Joining the tour pack club, well sort of… I have been thinking about getting a tour pack for some time now and finally decided to pull the trigger on one. I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on something I would only use one week out of the year so I found this little guy.



It’s for sale on Amazon under “Tour Pack” With tax I paid $90.82 for it with free two day shipping. Its painted black (obviously) and comes with mounting hardware. It is locking and comes with a luggage rack for the top. Now I know the saying “you get what you pay for” and I’m anticipating it to not be the best quality. But for weeklong trip once a year it’s going to be perfect I think. Now here is my question. Does anyone have any pictures of a trunk that’s mounted above the rear fender over the rear passenger seat? I don’t plan on having any passengers and think it would look funny to have it sticking out the back like normal without a passenger seat. What do ya’ll think?

I would just get some flat stock metal from a hardware store and bend it over the fender,mounting it to the fender strut bolts on each side,the mount the trunk on top of the flat stock!! U could even make the mounts low and close to the fender for a low and sleek look!!

From what I see in your sig. pic it looks like you have a rack over the fender? Why not pick up a piece of flat stock aluminum cut to the size of the bottom of the tour pack and then mount the plate to the top of that rack??

As far as mounting it over the area where the passenger would sit, it won't look funny at all. If you look at my wife's trike her tour pack is mounted that way.

chico wrote:
I would just get some flat stock metal from a hardware store and bend it over the fender,mounting it to the fender strut bolts on each side,the mount the trunk on top of the flat stock!! U could even make the mounts low and close to the fender for a low and sleek look!!
Chico,

That’s a really good idea! I will have to do some thinking tonight while staring at it!

hardone2get wrote:
From what I see in your sig. pic it looks like you have a rack over the fender? Why not pick up a piece of flat stock aluminum cut to the size of the bottom of the tour pack and then mount the plate to the top of that rack??

As far as mounting it over the area where the passenger would sit, it won't look funny at all. If you look at my wife's trike her tour pack is mounted that way.



Hardone2get,

I thought about that but wasn’t sure if the trunk was going to sit too low to open the saddle bags. I guess it will just take a little tinkering when it gets here. Thanks for the picture! It doesn’t look as goofy as I thought it would. Here is another picture I found.

That little guy truly is a piece of Made In China crap. But wait, look at my sig pic and hear me out. I'd hate to see you get all excited and then bummed in a few months when it breaks. I bought mine from Amazon as well and even paid a little less for it too. But then I put about $200 into it and now it is as good as an $800 HD Tour Pack.

So here's the deal. It's literally just 1/8" injection molded ABS plastic with a horrible wavy paint job and a hard foam backrest with not even vinyl upholstery. You can tear this fabric with your fingers. The hinges are molded plastic with a 3" long 1/32" diameter aluminum rod holding the top and bottom together. The top of the lock is riveted through the plastic and the bottom is screwed through the plastic. The locking mechanism is so loose you can move the top of the trunk about a half inch up and down. Under vibration it rattles like crazy. The luggage rack just screws through the plastic on the top after you drill the holes for it. Put anymore than 10lbs on it and it puts a huge load on that rod holding the hinges together whereas it will eventually break and just shatter the plastic hinges. The hardware that comes with it is complete Chinese crap metal and there will be absolutely no instructions for mounting. And their "universal" mount will not fit our R*. Where you screw this thing into the bracket on the bottom it is just bolts through the plastic bottom. Eventually enough vibration, bumps, and general use in a short amount of time will crack the plastic as it starts to dry out. Yes ABS becomes brittle especially after sun exposure.

At this point you can choose to cancel your order, or do something along the lines of what I did.

