Alternative to the BMW Topbox.

Nick Marshall

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I purchased my R1250R Sport about two months ago. Fantastic bike. Very impressed with virtually everything about it.

It came pretty standard. So, after a good long think about luggage it was decided to order a set of bmw panniers. Then by chance I spotted just how wide they are. Hold up a minute. Are you serious! How can they be that badly designed! Brakes on. Ain’t having them.

The BMW topbox is ugly and expensive IMHO. Also needing a £200 rack.

So I thought what’s my next best solution. I then purchased a Kappa AH203 Expandable Mini Tail Bag. This was £40.49 from eBay. It’s a tidy little bag for not much money.

Then I looked for a rack. I didn’t want the BMW version. Best I could find was a SW-Motech Ali-Rack for the R1200R. As luck would have it, there was a used one on this forum. So I purchased that from the seller. Only to be informed a few days later that it had been sold a few months earlier, and that he forgot he had sold it.

I found a new one from a German seller. There are two types from what I can see. One for the R1200R and a more flimsy looking version for the R1250R that was about £20 dearer. I went for the cheaper stronger R1200R rack. Cost was £121.80 including post.

That arrived in about four days. Fitting only took a few minutes. There are extra spacers in case you want to fit with the BMW Pannier rails. But I removed mine as no intention of buying the panniers.

With the rack fitted, I then looked into buying and fitting a suitable Peli Storm waterproof box. I wasn’t sure on what size I wanted. Or how to fit.
Checking out the sizes and prices, I went for a smallish IM2075. This cost £63 posted.

Fitting was done with three stainless steel M8 x 30mm round head bolts with M8 locknuts.
I wanted to rubber mount and prevent the box from marking the rack. So purchased 6 x M8 x 22mm stainless roofing washers. 3 x 3/4” Tap washers and 3 x M8 x 12mm spacers.
Please see the last picture.

This seems to have done the trick. I may look for a bigger Peli case if I find I need more luggage room. Once drilled, it only takes a few minutes to remove and refit.

If anyone needs details of the fixings, they were all obtained from eBay. Happy to supply links if required.





 
I think you've done a great job, but an awful lot of frame for a tiny box, which to be fair, is just slightly less ugly than the BMW one.
 
I think you've done a great job, but an awful lot of frame for a tiny box, which to be fair, is just slightly less ugly than the BMW one.

Agreed.
Racks are ugly.
Could have moved the box forward to cover the rack a bit more.
However, with a passenger, she would not appreciate it taking up seat space.
 
Agreed.
Racks are ugly.
Could have moved the box forward to cover the rack a bit more.
However, with a passenger, she would not appreciate it taking up seat space.

Understood.

If you settle with that solution, personally, I'd grab a few different Pelicase sizes and you could interchange to suit any particular trip!
 
Can you show the fittings inside and under the case,when you get a chance , liking the idea, as I have the BMW soft bag fitted , but it’s not waterproof as it should be


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He gave a pretty good idea of how he rates it in the first paragraph of his starter post on this thread
 


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