Soft Luggage/Tailbag with homemade support bracket

[BiggT]

Ed, were you able to inject the foam into the CPVC? Did it firm up the unit as expected? I am going to make a trip into the US to get the parts from the Lowes in Bellingham since they do not have it here in Vancouver, Canada.
If you did use foam, can you tell me what brand and make, so that I may pickup some while I am down there. One more question if I may, did you paint it once you had it all put together? or did you paint each individual piece?

 

[timmct]

These look great! Since this thread is just over a year old, I wanted to ask LittleEd and Maxou723 if they've changed anything from the original design and how they're working? If one of you can send a parts list I'll probably build my own asap. Thanks for sharing the design!

 

[StratTuner]

it's an excellent design... I've done my own , and it's based on this one..

more pictures of a variation on this original work HERE:

 

[TrackCage]

Bumping this back up because this is an excellent resource. I'm looking at soft saddlebags myself and this will prove invaluable. PM sent for the spec/parts list!

 

[DavidK]

Hi Ed, I would like to have your measurements and parts list. Also I'm not sure if you can use heat to bend cpvc but you can heat pvc pipe and bend it and it will stay in position. I don't know if that would work to get the angle you were talking about. Thanks for the info and idea.

 

[PHX-AZ-700X]

Can anyone provide a complete list of parts and measurements? I tried to PM Little Ed, but his mailbox is full.

 

[StratTuner]

Can anyone provide a complete list of parts and measurements? I tried to PM Little Ed, but his mailbox is full.

[HERE] is a more thorough treatment with more pictures.

I can supply a list of parts and measurements... take some time to work that up.
(alternately, you could look at a photo and count how many elbows and + shapes there are... let me do that now as I'm typing....)

16 elbows
4 + shaped things
6 T's (counting the two you saw in half... those are 3/4 to 1"...the 1" is the side you cut in half)

buy two 10ft straight 3/4" pvc pipes...that will probably be enough.

buy two more of each joint in case you mess up (or counted wrong, like I do)
...they're not expensive...

THE important cut is the pipe that goes from behind the license plate to the half pipe brace resting on the frame tube.
Make that LEVEL, and it will be a very specific length.
Everything else is built off that.
(Honestly: the EXACT measurements are not important. You'll find those as you work.)

 

[PHX-AZ-700X]

I was referring to Little Ed's design...its sleeker and less complicated.

I went to Ace Hardware to search for the parts. I recognize most of the parts, but I was able to make the rest work. I am just dry fitting everything right now, and figuring out the lengths to cut the 1/2" PVC pipe.

My parts list;
4x 1/2" 60 degree elbows
2x 1/2" 90 degree street elbow
2x 1/2" 90 degree pressure (threaded) street elbow
1x 1/2" Pressure (threaded) to 1" T junction (cut the 1" section in half, length wise)
1x 5' 1/2" PVC schedule 40 pipe.



Here is the basic layout without the lengths of pipe installed


The T-junctions cut in half.

 

[VE258]

i would add a piece of a pipe foam insulation (the one that they use on AC) to the spot ,where it touched bike (top of stop light) cost close to nothing.

Everbilt 1 in. x 6 ft. Foam Pipe Insulation-ORP11812 - The Home Depot

injection of great stuff is a good idea,but! they sell at home depot(and lowes) fiberglass resin with hardener included. i haven't ever tried,but i'm pretty sure it will give you plenty of additional strength. cost about $15 for 1qt . located where all glues are. in paint section. and if you stick a piece of a fiberglass cloth in it ,filled with resin-you might end with something stronger than steel. just a thought.

3M Bondo 1 qt. All-Purpose Fiberglass Resin-20122 - The Home Depot

 

[StratTuner]

I was referring to Little Ed's design...its sleeker and less complicated.

As they used to say on Saturday Night Live.... "Nevermind."

 

[PHX-AZ-700X]

i would add a piece of a pipe foam insulation (the one that they use on AC) to the spot ,where it touched bike (top of stop light) cost close to nothing.

Everbilt 1 in. x 6 ft. Foam Pipe Insulation-ORP11812 - The Home Depot

injection of great stuff is a good idea,but! they sell at home depot(and lowes) fiberglass resin with hardener included. i haven't ever tried,but i'm pretty sure it will give you plenty of additional strength. cost about $15 for 1qt . located where all glues are. in paint section. and if you stick a piece of a fiberglass cloth in it ,filled with resin-you might end with something stronger than steel. just a thought.

3M Bondo 1 qt. All-Purpose Fiberglass Resin-20122 - The Home Depot

Those are all excellent ideas, thanks. I had planed on filling it with expanding foam, but I like the resin/fiberglass idea much more.

 

[PHX-AZ-700X]

As they used to say on Saturday Night Live.... "Nevermind."

I didn't mean to say that your design wasn't good, it works great for your bag setup...I'm just going to use the OGIO side bags, and they won't really work well with your rack design. I just needed something simple to keep my OGIO bags situated correctly.

 

[PHX-AZ-700X]

Completed assembly tonight. Took a little bit to get the angles on the elbows correct, but once I found the best positions, I marked the alignment with a sharpy before I took it all apart for the PVC cement. I put the measurements in the photo for anyone else who wants to copy my work. I am going to fill it with epoxy or foam for a little extra strength/rigidity, but it once it's all cemented together it is pretty solid. I still need to add the foam inserts on the end supports so I don't scratch up the frame tube, and paint it flat black. The side bags will hold it on without any additional support, but rubber hose clamps around the frame and end supports would add an extra sense of security. I am also going to add a length of pipe insulator to the top portion that contacts the tail light support, just so nothing rubs...I am also considering covering the entire rack with pipe insulator instead of painting it.

