DR650 pannier rack. Do you want one?

[Bartman10]

I'm designing a DR650 (96 - 06) pannier rack at the moment. This is going to be a heavy duty job for long (i.e. months at a time) trips into the unknown...

I've made quite a bit of progress, and I'm costing up materials etc.

I guess the final product will still be a few weeks away, but if anyone is interested let me know and I'll make one for you too.

This is going to be a one-off production run. Either you want one or you don't. The set-up costs are significant, that's why I'm keen to share the cost around a bit. I'm estimating the cost will be around $150-$200 including powder coating.

I'm working on these with a qualified mechanical engineer and a professional welder, so the quality will be good.

They're essentially a truss structure constructed out of thin-wall box section steel. I'm intent on making them light as well as strong.

If you're at all interested let me know and we'll sort out more details...

[Transalper]

You got an artists impression type sketch of one? If i see the sort of thing you're talking about (even a rough drawing on a photo) then i'd say ya or na right away.

[paulj]

Me too please - post a sketch and if it works for me I'll dosh up front (if it's within the estimate you suggest). Brilliant. I'll have to cancel the Ventura unit now!

[cooneyr]

Could be interested as want a rack at some stage. Like TA says can you put together a sketch so we can get an idea of what you are planning.

Cheers
R

[NordieBoy]

Sketch?
I want it in DXF format with a 3D rendering please

To go on my brand new 2001 DR650.

Anyone want a Gilera?

[Bartman10]

Good to see some interest.

Before spending time on the drawings, I thought it would be worth asking if there was interest.

Since you folks seem keen I'll put together some proper drawings this weekend and post 'em next week.

Cheers

[Bartman10]

Here is the first mock up and some diagrams of the proposed pannier rack.

Words: Rack means the pannier rack – the bit I’m constructing. Frame means the motorcycle frame – the bit that Mr Suzuki constructed.

As you can see from the structure the rack is basically a two triangle truss structure.

Construction:
1.6 X 16 mm box section mild steel, and 3 & 6 mm steel plate.

Fixing:
There are a total of 8 attachment points (4 each side) to the frame.
4 where the factory grab rails sit
2 on the passenger pegs
2 on the number plate/mudguard hanger support. This is underneath the mud-flap, see photos.

Design:
I’ve deliberately kept the rack quite high on the bike so that the forces are close to the sub-frame, to prevent the rack from twisting and also to keep your panniers out of the water when crossing rivers. I know the height isn’t ideal for handling, but I still think torsion resistance and small physical size (hence low weight) are important. Another important consideration is the ability to remove the rear tyre while the rack is attached to the bike, which is also facilitated by keeping the rack quite high.

I’ve deliberately kept it off the seat so that it’s still possible to easily get the seat off without removing the rack.

It is possible to carry a pillion with this rack attached – fraggle and I tested it with the wooden mock-up.

I’ve put gussets in where extra strength is required, mainly around the back to prevent lateral movement in the event of a spill. I still want to retain some flexibility around the top, where the rack attaches to the factory grab rail points, so that the rack will bend a bit, instead of the sub-frame in the likely event of a major crash.

The indicators are still details that need to be finalised. At this stage they will sit inside the rack essentially in the same place as the original indicators. I have not yet designed a bracket for this purpose, but rest assured it will be included.

The rack will also be isolated from the frame by some thick rubber washers. Previous RTW reports indicate that failure normally occurs near the welds after a large number of kilometres, either in the sub-frame or on the pannier rack itself. This indicates that failure is due to metal fatigue, not high instantaneous shock loading. The use of rubber washers to isolate the pannier rack (and hence the heavy luggage load) from the sub-frame should go quite a way into relieving these problems.

The reason I’ve made them out of mild steel is that it’s quite fatigue resistant (compared to aluminium) and that it’s possible to bend it back into shape on the road. Another reason is that a RTW means that you might need to affect a repair with a simple agricultural stick welder in the back blocks of wherethefuckarewenow-stan. Stainless steel is much harder to repair in these circumstances.

One thing I am seriously considering is making the two halves bolt together, insead of welding them together. This would mean that taking the rack off would be a bit easier.

Heat control

I’ve got to be honest and say I’m not sure how well these will ventilate when piled high with luggage in a hot dessert town. One of the reasons I went to the triangle design at the back, with the narrow top section is to make sure that a large part of the exhaust remains unobstructed. It may be necessary to mount a thin piece of aluminium or galvanised steel to the inside of the pannier rack on the exhaust side of the bike as a heat shield. Only product testing will tell, but it won’t take much to cut out a piece of aluminium to fit in there, since the luggage-holding bolt-holes will already be in place.

Modelling

I’ve made a 3D thing (the .mov file). The rendering isn’t perfect but it gives you an idea.

