Scooby Doo.....where are you?

[Mac]

Any sleuths or wise men on tonite?

here's the s.p.

I have a 941100 with full factory hard panniers and box as one of the reasons i got a GS is due to the cavernous luggage capacity.
i have loaded my top box over time with everything from paperwork, clothing and even my lap top. My girlfriend is now riding pillion quite regularly, so it's not as if the top box has sat in a corner for years unused.
I hardly ever remove it ( twice in the last four months for cleaning reasons ) and i LOVE having it on the bike.

Yesterday i was riding with an empty top box down the A10, slowing down for a red light ( 15 - 20mph ) and the f*cking thing fell off and bounced down the road. I pulled over ran back and retrived it ( HOW embarrasing ).

The lid was closed, lid release button was ok and the bottom clamp was still intact with no damage. A real scooby doo mystery.....

I had to open the thing up to check all was okay with the mechanisims and was puzzled to find all was in good working order

So i put it back on and could lift the rear wheel just using the top box, happy with this and believing a paranormal event had just taken place i rode on......

only as far as wood green where i was doing 25-30 mph and -duff duff duff- guess what bounced across the oncoming traffic..............my top box

On inspection all locks were in place, all handles intact and no damage to the top box or mounting plate

I bungied it onto my rear seat and rode to a friends house to get rid of it before carrying on

Hope this NEVER happens to someone else cosI have totally lost confidence in my luggage system now, i cant ride knowing it may come off again, i'm pissed off yes, but recognise the good fortune that it didn't cause any damage/accidents as traffic swerved to avoid it have anything expensive in it or have my girlfriend on the back or i wasnt going a bit faster......or alot faster


Anyone else had this

Any ideas from the wise ones

Any help appreciated or i gotta go shopping

 

[vilguy]

i had something similar with a top box ages ago, i think the plastic just gradually wore down due to vibration, you could pull it by hand and it would seem fine but when riding it would just ... i dont know how to put it... find the weakest bit?... mine came off when riding home from work on the dual carriageway at 2 am, at something above the limit ..all i saw in the mirror was a plastic grenade going off. There was nothing left lol. Your lucky it didnt crack.

You could try lubricating and cleaning out the locking mech, ensuring that it seats fully every time.

 

[motobiker]

It's an old story... this was happening donkeys years ago - would've thought it had been cured by now.

I've system panniers on mine - should I need a top box then I wouldn't have a BMW one - the real nightmare scenario is it coming off on the motorway.

would have to be (if plastic) a GIVI type... or preferably an ALU bolted on type from 'Our Vern'

 

[Mac]

Okey dokey,if it's a known old time problem thats all i need to know

I'm going shopping and we can consider this thread closed

Cheers cabrone's

 

[Steptoe]

You need industrial strength velcro, about 15sq mtrs should be adequate. Goodnight.

 

[Big Jets]

My Bmw Topbox (gs1100 97) fell off and exploded last january ,luckily all that was in it were gloves and a wetsuit which I retreived 20 miles tracing back my route ,someone on this site informed me that you can turn the grip bars round on the mounting plate as one side is cut away more than the other ,(one side rounded which could be the problem ),anyway to late for me ,wont get another system one .