Making Luggage from Ammo cans - Mounting points?

[WilliamGLX81]

Hey, folks.

I am getting my 82 gs650g(L) back on the road, and ... well, I need some new saddlebags. I had an experience where someone stole my crash pants and gloves out of the ones I had before (Nelson-Riggs CL-855). I would really like lockable metal boxes that will be at least a bit of a challenge for thieves.

Looking at the bike from the side, I don't see very good looking mounting points for hard-sided luggage. I could conceivably either weld (ehhhh) onto the frame, or use some kind of mount that wraps around the frame rail.

Have other people made their own hard-cases before? These are pretty large boxes, 25 x 14 x 7 inches - around 40 Liters per side. The old bags were about 30 liters per side. Are there mounting points people have used that worked well? I was thinking of using something like 1/2 inch square tube to make a mounting system, but a mounting system really requires I have a place to attach them, especially to keep them from sagging in towards the wheel.

Cheers

PS I searched for "ammo box" and everything I got was from The Vortex

[salty_monk]

There have been a few people who’ve done it but less so than on a KLR forum.. they love those things! I think the guy that was going “around the world on an 850G” had them fitted. Usually people pick up on the suspension top mounts and the Rear foot peg mounts and wrap something around the license plate mount. That’s similar to how Krause cases mount too...

[Steve]

When those "ammo" cans were filled with ammo, they must have been HEAVY.

Click on the link in my signature to see my wife's '82 850L. Those bags are from a Honda VTX1300 and have had custom mounts made for them. Those bags are 21" long, 12" high and 10" wide.

My photo-linking on the forum is not working well, I can send some pictures to your e-mail, if you wish.

.

[GS1150Pilot]

This is a good DIY I found when looking at similar options for a KLR:

http://www.moto-ryder.com/2013/12/diy-ammo-can-saddle-bags.html

[Guest]

I'm also in the process of fitting random side luggage boxes to my bike. For fixing points I plan to use the rear blinkers mounting point, rear shocks upper mounting point, and to get 3 points, I am using these water pipe fixtures on the frame tube near the rear footpegs. These ones offer a nice M8 nut and a rubber cushioned clamp which won't leave a mark on the frame. They're not pretty but very convenient.
fixture.jpg

[wymple]

I made brackets and mounted plastic ammo copies from a sporting goods store. They are lockable. I first went to an Army surplus store in search of, but those darn things are prohibitively heavy even when empty. You will be surprised when you pick one up.

[WilliamGLX81]

I made brackets and mounted plastic ammo copies from a sporting goods store. They are lockable. I first went to an Army surplus store in search of, but those darn things are prohibitively heavy even when empty. You will be surprised when you pick one up.

Wow, nice setup! Do you have any photos or drawings of the brackets?

I've handled some before, and they are indeed hefty. Hopefully they will be very difficult for snyonr go bend up or cut through.

Juke Nukem - those are interesting clamps. Are they prewh .otty tenacious, or could they move around?


And thanks to the others for replying too. I am eyeing some that were for some kind of artillery round, I think.

[Guest]

Juke Nukem - those are interesting clamps. Are they prewh .otty tenacious, or could they move around?

At least in these ones the rubber is very sticky. Once the screws are tightened, the clamp grips really well. The rubber of course gives a little when force is applied, but that's probably a good thing.

[wymple]

Wow, nice setup! Do you have any photos or drawings of the brackets?

I've handled some before, and they are indeed hefty. Hopefully they will be very difficult for snyonr go bend up or cut through.

Juke Nukem - those are interesting clamps. Are they prewh .otty tenacious, or could they move around?


And thanks to the others for replying too. I am eyeing some that were for some kind of artillery round, I think.

The bike had been seriously "altered" by a deer collision. The gauges were smashed up, and as you can see, I cobbled something else up there. Bent front fork was straightened, the seat is from a 1984 Yamaha Venture. It's not the greatest fit but the cases hide that. Best seat I've ever had. Everything was modified or tweaked one way or another, brackets are just fabbed up steel pieces, no big deal. I'm not in to stock or original, just like to get up & down the road in comfort.

[WilliamGLX81]

The bike had been seriously "altered" by a deer collision. The gauges were smashed up, and as you can see, I cobbled something else up there. Bent front fork was straightened, the seat is from a 1984 Yamaha Venture. It's not the greatest fit but the cases hide that. Best seat I've ever had. Everything was modified or tweaked one way or another, brackets are just fabbed up steel pieces, no big deal. I'm not in to stock or original, just like to get up & down the road in comfort.

I am beginning to feel the same way. I like stock for reliability and ease of repair... but that's it. Where did you end up nounting your brackets for the luggage?

And ouch. A deer is no picnic in a car, much less on a bike. I am sure my bike was crashed pretty bad before I bought it, cobbled back together, and then ridden quite a bit. I do like my gs650, but I do think that in the future I'll be searching for a bike more like yours... But with ABS and EFI.

I am proud of ny totally non-stock "coil mod" that I turned into a full-on all-power mod with an ATO/"regular" fuse box. Now the only power that goes through the ignition switch is the power to close the relay.

Your seat looks a million times better than mine. I re-covered mine with marine vinyl, but it isn't pretty.