DIY/Homemade Rear Rack for BMW R1150GS

Hey all,
I put together some photos of a bodge I did for making a rear rack for less than £10.

I used a chopping board (You heard me), 8 x M5 bolts (Can/will go bigger) 4 x flat plate brackets (Can/will also go bigger), 8 x washers and some gaffatape.

It feels very sturdy and I drilled some extra holes for any bungee cords (not that you should use them). I'm just using it for a tent at the moment, for any heavy loads I would invest in something sturdier as this is connected to the stock rear rack that is prone to cracking under too much stress.

This is an extension of sorts for light loads.

The parts


How the brackets will be fit together


Put the pre-gaffa taped board on the bracket and mark around the stock rear rack, then drill 2 holes on each side


With all the holes drilled with extra holes for bungee chords (bracket in place to test fitting)


How the board looks before mounting


How the board looks on the underside before mounting


Stock rear rack before mounting


Rack fitted using a 8mm spanner and 8mm socket


Underside with brackets


Bonus photos

The wood strips of the chopping board are only glued together. Let us know if it stands up to an adventurous journey.


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That's a lot of rack for not a lot of bread.

Careful that too much weight on the rack can break it at the point below the hand rail

I'd sooner pay £30 for a Touratech one

Whats been said above the alloy grab rail/rack will break it you have too much weight back there I have seen a few do it (And had to fix the buggers!

There was a Givi reinforcement kit that went under the existing rack to support it better

I'd consider a nylon style board from these guys https://www.trentplastics.co.uk/ a bit of 10mm would do nicely.

Also I'd get some strips running front to back inside the channels, and I'd look to pack the gaps between top and bottom so the spreader plates didn't bend.

As a former RAF metal basher, I love furtleing in the garage with a bit of aluminium, but getting some black plastic means no painting, or corrosion (or in this case delaminating) and its a doddle to shape (need slow power tools so avoid melting )

Great idea though.

Looks gash, sorry.

As above or use a nylon chopping board