Another Luggage Rack

[C3517C]

First off, I'm not selling anything, and I have no intention to. This was just a little something I tried so I thought I'd share. I took a trip to the Canadian Rockies last month with my wife, riding 2 up. That's about 3000 miles round trip for me. I have a BRP trailer hitch, but mine has a heavy duty trailer receiver welded in the spot that usually has the trailer ball. When I want a trailer ball, it takes 10 seconds to slide in a receiver that has a ball on it. But for this trip, I bought a hitch mounted luggage rack. It was designed and sized for a car, $65, so I modified it with a hack saw and a few nuts and bolts.
I put a duffle back with clothes in it on the rack and secured it with bungee cords. (Always use more than you need) I was afraid the bag would get heavily soiled because of where it sits, so I bought a Granit Gear bag. It is waterproof and tough, $60. Everything went great for the ride up, and 3 additional days of driving around the Rockies. I did not feel any negative effects from the luggage being back there. The only thing I noticed is that one of the days that had BAD winds, I was probably getting knocked around a bit more than usual. Obviously, the smaller your load surface area is, the better off you are. I was really surprised that the bag never got more than slightly dusty. During the ride I went through rain, sleet, snow, and blowing dust / sand. With the stock rear mud flap and the trailer hitch mud flap in place, almost nothing gets on the bag. The pictures you see were taken after about 2000 miles. I still feel the weatherproof bag was $ well spent. You could actually spray it off if you really needed to. As you can see, my license plate is also clearly visible.
On the down side, by the end of the trip the metal on the rack was starting to separate. I can't blame the manufacturer, since I had modified their design. The real problem was that it was thin aluminum, and once I drilled holes for the bolts, the bars had been compromised. So I guess you could say I made a successful disposable luggage rack. Welded steel next time around.

[Bfromla]

it helped you enjoy the trip thats the part that matters. Nice quick & functional rigg congrats


I wasn't there but I still care! POW /MIA VETS

[jcgirouard]

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[DDT]

I like this.

[SpyderAnn01]

Chris, I'm glad you had a great trip and you came back with your luggage. Another couple from Las Vegas was headed to Spyderfest and when they went to check into their hotel one night they realized that their luggage was no longer on their rack. He rode about 20 miles back and realized that he was looking for a needle in a haystack and he had the brilliant idea to call the Highway Patrol. Surprisingly they knew exactly where his bag was and he was able to ride back to it about 50 miles from the hotel.