custom frame and boxes for my JH600, from Tourfella

There's not much new to this thread, given that Pfaelzer has document virtually the same modifications in his epic thread My New JH600. But it was a fun trip, and I thought MCM members might want to meet Tourfella mastermind Du Rui and learn a bit more about his operations.

This is as much a ride report as a modifications report, and I hope it's enjoyable either way.

My solo ride south from Shanghai was, as ever, a learning experience, and largely uneventful even when passing through Hangzhou. Amid intermittent rain, I ended up choosing the wrong route south of Hangzhou, but was brought back on course through a couple of text messages from Du Rui, who was busily making my racks and boxes in anticipation of my arrival. I was on slab quite a bit, but there were two really beautiful sections of twisties to get me into Yongkang. Regrettably, the final 90 minutes were in the dark, in the rain. I hate that.

But Du Rui met me in Yongkang, and shepherded me to a nice hotel. We then went off for a late supper with some fellow riders.

I'd like to say that this building was Du's workshop, as that would be romantic...

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...but it is actually behind this more prosaic facade that Du Rui does his wizardry.

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And here is his workshop. Du told me he's not how sure how many centuries this building has been here, but it probably dates back to the Ming dynasty.

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And here's the master at work, putting the final touches on the frame members for my luggage carrier and engine shrouds.

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He's built precision 3D jigs for several different models of motorcycle, including the JH600 as well as several bimmers. It's not an easy business, building custom luggage racks for bikes in China. But the volumes are so low there's really no alternative.

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These aluminum boxes are based roughly on Touratech's boxes, but with quite a few improvements. They are very tough, and the frames are even tougher, as you'll recall from Pfaelzer's thread.

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This is the latest version of the topbox platform, which Du has been refining and beefing up.

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Looking out from the ancient workshop through a rolldown steel door, you can see that installation is done in the foyer of Du's parents' home. It also serves as an office.

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to be continued...

Of course we had to take a break for lunch. Restaurants in this part of China are renowned for not having menus. You wander through the kitchen, see what they've got, and negotiate over what you want. Du and the team did the ordering here.

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I don't remember exactly what all we had. There was a mountain of some strange tiny crustaceans that you had to suck out of their shells. I tend to avoid these, given the (toxic and sometimes septic) quality of the water in the ponds in which they are cultivated. And there was a delicious canine dish. Yes, it tastes just like chicken.

We avoided this fellow's handiwork -- long strands of intestine.

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My boxes have come back from a local finishing contractor. EDIT: I checked with Du Rui to clarify whether these boxes were black anodized or black powder coated, and it seems the former is closer to the appropriate term. He used two terms to describe the process: 阳极氧化 and 铝氧化. In both cases, the final two characters, 氧化 (yanghua), mean oxidation. The first phrase uses 阳极 (yangji) which means "anodic", while the second simply uses the term for aluminum, 铝 (lv or lü). So I'd translate this as "anodic oxidation" or perhaps "black anodizing". So my Chinese has improved today. And the boxes look good in black. The finish is very very strong, and does not scratch easily. It also holds reflective decals well!

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Off with the Jialing's slick designer rear deck....

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...and on with my new racks, engine shrouds and a much improved aluminum skidplate.

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A few finishing touches... Actually this is Du Rui trying to firm up my rear suspension to handle the additional weight of the frames and boxes.

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And, voila!

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stay tuned....

Du had been talking for weeks of wanting to take me out into Yongkang's hinterland during this outfitting visit, and just as the installation was complete the weather broke after what seemed days and days of rain. We saddled up for a ride to a mysterious emcampment in the rain-soaked mountains.

Yongkang is not a big place, but it's very industrialized -- a center for metal fabrication -- and it's not much to look at. But there's a fast-running river through the center of town, and green mountains on three points of the compass. Among Du Rui's friends are a circle of ardent outdoors folks, who run a branch of the Hangzhou-based camping gear chain Jiahe Outdoors. We spent part of the afternoon meeting up with them at the store, and laying in supplies for a night in the woods.

