Monday, August 17, 2009

GIVI PL532 & Kappa 40L cases for my Wee

Part of my decision for purchasing a new bike was to get it set up for touring and that means Hard Side cases and more security for my electronic stuff & Laptop. When I had the SV I purchased a set of Cortech Saddle Bags but found that I could only put expendable items into them. With the scooter I had lockable underseat storage for these items and the topbag was only for clothes or other non-valuables. The first farkle that I installed was the GIVI crash bars. Un-intended oopsies happen. It happens to all of us so better to get protected before any damage occurs. While it was my plan to purchase Givi E36 cases, my dealer conspired to give me an excellent price on Kappa 40 ltr side cases so Kappa it is. I'm always flexible when it comes to saving $$ . I arrived bright and early at the dealer's on Saturday morning but they did not have the time to install the side case brackets so I took them home and did it myself.

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Kappa is a subsidiary of Givi and the PL532 bracket becomes a KL532 bracket. I'm not that technical, but I can follow instructions. It says to cut here, so out comes my razor box cutter. So far so good

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I'm still waiting for my buddy, Jack "r" (whats-his-name) (<-- click link) to offer his patented Baby Harp seal look course 101, in the hopes that someone would take pity on my and take over.

Inside the package after I removed all the plastic were these 3 pieces.

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The instruction sheet is not that clear having been photocopied a few dozen times and I'm not very good at reading Italian. There was also a sealed bag of nuts and bolts and a few washers. Looks straight forward so far. Left side, Right side and a connecting stabilizer bar which joins the two sides

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First the top case comes off to reveal the mounting plate which has to be removed.

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You have to remove the bolts for the passenger handrail wing, slide the bracket into position and replace the factory OEM bolts with the longer ones supplied. An additional spacer had to be slid in between the side case bracket and the rail, on both sides. I have read that the trick is to start the threads on all the mounting points but do not tighten yet.

Now to proceed to do the same thing on the left side

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There are 3 mounting points on each side which must line up with the frame of the bike. I managed to get 5 points lined up but the 6th was proving to be difficult as I was nearly 1/2" out of alignment on one side. I loosened all the bolts again and tried to "bend" the bracket a little to eventually make it fit.

I could not install the stabilizer bar as the holes were too small with the supplied nut and bolts. I didn't think it was up to me to have to locate my larger drill bits so back to the dealer I went for them to solve this last little hurdle.

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The plan was to install the bracket at home, return and snap on the bags. Here we are with the bags mounted. A little wider than what I really wanted but the cases are quite large and will hold a lot of stuff

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Later, I went shopping. No worries now, I have lots of room to put all of my "stuff"

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Sorry, Lucky (<-- click link), I may be able to fit in a kitchen sink or two.

10 comments:

  1. Looks like a fantastic touring setup. Very nicely done.

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  2. That's a great-looking bike! And now it's got as much storage space as a scooter!

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  3. The GIVI side cases are excellent.

    You did not mention the sneaky screws on the top plate - it took me hours to find them (but my eyes aren't so good at close stuff as they used to be!)

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  4. I used to like hard bags but find my soft bags, well siliconed, do me well day to day. However you are now well equipped to come east. I will be looking for a giant black sea level balloon.

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  5. cpa3485/Jim:

    I purchased a set of cortech saddle bags last year for my SV650. Soft cases are great for carrying expendable stuff that you don't mind getting stolen. I wanted to be able to secure my camera and electronic stuff so I wanted to get some sort of hard side case system

    Mad Dog McClane:

    It actually has more storage space. I have two 40L side cases and a 44L top box, that makes for 124 ltrs of secure storage, and I still need a tail bag & I am going to install a tool tube

    Nikos:

    I actually had no problem with the top plate as I knew about those two small phillips screws which you remove then you have to "snap" the panel out, which gives access to the bolts below.

    Mr Conchscooter:

    for day to day stuff I still have my Cortech Saddle Bags to carry my lunch and some spare clothes in case I get wet. OH, also my rain gear and liners but costly since anyone can open a zipper and take them away.

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  6. A nice tutorial, Bob. I'm going to be doing a similar operation with a GIVI bracket for my 45L top case on my MP3, hopefully in the next few days. Twisted throttle is drop shipping the bracket from "somewhere" ...

    I'll be up for the Wurst rally next month and hope to see you in your hometown. Heading east from there to Lethbridge, then down to Helena, MT and back across for SpokaneScoot the following weekend before finally getting back to Seattle.

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  7. Chuck:

    That sounds like a great adventure you are embarking on. I didn't realize you had an MP3 . New Acquisition ? Did you end up with the 400ie or 500ie ?

    I wish I could get some time off, otherwise I would join up with you for the ride. Is Doc going with you

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  8. Bob, yes, I got one of the "deals" from Chispa last month as they were trying hard to get rid of their remaining stock. I chose the 400 as I much prefer both the look and the additional storage capacity.

    My Canadian adventure will be solo after the Wurst rally ... Doc will be visiting his son in Washington DC, so I'm on my own -:) Must say I'm looking forward to the trip.

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  9. thanks. Found your site after trying to mount my own givi racks to my SV650. I had to pretty much bend the racks to get the bolts to line up with each other and I was afraid of snapping off some bolts.

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  10. dickdinH:

    I also had an SV650n and purchased the top case rack from the dealer. As I remember, you had to line up each bolt by only threading very little, then tighten each one a little at a time in rotation to get it on.

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