk0002.jpg

and here is a site that is very good I found after I made mine:

http://home.insightbb.com/~kpmh.010/N-TourPak.htm

[ringadingh]

If I was to buy a rack I wouldn't use anything but a Wompus rack. If I was to make one myself Id use something like the one that Jim posted, which actually looks very similar to a Wompus. I guess there are only so many ways to make a rack that will look and work well.

[Jared]

Reply I made my own it is really quite simple here is a picture of mine:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm125/oldbikers/2008_0717trunk0002.jpg

and here is a site that is very good I found after I made mine:

http://home.insightbb.com/~kpmh.010/N-TourPak.htm

What gage steel did you use?

[hammer]

I made my own out of 11 gauge steel with a 3/16" aluminum top plate. It's been carrying my HD King Tour Pac for 4 years.

[Jared]

You guys that made your own, what did you use to cut them out? I have access to a plasma cutter, but that would require a lot of clean up to get it looking nice. I'm also considering a jig saw...? Not to sure how that would hold up, but might be my best bet.

[oldbikers]

If you have the plasma set right there should not be very much clean up I had mine cut at a shop with a laser, by the way I made mine out of 3/16" plate because I had it on hand.

[jandreu]

Here's a pic of CJ's mount he sent me. I like this as it uses the stock sissy bar mounts. CJ told me he used a short piece of pipe, slotted it and welding in a curved piece of flat bar, add some tabs for mounting the trunk and chrome. Wala.....

[Jared]

Here's a pic of CJ's mount he sent me. I like this as it uses the stock sissy bar mounts. CJ told me he used a short piece of pipe, slotted it and welding in a curved piece of flat bar, add some tabs for mounting the trunk and chrome. Wala.....

Not a bad idea, but does ut sit too high? Any pics of it with a trunk?

[ve3hzz]

Here is what I made for mine. Since I had the rack passenger rest Fire and Steel. I had the support plates. SO I made this from a piece of T6061 aluminum one piece that was bent into shape and the 2 ends were boxed and tig welded down 2 short seems by a local fabrication shop. It is sturdy!!! I can put a LOT of weight down on it and compress the shocks no movement. It attaches via the 2 mounting bolts that use to mount the backrest on. After I polished it a bit, but since no one sees it much didn't make it like a mirror, which I could have.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/ve3hzz/DSCN0492.jpg

[hammer]

I like Jim's result if you have access to those tools and it looks a bit like mine. Basically I made "models" out of laminate flooring to get the shape and mounting height right. a piece of 3/8" ply on top got that dialed in. Then I traced the final result onto the sheet steel and cut them out with a good skill saw with metal blades. To do that you clamp the steel plate to 1/2" plywood. I have sent out templates to a lot of folks with C50s, Yamahas and Nomads and have built quite a few this way.

The Wompus rack is the ultimate solution of you do not want to put effort into a DIY solution. However, I can e-mail you detailed instructions and pics if you want them and you can decide. I have done this for a quite a few folks on this forum and VolusiaRiders.

IMHO, I would not attach a trunk rack to the existing sissy bar rack. I have personally seen cracked aluminum struts at the mounting holes when done that way.

[Cajunrider]

Here's a pic of CJ's mount he sent me. I like this as it uses the stock sissy bar mounts. CJ told me he used a short piece of pipe, slotted it and welding in a curved piece of flat bar, add some tabs for mounting the trunk and chrome. Wala.....

I now have a rectangle piece of 3/16" aluminum that I polished nearly as shiny as the chrome. The dimensions of the plate are nearly the size of my Mutazu DMY trunk that's been sitting on it nearly 3 years. The reason I added the outer plate and the inner plate inside the bottom of the trunk was because the ABS cracked on the trunk bottom probably because of vibration when idling. I purchased a new trunk and it's still in the box. The plate stiffened everything up and the trunk is as good as new. My sig pic shows how the trunk sits on the bike. Just right for the wife to lean back and get comfortable on the long trips.

[jandreu]

Cajunrider, sorry I said your pics came from CJ. Must be the hot sun on old bald head. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

[GIBBY]

Hey Jared,
I prefer the minimalist look, so I tried many different racks before I found one that is almost invisible and sturdy. I ended up with the rack that bolts to the back of the pillion mount and onto the license plate bracket. I bought the bracket on e-bay for a song, used a piece of .06 aluminum on top of the rack and the same on the inside of the trunk, and used 10-32 Pan head screws with some homemade saddle spacers and nylok nuts to keep it all together. I believe that I could pick the back of the bike off of the ground with this setup, very strong.

[Jared]

Hey Jared,
I prefer the minimalist look, so I tried many different racks before I found one that is almost invisible and sturdy. I ended up with the rack that bolts to the back of the pillion mount and onto the license plate bracket. I bought the bracket on e-bay for a song, used a piece of .06 aluminum on top of the rack and the same on the inside of the trunk, and used 10-32 Pan head screws with some homemade saddle spacers and nylok nuts to keep it all together. I believe that I could pick the back of the bike off of the ground with this setup, very strong.

Pictures would be awesome!

[jandreu]

Gibby,
Is this the rack you used?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Vulcan-1600-Classic-Rear-Fender-Luggage-Rack-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem564363db3dQQitemZ37049 7805117QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Here's another link with better photo's;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-VN1600-VULCAN-CLASSIC-REAR-LUGGAGE-RACK-NEW-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem483e7ec3bbQQitemZ31028 6140347QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[GIBBY]

This is the rack that I used. A similar rack may not be available for the 1600. The racks that you listed would work if you cut off the tubing on the back that goes up to hold cargo.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/rear-rack-96-08-vulcan-1500-classic-99-04-nomad-/250800002140?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a64d8545c

[Cajunrider]

Cajunrider, sorry I said your pics came from CJ. Must be the hot sun on old bald head. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

No prob Bubba.....you were close. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[borto1990]

mine came with a wompus rack when I bought it. the "platform" was small to fit the entire trunk mounting bolts on it so I made my own out of 1/8 stock. made it out of 1 piece and bent it myself. I am going to make another out of 3/16 and get it chromed eventually. cut it out with a plasma, did the clean up on a profile grinder,

[Bull Durham]

I wish there was a way to somehow include the original passenger grab rails into the equation, as I like the looks of the bike with the grab rails. Has anyone tried to incorporate the grab rails into your custom made rack?

[jandreu]

Bull Durham, see my post on page one of this thread.

[Bull Durham]

Bubba,

I understand now. I had looked at your pic when you first posted, but thought that was the end product, didn't understand it at the time. So your pic is just showing the base / or mount of the rack. Then your probably mounting a flat plate on top of that, bolts on to what you are showing, then mounting the trunk onto the flat plate, correct?

[jandreu]

This is actualy Cajunrider's design that he shared with me. But yes you are correct.

[Bull Durham]

I really like it, looks great and you get to keep the grab bars.

[jandreu]

If you look at Cajunrider's sig pic a few posts up you can see how it looks on the bike.

I like it also and when I'm ready to go the pak route this is the setup I'll go with.

There have been some commits about the casting strength but I feel it will hold and Cajunrider reports no issues.