I didn't make pictures of our ride, but Du led us up a lovely twisty canyon, through several villages, and into the mountains. A long concrete road gave way to a muddy dual track road. Finally this became steep single track, and we could go no further.

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Du Rui rides a 1996 Honda XRV750 Africa Twin, which he bought in 2003.

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A small portion of our provisions for the night. This is going to be interesting...

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We start hiking, following the stream up the canyon, and almost immediately cross a stone bridge about 4m across and no more than 25cm wide. That would have stopped me cold even had we been able to motor up the steep, narrow trail.

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Over a bluff and the vista opens up. This is a small reservoir, maybe 1500m long, nestled between rugged, heavily forested peaks.

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And soon we come upon a non-descript building.

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Wasn't this thread supposed to be about boxes??

Several walls are just steel roll-ups, which disappear into the eaves, leaving an open-air shelter complete with primitive plumbing (a hand-pump), electricity (from solar panels and batteries), a hearth and tables both outdoors and inside, sheltered from the weather.

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After swimming, lounging around and even the absurd experience of watching the incomprehensible movie "2012" and a Discovery Channel documentary about the making of Harley's new V-Rod, we began what became hours of feasting into the wee hours.

Only three images survive from that mosquito-friendly bacchanalia....

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It rained steadily all night, and we sheltered from the mosquitos in sleeping bags and tents erected indoors -- and supplied by the good folks at Jiahe Outdoors. Morning broke in a moist, misty, mysterious manner typical of this part of Zhejiang, which is said to get more rainfall than anywhere else in China.

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Yes, there will be a coda....

The coda the coda!

Lovely report so far, this Du Rui seems to be the full package! The boxes look great in black too. As for the anodized vs powder coated, i think

anodized = 电镀 dian du
powder coated = 烤漆 kao qi

Do you remember what they said it was?

The panniers look great in black. I like the looks of the Jialing stock panniers I received on my bike but I am betting they will not last long. I am sure I will end up a set of these soon. (Black is best!) AW will not doubt be looking to convert everything to black on his ride soon.

Good to see you are enjoying the ride. I have only had my bike out around Nanjing. Let me know when you come back thru here.

Your bike might come out looking a bit like a Harley if you just ask for 电镀 (Dian Du). It means chrome plating.



I think what you want is this:

阳极 (Yang Ji) = Positive electrode
电镀 (Dian Du) = Chrome plating

Put them together (阳极电镀 = Yang ji dian du) to get “anodized”.

Things can get confusing because many of these terms are used casually and interchangeably, sometimes with interesting results.

烤漆 (Kao qi) is another one. It basically means ‘baked on paint’. The typical auto repair shop in China with a paint booth/oven will usually refer to that as ‘Kao Qi’, but it isn’t powder coating. In my experience (my first step in restoring my 1984 ‘plastic chang’ was to have every bit of metal sand blasted and powder coated at a shop near Beijing), powder coating is called “喷塑” (Pen Su). I think a more technical term is “粉末涂料” (Fen Mo Tu Liao).

Great thread – thanks to Euphonius and Phaelzer for sharing their JH600 mods. Also nice to know Du Rui is just down the street making such nice, rugged-looking cases and racks for Chinese bikes. I’ll be paying him a visit on my next trip to Yongkang. Can anyone share his contact information?

Sixvolt

excellent post. the workshop romantic or not, looked fairly well organised compared with some I've seen here, and it's great to see it's a family affair - with Du Rui's dad pitching in. Agree totally that those side cases look pretty sharp, so I'm looking forward to having Du Rui work on my Jetmax's back end for the topbox mount etc. This should also be the source for another good thread in due course. The open plan cabin/hut there looks pretty darn good and I especially liked the landscaped garden feature, but I don't know Euphonius, you sure you couldn't have ridden the single track and across the bridge? well maybe if you'd dropped the side cases of you could have fitted :naughty:
So when we do this YongKang trip for the Jetmax fabrication, we'll have to take a peek at this little hidden gem by the dam.
:deal:

Thanks for the guidance, Felix and Sixvolt!

