BURGMAN 400 SADDLEBAG BRACKETS

[majorghn]

Can't find any saddlebag brackets to buy anywhere on the Internet. Called one place that sells Easy Brackets & Ghost Brackets, the guy said those brackets weight about 10 lbs and were too heavy for the scooter, he said motorcycles have built in fender bracing that those brackets attach to...no such thing on Burgman scooters.

Do any of you Burgman 400 owners have brackets you made and want to sell?? I want to add hard saddlebags to my K7 Burgman.

[motorpap1]

Majorghan:
To the best of my knowledge,after reading the posts on Burgman. there are no Aftermarket Mounting Brackets for hard Bags for the 400; They are made by someone in Germany for the 650 and one on my buddys has them an indeed they are nice.
Check the posts under the 650. I would have liked them also but could not find them for a 400 . and after a lot of shopping I bought a pair of so called Soft ons ,on line, from Sams Club. They are black with a Silver Stripe as Throwovers. I attach then under the seat using the Velcro Straps.The cost several month ago was $59.00 are are more than equal to some of the name brands costing$115.00 or more. If you do find the Brackets please post on Burgman because a lot of riders have looked for them.

[spsreef]

Here are two places to get the Fehling mounts.
http://www.twtouring.com/suzuki.htm
http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/pr ... /4654/287/

[Blackbeard]

Spsreef!

Just wanted to say "THANKS SHIPMATE" for those links! I just ordered a set of the Givi Racks for my E21's. BTW, for anyone else ordering, Twisted Throttle only charged me $18 for UPS Ground, whereas Two Wheel Touring wanted $30.

Cheers!

BB

[DewaltDakota]

I have the Fehling mounts on my 400, and am about to go outside to remove them, until I can get a replacement spacer and passenger hand rail bolt. I lost one of mine on the first trip out with them.

I was going to put blue thread lock on those bolts, but since I wasn't sure if I was going to like the way it makes my Burgman look, I didn't want to make it impossible to remove the upper bolt, without stripping the torx head. The folks at Twisted Throttle are looking into getting me replacement parts from Fehling, but don't know when or if they'll be able to do so. In the meantime, I'm still looking for a local source.

Below are a couple of pictures of my Givi E21's on the Fehling side case mounts...

Rear view

Side view

So ... when you install them, definitely go with the thread lock on the passenger hand rail, regardless of how long you plan on leaving them on!

[Blackbeard]

DewaltDakota!

Your E21's look GREAT on your 400! I see that one of the three points is mounted to the Bungee Hook Loop under the seat. Where exactly are the other two connecting points? I'm assuming one of them is under the Passenger Hand Rail Mount? The third point looks like it's bolted to the Passenger Foot Rest. If so, is there any drilling required?

Which bolt and spacer are you missing, the Suzuki Passenger Hand Rail bolt, or the Fehling bolt?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

BB

[DewaltDakota]

The first thing I did was install the Givi mounts to the Fehling Frame, and test fitted the E21's, to ensure I could easily add and remove them.

The three Burgman 400 attachment points for the Fehling side case frames are (in no particular order):
1) Front of Fehling Frame to rear of the passenger footrest - Lift up the rearmost edge of the rubber floor mat, and remove the short, phillips-head, self-tapping screw. Punch a small hole through the rubber cover, in line with the hole you just uncovered (there's conveniently a square in the pattern on the underside, that aligns with where you need to make the hole). Insert the supplied 12mm long chrome spacer into the (now empty) screw area of the footrest. Take the supplied M5 washer and longer (4.8mm x 38mm) tapping screw through the Fehling Frame hole, through the rubber mat and chrome spacer, and thread it into the footrest hole. Tighten with an 8mm wrench, being careful not to strip the hole.

2) Top of Fehling Frame to underside of passenger handrail - Remove the frontmost small rubber plug from the underside of the passenger grab rail. Carefully feed the supplied M6 x 25mm flat socket head bolt through the Fehling Frame, through the chrome spacer (10mm long), and into the passenger handrail. There is very little clearance to work with, so you might want to use some painter's tape to protect your Burg's body while tightening. I also highly recommend using thread locker, as a) the female threads you're screwing into are about 20mm deep, but you're only going to be getting about 8mm of bolt in there, and b) due to its position, it's prone to work its way loose. It's this bolt and spacer that disappeared, somewhere on my way home from work on Thursday.

