Anyone got an idea about which adaptor plate I need to fit a 52l givi monokey top box to a 2009 GS? The givi site seems as clear to me as fog on a foggy day in fogtown.
It depends upon which one you want, Ian. There's an older design which puts the adaptor plate on top of the OE rear rack and has a couple of support arms, similar to the ones for the BMW Vario topbox and then there's a later model which replaces the bike's rack and puts the plate flush onto the area behind the seat.
I've got a boxed, unused earlier version in the loft......
I have the later version, the one that replaces the original plastic rack. this places the box lower and further forward, and I think it looks a lot better. I believe it is the Givi SR689.
The position of the box is still comfy for the Mrs and I am really pleased with it.
Well you could - in fact I have a friend who's done just that with a Nonfango rack on his '07 bike but BMW clearly don't think that the OE rack is up to supporting the weight of a topbox and contents; hence the support arms that both BMW and Givi supply with their topbox adaptor plates.
With the later version you have to remove the original rack and then effectively bolt into the gap created?
Go with the one that replaces the rear rack and does not use the support arms - the one with the support arms has been known to suffer from the bolts into the rear of your frame shearing - which are a real pig to remove when they snap off.
For comparison:
Rear one is the older one - and in this shot has has bag strapped under it, front one is the newer design
I am suprised the older design is still being sold after a lot of failures - including the one in this photo which failed and is how I know what a pig it is to get the bolt out and replace with a new one. Even though we did temporarily fix it with bolt extractors and a replacement bolt, the rear bike now has the newer design fitted.
heres 2 stupid questions, i have the E250 fitting kit and am trying to fit it to my late 09 gsa.
should the givi plate hang about 2" over the gsa rack at the back.
the plates at the bottom dont seem to have a small enough contact patch with the rack is this right
these might be numpty questions but i dont want to lose the top box on the road esp if anyone is riding behind me
ps if anyone has a pic it would be a huge help