I’ve begun to construct a model out of wood. So far it’s working well, but as you can see from the pictures, it’s not finished. I’ll keep you posted on progress. The main thing I still need to do is finish the passenger foot peg attachment plate and indicator mounts. Hopefully I’ll have this out of the way in the next few days and give you an updated report.

Luggage attachment
There will be 8 holes per side drilled into the rack so you can bolt on your panniers or pannier attachment clips etc. These racks will be suitable for hard or soft panniers.

Colour: Approx same metallic grey as 2006 DR650 frame.

Time line for delivery:
This week – finalise drawings and finish model
Next week – cut out the steel work
Following week – make welding jigs etc.
1st and 2nd week of Jan – welding
3rd week of Jan – powder coating
Delivery – February

I wanted to get it done before the Christmas holidays but it’s a hard time of the year to begin this sort of thing, plus I’ve got my job to do and heaps of other things to organise.

Pricing: It all depends on the number of units… if only one of you is interested it could be quite expensive. If I can get more than 5 people on board it will be much cheaper, around the $200 dollar mark.
After I get the wooden model finished I’ll go down and get quotes for materials and powder coating, and give you a final price.

If you want any extra features let me know and I’ll try to incorporate them. I’d love to hear your suggestions. If you have any other questions or concerns about the design please ask.

I’m not doing this for any profit. I couldn’t find any racks that took my fancy on the NZ market so I’ve done the usual Kiwi thing and designed my own, with the help of a professional mechanical engineer, who happens to share an office with me. I’m keen to share the time I spend on this project with everyone at no charge, but the one-off set up costs are quite high so the more DR650 owners who want to get a decent luggage set-up the cheaper it will be.

The next thing is the panniers…. As soon as the rack is out of the way I’ll finalise the design of some aluminium ones to match the rack…. You’ll have a chance to get those panniers too.

Cheers.

[Bartman10]

Some more pics

[NordieBoy]

Weight/balance issues 'cause of the offset?

[Bartman10]

Weight/balance issues 'cause of the offset?

I've considered this and it won't be a problem.

The rack won't be a problem in it's own right, because it is will be quite light, around 4 kg, meaning that the weight difference between the left and right side will only be small, a few hundred grams at most. There is already a bigger offset than this because the exhaust weight on the right hand side.

It all depends on how you pack up your panniers and how you distribute the weight of your load when you do your packing. Even if you had two panniers the same size it would be possible to balance the load with simple packing. The off-set is only 6% each way, so if you wanted to carry 25 kg you'd need to put 14 kg in the left side pannier and 11 kg in the exhaust side to achieve balance, which shouldn't be hard to achieve. Just put a few bulky light items in the left pannier, eg sleeping bag, tent etc.

The aluminum panniers that I'm designing are actually 2 different widths so that the total (force X distance) load from the center line of the bike will be the same from each side, assuming that the panniers are uniformly packed.

Any more questions? Please ask.

Cheers.

[cooneyr]

I think I'll pass as I'm wanting racks for soft paniers. Wasnt sure if you were aiming at hard or soft. Thanks for sharing your idea but not quite right for me.

Cheers
R

[Transalper]

Same here, i think they'd be more rack than i'd want. Great work though.

[paulj]

I'm still in the running Bartman10 - hadn't envisaged pannier boxes - I would like to see an adaption to allow soft or hard - and perhaps a modular design which would allow the side trusses to be removed leaving the top carrier.

Initially I was looking at your rack for Xmas but with the time frame (pun) extended out to Feb it is in next years budget and focus - good move BTW, rushing it will only compromise the design and hassle you.

I have hacked up a Ventura pack rack for this Xmas and found that the vertical pipework on the tray is very useful for tying off on - you looking at this also?

On on

[Bartman10]

Progress report -

Finished most of the details and bought some steel. I'll post some more pics of the finished wooden model later in the week.

All going well I'll cut out the steel work this weekend.

Got a quote from the powder coaters and it will be $50 per rack to sand blast, zinc coat and powder coat. Should be pretty rust resistant.

Steel is $35 per rack.

Welding will be about $100-$150

Rubber isolators? Unsure... Won't be too much though. I've put some info together for www.mackaycon.com.au so that they can recommend the best product for the job. Hopefully hear from them soon.

So looking at $180 - $230 + some costs towards prototyping. Maybe $20-30.

You still in Paul? I'm going to make 3 anyway and if you don't want it I'll put it on Trademe and hopefully sell it. If anyone else wants one speak now. Manufacture is starting very soon...

I will make the sides unbolt, to leave just the top rack.

Cheers.

[paulj]

Sure am Mr B - looks great to my uneducated eyes - I am after a BIG pannier carrier and yours looks ideal.

Are you bringing manufacture forward a tad? Last manufacturing timetable was about Feb.