3) Rear of Fehling Frame to Burgman tie down point - You should have an M8 x 20mm bolt, an M8 washer, and a funky, oval-shaped chunk of chrome-plated metal left. The bolt goes through the washer, through the Fehling Frame, through the rear tie-down metal loop, and into the threaded hole in the oval-shaped hunk o' metal (flat side towards the tire). Tighten it down with a 12mm wrench.

The only damage you'll be doing during the install, is the 5mm hole punch you need to put in the passenger footrest mat. Everything else uses existing bolt/screw holes.

Let me know if you need me to clarify anything!

[Blackbeard]

Perfect! Thanks BJ! I just received confirmation from UPS today, that my Fehling Rack from Twisted Throttle shipped this afternoon. Can't wait to get it in and installed. Thanks again for the tips, especially the one about the Lock-Tite for the bolts.

Cheers!

BB

[DewaltDakota]

No problem! Post pics, when you get yours mounted!!

One thing I forgot to mention... the M6 x 25mm bolts use a 4mm allen/hex key for installation. I incorrectly stated "torx" in my first post.

[Blackbeard]

Thanks again BJ!

I'm currently using a Med-Lrg "Biker's Friend" Roll Bag (WONDERFUL BAG!!!) on the back seat of my Burgy. I have the Sport Saddlebags made by Cortech on the sides, but I don't like the way they're mounted. I do have them on there securely, but I have them as high as they can go, and the bottom of the right bag, is too close to the muffler for my tastes. The bags have heat shields on the bottom of them, but it does tend to get a bit warm after a ride.

Oddly enough, I bought the E21's late last year, when I had my Tow-Pac Trike Kit installed. The E21's were to be mounted on the Tow-Pac Kit, however, I didn't really like the way the Trike setup rode, so I removed it. Since December, I've had the Tow-Pac Kit up For Sale on Craigslist, and I was going to throw the new unused E21's in as a Bonus. When I saw this thread about the Fehling Racks, I said "YESSSSS", and ordered a set. I've since removed the "BONUS" option for the Tow-Pac listing, since I'm keeping the E21's.

I certainly appreciate all of the info, and certainly will post pics when I get them installed next week (they're due in next Tues the 26th, according to UPS.).

Cheers!

BB

[drjbg]

A few parts to this post:

- I'm amazed that some entrepreneurial Burgmanusa member hasn't come up with a lower priced saddlebag frame for the 400. (If I only knew how to weld...) If Fehling is the only rack out there for the 400, I would think there would be room for competition. Actually, I would think Suzuki would've made something for the bike even if they only sold it in other countries.

- I was going to purchase a Mutazu FY hard saddlebag set for $115, but I noticed that the JM series looks like it would fit the lines of the Burgman better. What do you think http://www.mutazu.com/products.php?cat_id=7&menu=Hard%20Saddlebags&product_id=41&s=prod.php Not sure why the JM set is more than twice the cost of the other series, but it is.

I've decided on the Wolfman Beta rear soft bag for touring http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Tail/BetaRearBag.html, but would love to have some more space for commuting (brief case, change of clothes/shoes, etc.) For $450 for the hard cases and frame, I guess they'll have to sit on my wish list a little while longer though.

[DewaltDakota]

I've created my own version of the installation instructions, including a few pictures, if anyone is interested:
http://64.235.33.174/dewaltdakota/Fehli ... lation.pdf

I make no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding my instructions (i.e., follow at your own risk!)

I would have attached it here, but the board doesn't seem to accept "pdf" files.

[micbergsma]

nice... .BB you better show them to me in person someday!

[Blackbeard]

BJ!

You're the GREATEST! I sent you a PM! Thanks again!



Mitch!

The next time I get up to the Austin area, I'll send you a PM and I can show them to you.

Cheers!

BB

[Blackbeard]

Okay! I installed the Fehling Brackets yesterday, and "BOYYYYY", were they a bit of a pain. Not much clearance at all in some places to get the tool in to tighten the Bolts.

