My days are One & a Half hours long

I have been busy and daylight is not on my side. I do not have an indoor place to play with my tools. Everything I do is outside and generally with poor lighting. Except for the weekends, my daylight hours are spent at work. A couple of weeks ago I ordered and received my new sidecase/topcase combo rack from my BMW dealer. You can read about it HERE. I was anxious to install the rack but my bike was barracaded in my garage by construction material. Then we left for Oregon for a mini-vacation but installing my new rack was foremost on my mind when I got home from work last Tuesday.

This time of year, by the time I get home I have about 1-1/2 hours of daylight left so I have to work fast



I rush home by the fastest route, change into something more comfortable, grab my tools, push my bike from its hiding place and get to work removing the sidecase rails. My "new to me" R1200R came with factory sidecases but NO top case plate. I need a top case so this involved having to purchase a new sidecase rail which has the attachment for the topcase rack.


Left side

Notice that when the sidecases are removed, you can hardly tell where they attach


Right side

I was going to take lots of photos to show you how the new rails install but it was so simple that even I could do it. You just had to remove 4 bolts on each side as well as the rear cover


New combo sidecase rail, left side

The hardest part was holding the torx bits in place as they would slip out of the head. I managed to "round" one off by accident and wouldn't you know, it was the last one and I nearly didn't get it out. The new bolts came with loctite already on the threads


Right side

these new rails have higher grab bars which help when raising my "new to me" BMW onto its centre stand. Because I am working underneath a carport I am not getting much daylight, so now I am working nearly in the dark with a flashlight



The top case rack lined up nearly perfectly and 4 bolts later it was installed and the silver top plate cover goes on top to give it a more polished look

When I have something on my mind, or when something needs to be repaired I get impatient and things have to be done right now. So now that I have a top case rack I need to buy a top case



2nd Gear Motorsports has a great selection of Givi, Kappa, Shad and other makes at reasonable pricing. I also mentioned previously that they are also a Twisted Throttle dealer and if you talk nicely, they will also price match. I have bought many things there so I get the preferred treatment

The last Bike Night BBQ was Wednesday night so I visited 2nd Gear at lunch and bought my GIVI topcase, otherwise I would have had to wait until Thursday. I settled on the 47 litre GIVI Blade series

I like the idea that this topcase locks by just pushing the top lid DOWN until it clicks. Your key doesn't have to be in the lock, or it can be either in the locked or unlocked position. It will also hold two full face helmets with ease.

Since my other two BMW side cases are keyed to the ignition, I thought that having a topcase with a different lock would let me secure valuables without access if I left my "new to me" BMW somewhere for service. Plus I am sure that OEM top cases are more expensive. I can always get BMW decals later to stick on

Since Wednesday night was our last BBQ bike night I rushed home with the intent of installing my new top case before I headed to the BBQ, plus I still had some daylight left. With this topcase now I don't always have to ride around with my wide sidecases attached


R1200R with GIVI Blade 47L topcase

The topcase looks like it is mounted too high, but that's the way it is. I think it won't look too bad when the sidecases are attached, but now I am in lane-splitting mode, and I have a place to store my camera and helmet when I get to my destination

I now head down to EMS: Essential Motorcycle Services for my BCSB: BCsportbikes.com Hamburger and hotdog

Since this is the Last bike night of this season, they have solicited lots of support from many vendors and there were lots of prizes to be given away



Here is the prize table. It is a random draw, you write your name on a piece of paper and put it into the box and then names are drawn. I will tell you now that I am not very lucky, but I am always hopeful

There are many prizes and many names are drawn, riders come up to claim their prizes and soon all the smaller items are gone and there are now only the 4 big prizes left.

I keep listening for my name and THEN, IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when I heard my name called out. I am already in front of the crowd as I was recording video



The crowd cheers and I receive my "envelope" from these beauties. I don't know what to say as I seldom win anything. I am not so sure that this prize went to the right person as I am not a fast rider, and I don't own a sport bike. Maybe I will give it away



It is a voucher from the West Coast Superbike School at Mission Raceway. I am getting nervous just thinking about this