 

[TN Thunder]

Very neat trick and looks good too. Great job.

 

[kpinvt]

With an inside diameter of 0.602 inches you could fill the pipes with wooden dowels plus epoxy to make the pipes rigid.

 

[JimbosToys]

Thumbs up! Clever, intuitive, effective.
And generous (to share it with us). Jim

 

[maxou723]

here is the list that Little ED had sent to me with his amazing info:

The component that I call the "saddle pipe" (used to slide over the bikes approximately 1 1/8" pipe). It looks like a "T" fitting, with part of it cut away. I rounded (filed) the corner sharper edges, and the "injection mold" points, and sanded off every sharp edge so that it would not scratch the paint or the cowling when installing. After being painted I also used two strips of adhesive-backed foam inside of each of the 'saddle clamps, mounting them slightly past the 1/2 way point, so that the holding tension was applied on the inward side of the bike, helping to hold them on when installed. If they were installed on the outermost side, they would have a tendancy to push the saddle clamps off the pipe. I believe these "saddle clamp" items were Lowes Part #188243 1"x 1/2" SCH40 TEE 46413 @ $1.63 ea


All parts were made from 1/2" C-PVC (smaller diameter than the white PVC, and slightly off- color). Parts from Lowes plumbing department. I will also provide the Lowes Part # and description

1 ea # 23811 1/2" x 5' CPVC (receipt says 5 foot, I thought it was 4' ???? $1.79/ea
4 ea #23757 1/2" ELL 45 D CPVC (45 degree standard elbow) @ $0.38/ea
2 ea #237109 1/2" 45D St Elbow CPVC (45 degree street elbow) @$0.43/ea
2 ea 23755 1/2" 90 D ELL (standard 90 degree elbow) @ $0.31
2 ea #23765 1/2" Male Adapter CPVC ( I believe this to be the fitting that is threaded at one end and screws into what I term the saddle clamp above. The other side adapts to the 90 degree fitting using a 1" pipe.

The pipe lengths and component sequence I used starting with the rear pipe that rests on the tail:

Tail pipe 3-1/2"
45 degree fitting
2" pipe
45 degree fitting
90 degree Street elbow
14- 3/8" pipe
90 degree fitting
1" pipe
Adapter
Saddle (I do not recommend gluing this to the adapter for several reasons)

Gluing sequence is critical and I found that I had to think through the process so that both sides were aligned and any slight alterations could be made as I progressed. (for example, I started with the tail pipe and glued only 1 of the 45 degree elbows. I then installed (not glued) the longer pipe into the recently glued fitting. I installed the other longer pipe into the opposite 45 degree elbow so that when I was gluing it, I could easily align the two 45 elbows by immediately laying it on a table with the two pipes being perfectly parallel. Don't forget, when gluing each item, you have to maintain pressure against both parts, otherwise it will try to separate 1/8" to 3/16". Also, at some point you will only be able to use a pencil to mark the alignment of a fitting, so be careful and take time ( a small error will impact it's alignment once glued).

Incidentally, prior to painting it black, I used the assy multiple times to ensure it would work. Also, I took the time to sand every rough edge on all fittings (i.e injection mold points, etc) using extremely fine wet/dry sandpaper. Then cleaned it thoroughly with a rag containing same acetone (could use brake cleaner) to ensure a good paint bond.

One other thing I may not have mentioned.. re: the "T" fitting that mounts over the side pipes of the bike. I did not like the sharp corners at the far-ends of the 'T", so I filed them down giving a more rounder profile and then sanded them smooth. Mine fits up pretty close the underside plastic shield below the seat. Taking these precautions with the placement of the drawer liner inside the T fitting has avoided any paint scratches on the bike- while installing, or while in use.

Re: the T fittings. I had some thin foam with the single sided tape on a small roll that I used. I believe it is used to seal doors etc. I had it setting around, so I tried it and it worked really well. I cut 2 strips for each T fitting. about 5/16" or 3/8" wide and just a bit shorter than the length of the "T (maybe 2 1/4" or 2 1/2 inch in length). The exposed side of the foam had a thin plastic/vinyl coating on it allowing it to slide over the bikes pipes and help hold it firm in position.

What was important was to position these thin foam pieces more to the "open end" of the T fitting. By doing this, there would be some resistance, as you pushed them onto the bikes pipe. As the "T" completely surrounded the pipe, the foam pieces would have been positioned past the half-way-point, applying pressure on the pipe and helping to hold the "T" onto the pipe, until you would firmly secure the bags to the bike. Once the bags were pulled tight, it did not move around at all...best I could tell. Also, that thin piece of drawer liner helped to keep it into position, as well. Bottom line however, is that it was the tension of the bag straps pulling the bags toward the bike, that held it secure for travel.

This was by far the cheapest in terms of cost for an amazing support bracket that I had and so easy to do. Great Father and son activity! I finally made the move to the OEM bags from Honda and sold my homemade bracket with my soft sadle bags to someone. Anyways hope this helps! Thanks again Little Ed!

 

[Crash]

This looks amazing. I was looking for something like this for my Versys 2009, using materials that didn't require special tools. Now I have a winter project.

I was going to use aluminum for the long bar and clamps on either side of the connector to the frame.

Crash