Ludicrous appendages R us...

Just been savouring the exquisite details on the new Suzuki Gladius. Notice the beefy 650 cc DOHC engine, the integrated wind-cheating colour-coordinated fairing with built-in winkers, the superb trellis frame, the curvaceous exhaust system, the fabulous aerodynamics of the whole ensemble...wait a minute, look at that ridiculous front mudguard, note how short it is, guaranteed to throw shit all over you...and now for the Pièce de résistance:

Suzuki's official accessory, a 30 litre rear trunk that sticks out of the bike like a puss-filled boil in the arse, and makes nonsense of the looks and aerodynamics. Notice how far up and behind the rear axle this is fitted:

http://moto.suzuki.es/images/noticia...SORIOSHome.jpg

Surely having all that weight (because make no mistake, people WILL overload it) so far up and back will play havoc with the centre of gravity and balance, never mind the looks. The weight on a bike should be carried within the wheelbase.

I have long believed that this sort of accessory could be responsible for a fair few accidents where the rider has lost control during an evasive manouvre or on wide open highway bends in blustery windy conditions. It can't do the handling any good.

To make things even worse and more dangerous, Suzuki have yet another ace up their sleeve in the shape of a passenger backrest. This encourages the pillion passenger to place even more weight to the rear of the bike...Jesus...:confused1: How long has it been accepted that the passenger has to place himself as close to the rider as possible and leaning forward?, not leaning back as if on an armchair in their lounge room.

I once took somebody weighing 90 kg on the back of my XV1100 Yamaha, he of course leant back on the standard "Easy rider" style backrest or sissy bar, (now removed!), and the inestability of the whole plot when manouvering through the city made sure I never repeated the experience. To make matters worse the Virago's pillion seat is quite a bit higher than the riders...This makes a mess of the centre of gravity.

Not that long ago I witnessed one of our spotty, back-to-front baseball-capped, mouth-breathing youths, you know the ones with enormous baggy trousers, delivering pizzas on a moped fitted with a gigantic rear box, executing a manouvre around a parked car and losing the plot completely as the lightweight bike wobbled and fell. The empty-headed twat proceeded to pick up his pizzas, now spread all over the pavement, piece together the ingredients, now complete with grit and dog doings, etc, and re-assembling the Italian delicacies, put them back in their boxes and going on his way to his eager and presumably hungry customers, treating us by-standers to a magnificent display of wheelies...I seem to remember that his nose was running quite a lot and some of this was dripping on to the pizzas. The customers probably thought that they got extra mozzarella free of charge...

http://moto.suzuki.es/images/accesor...TC-XXX%20b.gif

Things are even worse when these abortions are nailed to the back of lightweigh scooters like this Chinese Keeway 50. Imagine the effect of 10 or 15 kg that far back on a bike weighing just over 80 kg...to emphasize the silliness, Keeway also colour coordinated it, and fitted yet another backrest...I truly believe that banning these things will make a significant contribution to road safety. What do others think?.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5...ne50box0ku.jpg

More sillines: Just look at this trunk and associated ironmongery on a lightweight VESPA scooter....:

http://scoot.net/gallery/2007/02/veg...007_187JPG.JPG

Here Honda shows us the only acceptable (IMHO) way to carry luggage, fully integrated panniers, low down, close to the bike with no unsightly gaps, and well within the bikes wheelbase. Notice also the beautifull and enveloping fairing with integrated glove compartments the reasonable size, yet smart, front mudguard, and the adjustable windscreen, as not every rider is the same height. This is on a Honda Deauville:

http://www.mcnews.com.au/testing/Hon...S_Red_700p.jpg

i ride my bike with the same gladius engine with top box way overloaded and find it afects handleing very little , only noticeable at parking lot speeds . i now have side bags , but although they look dangerous top cases work well , mines 52 litres and i suspect i had 40 lbs in and on top of it on the camping trip in the photo , also i was on loose gravel

Oh, I know I'm in a minority with this opinion, in fact I've never read any sort of comment or similar rant about these things, so people must be happy with them. Even if they don't affect stability they offend my sense of aesthetics. The effort some makers go to to design sleek, aerodynamic, high tech two-wheeled missiles, and then people go and stick those horrors on them offends me.

it does look ridiculous on the gladius , on my bike it turns it into small pickup truck , i once packed a full propane bottle for the bbq in the box . the additional tail lights on the box add to night visibility .

Honda Deauville is my dreamed bike(for daily use) I'll have it some day :)

And as I agree with the top-case being bad to aesthetics, when its detachable its very convenient. I don't overload mine so I haven't seen any change in handling of the bike. Oh and Honda Deauville also comes with top-box :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by herrmannek

Oh and Honda Deauville also comes with top-box :)

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Damm...I deliberately searched for a picture without it as I couldn't bear to see it with one...:icon10:

By the way, you know the Honda Deauville is made in Spain, by the likes of me... don't you?. Does that put you off?.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by forchetto

Damm...I deliberately searched for a picture without it as I couldn't bear to see it with one...:icon10:

By the way, you know the Honda Deauville is made in Spain, by the likes of me... don't you?. Does that put you off?.

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Spain... hmm whats wrong with Spain? ...On the other hand I love idea of light touer with all goodies of the heavy ones plus better gas to millage ratio...

Some more sillyness. Not only will the excess weight in the wrong place make you fall off, but the fuel container will split and barbecue you...:

http://usawholesalescooters.com/accessoriest31.jpg

My wife prefers tires instead of top box for backrest.:naughty:

Forchetto, you disappoint me, I never had you pegged as a 'form over function' man:rolleyes1:
I believe there are two types of bikers when it comes to top boxes:
1) Those who have top boxes
2) those who have never tried one!
Reason being, once you try one and realise how much more practical it makes a bike, you won't go back!
I have one on my VFR800, I regularly load it with more than 10KG and I have ridden it at 140mph with no ill effects.In fact I have noticed no difference in handling with or without it, regardless of speed, road surface, weather or weight carried.
Recently it transported me and a weekend's worth of stuff from London to St Omer in France - mine was the least sporty bike there and carried the most weight, but I had no trouble at all staying with the 3 Blade's, 1 R1 and 1 Aprilia RSV during the 'spirited' ride over.
And personally I like how it looks on the VFR.Looks much better than that Deaville with panniers, and no width penalty either.However I would concede that smaller bikes are not so flattered, and also the fact that the VFR is fairly big and heavy probably helps with stability.

I do (did) have soft leather panniers on my Virago but removed them as they spoiled the looks and accessibility.
Instead I have my rucksack and try and manage with that. Mind you when it's full I look like a camel...and I imagine if I came off I would just roll over and over like a Mexican jumping bean...:icon10:

I've now converted the grab rails on my Quinqi to accept a Givi topbox, see this post in the Modifications section.

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031

Plus here's a pic of my VFR with top box, and my newly top-boxed Quinqi: