Anyone make their own side rack?

[jam83]

I've been looking at side racks for sale online, and have been taking ideas from them. I'm wanting to add a rotopax fuel tank and figured I'd try to fangdangle a rack of my own. Luckily for me, I work on an omax waterjet at this point in my life, so why buy if I can build? A few questions I have to those who have a side rack, does it incorporate mounting to the reflector by the license plate? What is the approx. material thickness of the rack? Is it a single piece of metal, or several pieces bolted together? This is what I've got so far. That aluminum plate is 10.5x12", not sure if it is going to be too big. The other plate is 304 s.s. to mount at the tool box location, needs to be bent of course. We can call this revision #1 as I'm sure it will change.

 

[dmonkey]

Not something custom, but I have used this side rack on my CT125 for carrying a fuel bottle and it helps to illustrate some of the various mounting points:
The 2 bolt holes for the OEM toolbox (not sturdy on their own), the rear taillight assembly, and attaching to the bottom of the rear carrier.

Sonic-Crafty Sub Fuel Tank Kit on Takegawa Helmet Holder Rack

Sonic-Crafty Sub Tank Kit: https://japan.webike.net/products/24611811.html Takegawa Helmet Holder: https://japan.webike.net/products/24294489.html With the range on this bike it's easy enough for me to plan gas stops, but it's also nice to not have to go out of the way for gas, and to have some...

hondatrail125.com

The CT125 in Canada and Japan have a different rear carrier than the USA bikes, it has more attachment points that have been added to support OEM accessories available in the Japanese market.
These photos illustrate the difference between a black Japanese market rear luggage carrier (81200-K2E-J10ZA) and a red USA market rear luggage carrier (81200-K2E-T00ZA).





The JP OEM side racks (there is one that is a soft pannier mount, one that a hard box attaches to) and top boxes can be viewed here:

CT125・ハンターカブ_2023 | 株式会社ホンダモーターサイクルジャパン

hondago-bikegear.jp

Or @vintagegarage has some videos showing them and how they attach to the Japanese market luggage carrier:

https://www.youtube.com/@Vintage_Garage/search?query=2023%20OEM%20Accessories

 

[Cpd419]

I made mine but you need a second point for a brace or there’s too much vibration which can crack your rack apparently. I ran it to a bolt right above the turn signal.

 

[jam83]

Many thanks to the replies. The second point for brace makes sense, cpd419. Dmonkey, I didn't think of trying to tie into that rear rack. I bet it would be more secure than those 2 holes at the tool box. Too bad we don't have those bungs on the bottom of the rear rack like the Japanese and Canadian bikes do. I can't bring myself to welding some on just yet either. Don't even have 40 miles on the bike yet. I appreciate the info.

 

[Kev250R]

I "built' mine last Fall so I could mount a now-discontinued Yeti Dry Bag to it. I made it out of a 'No Stopping' sign so it's as thick as those are (I can measure if needed). Mine only mounts to the top two bolts, but I'm also not carrying much weight with mine. Here's a pic:. It gets a lot of comments. I added the second bolt after this pics was taken. I painted the back-side black so if I ever want a cleaner look, I can flip it around.

 

[m in sc]

yeah single shear mounting points are always going to stress the upper tabs on that rack when whatever is being hung gets to a certain length. the reflector mount is the easiest mount to tie in a brace, and if i were to ever hang anything off the side, that's where i would tie it in more than likely, or off the main rack mount over the fender, or the LH upper shock bolt. you're on the right track for sure.

 

[sieg]

I had an aftermarket rack that mounted to the two tool kit holes and the taillight/reflector bolt. The tool kit mount failed after about one hundred miles with a one gallon rotopax on it. If you're building your own you may want to design it to mount directly on to the rear rack by some other means.