Fitting LED high level brake light to the Givi V46

I have a Givi V46 topbox with the optional brakelight kit.  I am after greater visibility as I ride all through Wellington's winter in the usual heavy traffic.

I went to the Admore Lighting site - www.admorelighting.com - and bought their LEDV46-TM (mini) kit.  This replaces the incandescent bulbs with LEDs that are permanently on and brighten with the brakes, thus mirroring what the taillight does. (USD$69).  This kit uses the standard Givi connector under the box, so there's no mucking around with wires at all.

A quite straightforward fit with good instructions.  They provide positap connectors but I soldered and heatshrunk everything.  It is definitely much brighter and well worth it to me.  They also do a kit that turns the side reflectors into indicators, but NZ doesn't allow red indicators.

Here's the kit (it's Admore's stock pic and doesn't come with a drill bit or need one):

And here's the kit with brakes off

and brakes on (the difference doesn't show as well as it does in the flesh, so to speak).  I later disconnected the permanent on tail from the top box as it was hard to tell if the brake was on or not. Works well and very conspicuous.

Latest TAC motorcycle safety ad

This is clever:

Bar Risers

I made up some simple bar risers by using a stack of thick stainless washers, and replaced the lower clamp bolts with some 75mm/3 inch M10 bolts with a 14mm head (I had to grind some 16mm ones down as no one had any with a small head like that).

Simple to do and a lot cheaper than buying risers.  Ride position is more comfortable and the bars are higher by  around 1.5cm, which makes a lot of difference. There's no additional flex and the washers are not noticeable.  I may see if I can get some alloy collars machined at some stage.

Givi TPH02 Tanklock bag on a GSF1250

I got myself a Givi TPH02 Tanklock tank bag.  I had a Joe Rocket magnetic one but sold it as it scratched the paint.  This one has a mounting ring that bolts to the gas cap ring, and the bag clicks straight onto it in a second.  The bag never touches the tank.  The upper of the bag is a textured plastic, with a window that allows an i-Phone or similar to be displayed.  There's a removable, soft-lined tray for sunglasses and keys.

It's only 4 litres, but it's a useful size for wallets, glasses etc and it looks good on the bike.  Comes with a waterproof cover too, but looks like it would take a shower without too much drama.

http://www.giviusa.com/soft-luggages/Tank-bags/TPH02-TANKLOCK

The Easter Bandit Ride

A magnificent Easter Weekend.  A friend (who rides a GSF1250SATK8 coloured blue) and I rode over the Rimutakas (a winding road over a mountain range):

to Lake Ferry in the Wairarapa on the South East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand.  Very few cars on the road and just a lovely day.

Into Martinborough for brunch and there were plenty of bikes (or, to be precise, their riders) enjoying a great day out.  About 210 km all up, lots of corners, magnificent scenery.  What a day!

Can you fit a Givi topbox to the GSF1250 OEM side racks?

A really common question is whether or not a Givi Top box can be fitted to the GSF1250 Bandit or the GSX1250FA with the OEM side racks.  The answer?  Yes.

In brief, the OEM side racks come in two versions.  One is side cases only, and they fit the OEM Suzuki cases, which are Kappa equivalents of the Givi V35s.  This setup has two side bars, onto which the sidecase racks bolt with a joining bar across the outside of the rear mudguard.  The OEM part numbers are:
990D0-17H00-065 (side case mount), and 990D0-17H00-060 (side mount bar)

The other setup is for the Suzuki top and side case set:
990D0-17H00-065 (side case mount), and 990D0-38G05-060 (top case mount). The difference is that the side bars continue round in a "U" shape which makes the base for the top box.

I personally don't like the Suzuki top case mount as it sits too close to the passenger, does away with the grab rail, and hasn't the mount for the Givi electrical connector to get brake and tail lights to the top box (in my one, a Givi V46).

I had the Givi PLX539 side racks, which are perfectly good, but they have a funny indicator bracket which relocates the indicators beside the rear number plate light, making them too close together and they wobble around.  I never liked it.

I have the Givi FZ539 top case mount (monokey), and got myself the OEM Suzuki side case racks.  They are 50mm wider than the Givi PLX539 racks and are mounted slightly differently.  They bolt up just fine with the Givi FZ539 top case mount.

This is the full Givi setup (PLX539 and FZ539).  Check the awful indicator mounting.  The right side bolts to the exhaust mount and the left to a bolt that replaces the pin in the passenger footreats

The following pics show the FZ539 Givi top case mount with the OEM Suzuki racks.  The lower mounts go behind the passenger footpeg  mounts.  You get all the bolts, spacers, and even the blanking plates for the rear indicators. (The indicator cables go underneath the tail light).

Much better positioned indicators:

The side racks will unbolt quite quickly from the side bars if needed.