For anyone looking to install a set of these, here are two extra steps I did, in addition to BJ's PDF File (I could "NEVER" have done this without those AWESOME Directions!!! Thanks BJ!!!):

1. When installing the Top Center Tab of the Rack to the Burgman, I removed the Front Bolts (under the seat...) from the Left/Right side of the Passenger Handrail. This allowed me to swing the Handrail out a bit, and made it much easier to slip an Allen Wrench in there to tighten the Bolt.
2. I had some Blue Locktite, and added some to the First Bolt for the Top Center Tab of the Rack, but it was drying while I attempted to get the Bolt in. What I did instead, was add some Clear Caulking around all of the Bolts and Nuts, so they'd stay put, and would be easy to remove if I needed to take the racks off in the future.

I painted the top of the E21 Cases, Yellow (what else.....), and added some decals to them. Let me know what you think! All-In-All, it was well worth the effort! I took a ride today, got up to 70mph, and the Cases didn't budge an inch. Very sturdy and secure.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/ ... PX1857.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/ ... PX1858.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/ ... PX1859.jpg

Cheers!

BB

[emmettken]

Looks great BB.

[DewaltDakota]

It looks great! I'm definitely planning to paint the lids of my E21's... I just need to "not need them" long enough, to allow them to dry. What method did you use for prepping the surface, before applying the top coat(s)?

I used the blue Loctite gel on my bolt threads, which seems to give you a little more working time, than the liquid version.

(glad to hear my instructions helped, as well)

[Blackbeard]

BJ!

I used the Krylon Fusion Spray Paint (made for plastic... No Primer needed...), sold at Walmart. 1 Can was enough for both lids. I let it dry about 15 minutes between coats, and then waited an hour between the Paint and Clear Coat. I did about three coats of Clear Coat, and about two hours later, I removed the Painters Tape and installed them on the Burgy.

The only prep I did before I started painting, was cleaning the tops with Alcohol Pads to remove any film, dirt, and grease. Worked like a champ!

Thanks again for your help!

Cheers!

BB

[DewaltDakota]

I don't think the Krylon Fusion in burgundy would match Ingrid well enough to get away with it, but I may buy a can and do a test spray on a glad container, just to see what it looks like. Dupli-color has an adhesion promoter/primer, though I don't know if their top color paint will be flexible enough to deal with what I'm looking to use it for. ColorRite is just so expensive, and I've heard mixed results on trying to get the red to come out correctly over the black primer base coat. If only Givi would actually sell the R301 lids that I keep seeing represented in the photos on the sites that sell the cases!

The chrome Fehling frame is a little too "Tah-dah!!! Look at me!!!!" for my tastes, and I want to blend it in with the rest of my bike a bit more. I'm thinking the next time I take my side racks off, I may hit them with the red Dupli-color Metalcast paint, and see if that tones them down.

[DewaltDakota]

I purchased automotive paint that came closest in color to my Burgman (2008 Jaguar XJ), removed the handle and latching mechanism from the E21 side cases, and spent a couple of days painting them. I started with the flat black Givi lids, then...
2 coats of Bulldog adhesion promoter
2 coats of Primer
3 coats of color (I barely had enough in the 11oz spray can, to do this)
3 coats of clearcoat

After drying, sanding and polishing, the color almost matches. The Jaguar paint is slightly more orange-leaning than the Burgman paint, which almost has a pinkish undertone. It'll work for me, though.

[Blackbeard]

BJ!

GREAT JOB!!!

It's matches close enough, that no one could really tell. Only the "Artist" knows the truth, as they say.

Mine's not an exact match either, but as I used to say in the Navy..... "It's close enough for Government Work!"

As for the Chrome Rails, I'm not a Phan of Chrome either. Chrome is kinda funny to work with, so what I may do, is to buy some rolls of colored Bicycle Handlebar Wrap Tape, and see if I can just "Wrap It". Not sure if I'll do anything with it, but the wheels in my head are still turning.

Enjoy!

Cheers!

BB

[TechArtGuy]

Bit of reviving here, but does anyone have any other model hard case besides the E21. Wish to see photos for reference to make a decision on what to get.....

[Rubble]

Man! you guys are killin' me. Those E21's on the 400 look phenomenal! I've been flip-floppin' back and forth on what to buy for some light touring and those pics are making me rethink the whole thing again. I've always been very fond of the 400 and this makes it even more appealing.

Dave

[Stephen Hutchinson]

Guys.
Absolutely love the painted lids. Looks smick. Thanks for the painting tips. This is the reason why I joined BurgmanUSA.
As a newbie I have learned a lot from the forums - well done.

Cheers