I reinforced the bottom where it bolts into the mount with 2 strips of 1 1/2" wide 12 ga steel. Reinforced the hinges with 12 ga angle iron. And ran 1 1/2" wide 12 ga steel cross members under where the luggage rack mounts. Put a 16 ga steel backing plate that the lock can screw into. Used AA E-Glass to fiberglass the inside. Re-painted the outside and polished to a nice glass finish. Threw away all the mounting hardware, fabricated my own mounting system, and bought all new nuts and bolts in stainless steal. After re-positioning the lock, it now closes tight and doesn't allow for any movement. Added padding to the backrest and had it professionally reupholstered with actual motorcycle seat material that will hold up to the elements. After lining the inside with fabric I tested it out by standing on it holding a 45lb plate. I weigh 195lbs so you get the picture. On that note, I have pics of everything if you want to see them.

Sorry for the novel, but now you know what to expect. Good Luck!

HK45, I want to see the pictures of the reinforcing project, I just installed the same one. Actually, I am pretty happy with it, it is way better than I expected, for the price I paid. I mounted mine to an Ultrastar rack and it is very solid.

Here is a thread on reinforcing the cheap tour packs.
http://roadstarclinic.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,187/func,view/id,530959/catid,61/limit,10/limitstart,0/

HK45 wrote:
That little guy truly is a piece of Made In China crap. But wait, look at my sig pic and hear me out. I'd hate to see you get all excited and then bummed in a few months when it breaks. I bought mine from Amazon as well and even paid a little less for it too. But then I put about $200 into it and now it is as good as an $800 HD Tour Pack.

So here's the deal. It's literally just 1/8" injection molded ABS plastic with a horrible wavy paint job and a hard foam backrest with not even vinyl upholstery. You can tear this fabric with your fingers. The hinges are molded plastic with a 3" long 1/32" diameter aluminum rod holding the top and bottom together. The top of the lock is riveted through the plastic and the bottom is screwed through the plastic. The locking mechanism is so loose you can move the top of the trunk about a half inch up and down. Under vibration it rattles like crazy. The luggage rack just screws through the plastic on the top after you drill the holes for it. Put anymore than 10lbs on it and it puts a huge load on that rod holding the hinges together whereas it will eventually break and just shatter the plastic hinges. The hardware that comes with it is complete Chinese crap metal and there will be absolutely no instructions for mounting. And their "universal" mount will not fit our R*. Where you screw this thing into the bracket on the bottom it is just bolts through the plastic bottom. Eventually enough vibration, bumps, and general use in a short amount of time will crack the plastic as it starts to dry out. Yes ABS becomes brittle especially after sun exposure.

At this point you can choose to cancel your order, or do something along the lines of what I did.

I reinforced the bottom where it bolts into the mount with 2 strips of 1 1/2" wide 12 ga steel. Reinforced the hinges with 12 ga angle iron. And ran 1 1/2" wide 12 ga steel cross members under where the luggage rack mounts. Put a 16 ga steel backing plate that the lock can screw into. Used AA E-Glass to fiberglass the inside. Re-painted the outside and polished to a nice glass finish. Threw away all the mounting hardware, fabricated my own mounting system, and bought all new nuts and bolts in stainless steal. After re-positioning the lock, it now closes tight and doesn't allow for any movement. Added padding to the backrest and had it professionally reupholstered with actual motorcycle seat material that will hold up to the elements. After lining the inside with fabric I tested it out by standing on it holding a 45lb plate. I weigh 195lbs so you get the picture. On that note, I have pics of everything if you want to see them.

Sorry for the novel, but now you know what to expect. Good Luck!

Thanks for all your experience!! From what i have read I am already planning on upgrading hinges and the lock and adding some reinforcements. I too would love some pictures of how you did yours! The plan is to upgrade and paint and have about $150-$200 into it rather then $800 for a nice one. Plus it Will give me something to tinker with and make my own rather then buy something and just plop it on. Whats the fun in that? but thanks for the heads up!!

That's the same one I have. It is cheap, but it does the job. For that price you can replace it if it breaks. I paid a lot of money for Tsukayu Hard Bags and one of the lids have cracks all over it. Reinforcing would be a good idea. I mounted mine on a sturdy custom bracket.