OK, I'm going to edit my post with respect to the way Du Rui made the boxes black. I checked with Du, and it's neither powder coating nor anodization. It's a process that would translate as "anodic oxidation". Du offered two descriptions: 阳极氧化 and 铝氧化. In both cases, 氧化 (yanghua) means oxidation. The first phrase uses 阳极 (yangji) which means "anodic", while the second simply uses the term for aluminum, 铝 (lv or lü). I think this is sometimes also called black anodizing.

In any case, it looks great, and seems to be a very permanent finish.

The coda:

The rain really never let up the following morning, though neither did it fall in torrents. Just a steady drizzle that kept us in the Jiahe encampment till midmorning. Finally, we broke camp and hiked back down the hill. Most of the others had come by car. Du Rui and I along with another rider had a sweet ride back down the slippery green dual track. Where the mud turned into concrete, one of our ardent bacchanalians slipped into a small barn and emerged with his ride -- a Harley-Davidson Road King that he'd wisely decided not to take off road the night before. The four of us set off on a beautiful circuitous, twisty, mist-daubed route that took us around a mountain to a highway that led, for them, to Yongkang, and for me, to Dongyang and Yiwu and points further north.

We said our goodbyes at that crossroads.

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It felt great riding free with a fine new set of boxes, which gave me the new experience of a much-lowered center of gravity. As I rolled north, the rain abated and the wind quickly dried out my riding suit and even my gloves.

I stopped for gas, feeling myself advancing deeper into a newfound way of living.

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Nominally, I was heading back to Shanghai, which I felt surely was within reach before sunset. But already I was thinking of my next ride, solo and self-contained, choosing roads in accordance with a mix of geography and history and whim. Where to next?

And then it came to me like a vision! On a team of horses galloping in seemingly from nowhere!

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Yes, the sign in the window reads: "Circus troupe exclusive vehicle."

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Follow those horses! I'm off to join the circus!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

I didn't make pictures of our ride, but Du led us up a lovely twisty canyon, through several villages, and into the mountains. A long concrete road gave way to a muddy dual track road. Finally this became steep single track, and we could go no further.

http://euphonius.smugmug.com/Journal...18_FkJqb-L.jpg

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Eeww would had sucked.. not for me though xD Steep single track is the (enduro) business :naughty: Or is there laws in China which make it illegal to drive in that kind of paths?

Thanks of the good report and pictures!

The reconciliation of dissonance through contemplation of experience. Change is certainly working for you Mr.E. Thanks for passing it on to us and enriching us.

I just had the good fortune of going for a ride with euphonias ... and therefore got to see his bags up close & personal. Those bags are really nice! Very well built and very well attached. The black looks fantastic.

Two thumbs up for these add-ons.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Top notch work, posting and photography! :thumbsup:

The bags look great and the roll=up wall cabin looks like not such a bad spot to spend some time. Metal walls are probably no much for insulation but the principle could easily be applied to any cabin suitable environment. With roll-up walls on both side, the cross-breeze could be nice.. even on the hottest of days.

CC

Well, after seeing what wonderful boxes these are, I ordered a pair. They arrived a couple of days ago and were mounted yesterday by the Jialing dealer in Beijing. I'm really happy with them. :thumbsup:

HOWEVER ... thank goodness I have a lovely wife who will ride pillion ... and bash me on the back of my helmet as I am threading my way through Beijing traffic ... REMEMBER THE LUGGAGE!!!!!!

Oh yeah ... the luggage adds a LOT to the width of the bike ... thanks for the reminder sweety.

Now, what I need are the fancy-shmancy liner-bags that I saw on someone's thread. Those would be quite practical for hotel stays.

