Making my own custom luggage rack - legal or illegal?

Hi folks,

I'm new to motorcycles and new to the forum. I've looked for a similar question to this but haven't found one. Sorry if I'm duplicating.

I'm a student of Kendo - Japanese Fencing. The equipment consists of armour and bamboo swords. The armour bag's not that heavy (22 lbs or so) but it's kind of bulky and awkward to carry.

My bike has a very small sissy bar/rack on it. There are bolt holes in it and it looks like the previous owner had bolted on a luggage box of some sort. I was thinking to make a platform that could be bolted to the rack (material not yet decided, but could be as simple as plywood) which would provide a wider base to support the armour bag. The bag would be tied/bungeed down so it wouldn't fall off.

I was hoping someone could let me know if this would be considered legal or not. Would a home-made accessory be legal? There's no other way I can think of to carry the armour bag safely. I haven't seen luggage boxes big enough for this. It's too big to sit on the back seat without removing the sissy bar and even then, there's not enough room for it on the seat to even consider strapping it down. The bag's base dimensions are around 18" wide and 22" long and it's around 16" tall.

Your feedback and expertise is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I've come up with quite a few crazy looking things in order to carry things on the bike, never had an issue with them being illegal, as long as they are safe. I guess you can always be charged with "unsafe load" if a cop decides it's not safe. I pull a trailer with my bike now so I have no more worries as far as cargo.

How floppy is your intended cargo going to be? Aside from the unsafe load part, a shifting load going around a corner or in a panic turn / stop could make the difference between a safe stop or a wreck. Not being familiar with Kendo I am picturing hockey goalie equipment. Maybe someone with hockey experience can help.
As far as the legality goes, I've seen some pretty dumb things on car roofs and the police don't seem to care. It's more likely to be a charge after the fact if you have a collision / wreck.

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Originally Posted by niagara1

Your feedback and expertise is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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As long as it's securely attached to the bike, there is no problem with a homemade carrier of those dimensions. If add-ons were illegals, Givi would be out of business.

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Originally Posted by nobbie48

How floppy is your intended cargo going to be? Aside from the unsafe load part, a shifting load going around a corner or in a panic turn / stop could make the difference between a safe stop or a wreck. Not being familiar with Kendo I am picturing hockey goalie equipment. Maybe someone with hockey experience can help.
As far as the legality goes, I've seen some pretty dumb things on car roofs and the police don't seem to care. It's more likely to be a charge after the fact if you have a collision / wreck.

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I have built a prototype platform (heck, might be the final product) using 3/4" plywood. It weighs 8 lbs. The armour weighs 22 lbs, so I'd be holding 30 lbs on the sissy bar/rack. The armour bag doesn't "flop" once everything's in. The platform has raised sides (around 4") and is made to measure so the bag fits in firmly. While I haven't had a test ride yet, I don't think it would be possible for the armour bag to shift once it's secured with a cargo strap.

The platform actually fits over the back rest of the sissy bar and then bolts onto the rack so it's quite firmly attached. I can imagine its looks might draw some attention from the police (it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb) but perhaps once I've painted it and added some reflective stickers it might not look so home-made.

Any other suggestions on how to avoid any issues police might raise would be welcome. Unsafe load, indeed...

Thanks folks!

To reduce the "ghetto" look of the wood, you can either just paint it and leave it as such or create something similar with diamond plate and u-bolts. The only tools required would be an angle grinder, a socket wrench and a drill. If you go that route, make sure you protect the edges as they could cut someone.

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Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

To reduce the "ghetto" look of the wood, you can either just paint it and leave it as such or create something similar with diamond plate and u-bolts. The only tools required would be an angle grinder, a socket wrench and a drill. If you go that route, make sure you protect the edges as they could cut someone.

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Thanks for that idea. I'd thought about making it out of metal, but two problems came to mind. 1) I have no experience with metal work and 2) the edges could be a challenge safety-wise.

I don't care about the looks of the platform so much. I think it's safe. Paint will make it look okay but I don't think I'd keep the platform on if I wasn't going to Kendo practice. Practically speaking though, if I keep getting pulled over by police when I'm on my way to a practice carrying my stuff, I'll be constantly late. Even if I never got charged with anything, it would be a hassle.

Ideally, you wanna cut diamond plate on a band-saw and use a drill press (even though you can get away with using a regular drill, but it's time-consuming). Typically, if you have access to those tools, you'd have access to the tools needed to bend the edges and even a stick-welder, so you could pimp it out quite nicely and then spray with Tremclad. As long as it secures the load properly, wood will be OK, but paint it - the less ghettoish it looks, the less likely you're gonna get hassled by the popo.

Maybe trace your plywood template onto some plastic cutting board material. Router out slots around the platform's perimeter all the way around, maybe an inch from the endge. That will give you a number of spots to loop straps thru. The outer wals will be unnecessary.

Also...in the past when I used racks I would also use that rubber, dollar store matting to help the luggage stay in place. It's amazing stuff especially if you carry one bag on top of another and put that stuff in between the 2 bags and between the 1st bag and the rack.

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Originally Posted by m.breen

Also...in the past when I used racks I would also use that rubber, dollar store matting to help the luggage stay in place.

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Good idea. Probably won't be necessary with the armour bag but might be with other things if I decide to use it to carry other things. Never say never...

I'll send pics when I have something to show.

Just a few pics after the first ride with the platform/tray installed. It was solid - no bouncing around of either armour or sword bag. Cornered well. Hardly knew it was there. Now working on rounding the pointy corners to make it a little more user-friendly.

http://www.kendoniagara.com/images/m...pics/tray5.jpg

http://www.kendoniagara.com/images/m...pics/tray4.jpg

http://www.kendoniagara.com/images/m...pics/tray3.jpg

http://www.kendoniagara.com/images/m...pics/tray1.jpg

Not bad at all.. Shouldn't set off any bells and/or whistles :cool:

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Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Not bad at all.. Shouldn't set off any bells and/or whistles :cool:

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Or sirens, hopefully. ;) Thanks!

I had to laugh, your "storage solution" looks much better than mine - an old shelf cut to support a large piece of luggage, secured to the small rack. Looked dumb, but it worked.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1329030035

Loaded up.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1334618549

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Originally Posted by niagara1

Just a few pics after the first ride with the platform/tray installed. It was solid - no bouncing around of either armour or sword bag. Cornered well. Hardly knew it was there. Now working on rounding the pointy corners to make it a little more user-friendly.

http://www.kendoniagara.com/images/m...pics/tray4.jpg

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It looks good and secure. If you want more stability and less cantilevering, and if you do not ride with a passenger to kendo, you could add another groove for the sissy bar and move the whole tray forward, over the pillion. You could also then add a rider backrest at the same time.

To scare off bad drivers you could ride with your kendo mask exposed and facing rearward. Drivers might assume you are also carrying a katana....

shouldn't be illegal. I know my brother made his own and his top box is a waerproof tool box. Hasn't gotten in any toruble yet about it.

As long as it's well and properly secured, and the load that it carries is also properly secured, there should be no legal issue. Some people have used large, thick plastic cutting boards, drilling holes to bolt it to the rack and for bungee hooks, to increase the size of their carriers.