I also need to find oodles of reflective tape to paste all over the boxes. I'm too old to care about appearance, except I want OTHERS to SEE my appearance. I wanted the black boxes (my JH600 is black) but the silver ones arrived ... no problem ... I'm going to plaster them with a few rolls of reflective tape anyways.

By the way, price (including shipping & installation) for the bags & frame was 4300 rmb which, in my view, is a great buy. I put some aluminum bags on my GS in Canada, and I seem to recall paying at least double. And, frankly, the quality of these Tourfella boxes meet, if not surpass, those back-home items.

When they were mounted, the heat shield had to come off the stock muffler (bazooka) to make a fit. I haven't advanced to the Laser exhaust ... that is coming next, I guess. There does not appear to be a heat problem in the starboard box or for the passenger.

I will get some pics of my bikes up when I learn how to use a camera ... sorry, I am all thumbs and have zero artistic ability.

I wish I could risk getting some of these to Aus, nothing like personal recommendations for products, but mine is a different bike. And if I ordered black and they came in silver they would have been returned!
Euphonius mentioned the width too. Surely they are not designed wider than the bars, that would be stupid? So apart from the occasional tail wiggle through a gap, they should follow you through anywhere with no problems!
I guess with the wife and the cramped pillion position, you can only remind her she now has shopping capacity? Does she want a bike of her own or prefer the warmer position out of the wind? Check Pfaelzer's thread for the insert bags, it was most likely in that somewhere!

Jape,

As we've discussed offline, the problem for you would be the rack, not the boxes. I'll ping Du Rui again to see if he can come up with something that would fit your Kinlon RT200.

cheers

Nice post... interesting !

Better late than never, Euphonius, This is a really nice thread.:clap::clap::clap:

I especially i like - well, everything. Pictures of the workshop, wish I had the time to look around when I was there. The ride you did to the mountain cabin with the guys. Rain, mist, romantic...

The boxes are looking great in black, makes me hesitate....

Thanks for that report and greetings,
AW.

PS: I've been riding in heavy rain several times now with those boxes - super dry - that's not what I can say about my Touratech Zega boxes back home.

Great looking set up!

euphonius--- How can I contact this guys who make your JH600 boxes and bracket. Do they have web site? Thank you, Campboss

No website that I know of. I'll PM you his contacts.

cheers

Thank you, I'll be waiting for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Campboss

euphonius--- How can I contact this guys who make your JH600 boxes and bracket. Do they have web site? Thank you, Campboss

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There is one advertiser with multiple adverts on Taobao selling 'tourfella' boxes... see here

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bikerdoc

There is one advertiser with multiple adverts on Taobao selling 'tourfella' boxes... see here

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Those ads are from none other than Du Rui himself, the maker of Tourfella panniers in Yongkang.

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Those ads are from none other than Du Rui himself, the maker of Tourfella panniers in Yongkang.

cheers

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I already send an email to Mr. Du Rui. Can you please give me the web site for Jialing Sales Office coz until now no one answering my email to theme. Thank you again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Campboss

I already send an email to Mr. Du Rui. Can you please give me the web site for Jialing Sales Office coz until now no one answering my email to theme. Thank you again.

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Any luck getting what you needed from Jialing? Do you actually have a JH600 in the Philippines? Does Jialing export there? The contacts you need can be found here.

cheers

Euphonius,
As of now I've tried 3x sending email on that address you give me. But until now no luck. Actually Jialing is exporting in the Philippines and to think that I have a Jialing 150S. Maybe there is possible I can get it here.
Because if I don't get JH600, I've rather get a XY-400GY-2. What can you about these idea, Euphonius?

..............

Hi guru euphonius and everybody,

How're you..? "ni-men-hao..!"

1st of all, thank you very much to guru euphonius for sharing such a nice product to everyone, as well for Du Rui's contact details back in 2011 ( Yes, I know we're in 2013 now. )

Thus Apr 2011,I managed to get a pair of the Tourfella for myself from Du Rui and his brothers directly.

" the Brothers "
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" my Tourfella "
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Delicious dinner treat from Durui and gang
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