CFMoto Jetmax 250cc CF250T-6A Scooter Luggage Rack

[bikerdoc]

Jetmax rack fab_off bike.jpg

This follows on from my post concerning the Jetmax 250cc maxi scooter I purchased in mainland China August 2010. In the thread here I complained about the lack of a luggage mount and the ability to fit a rear top-box which is a pretty standard feature on nearly all manner of two wheel modes of transport in mainland China. I had contemplated heading down to Yongkang and hit up Du Rui aka 'Tourfella' who's worked on the mods for the likes of Franki, Plfaezer, Euphonius et al & their Jialing JH600's side pannier boxes etc.

After contacting Du Rui to see if it was possible for him and his team to work from a range of drawings, measurements that I'd provide and me sending the pillion grab rails from my Jetmax down to him, it became obvious that they needed the bike there. After some indecision combined with recent heatwave and the subsequent rain down these parts, I was no closer to getting the fabricating underway let alone completed.

I'd ordered a white ADLO 981 topbox (my fourth) that snap locks on-off a base plate, so I was eager to get this little project underway. Fortunately, I have some good riding mates one of whom has a range of family run factories that work with metals, so the seed was planted. One of them stepped forward and the design, and subsequent fabricating was done over the period of several days.

Jetmax rack fab_02.jpg

The basics are that we used a 2mm stainless steel plate from which we had cut out a shape that would work the rear section of the two pillion hand rails to which two 20mm diameter steel tubes were arc welded spanning across the rear of the seat. The top one of the two tubes was welded a range of perpendicular and right angle sections of tubing to make effectively a luggage rack. The lower tube was used to create a 90 degree right angle 'T' bar support that helps to reinforce and share of the downward support/load of the luggage rack above (see photos).

Jetmax rack finish_02.jpg

I didn't bother to spend time cleaning up the welds, since the rack per-se' would be obscured most of the time by either the ADLO mount, or the ADLO top box itself. I just applied about 4-5 layers of silver thermo-acrylic paint to match the pillion grab rails and then bolted the rack on. The bolts meant having to drill four holes into each grab rail and the rubber inserts which we did during the fabrication stage. No biggie, and really the whole design was an easier fabrication in some respects than my initial idea of fabricating completely new grab rails and integrated luggage rack.

Jetmax rack finish_03.jpg

All in all I think the whole back end of the Jetmax is all the better for the addition of the luggage rack/top box. It seems to take away the rounded aspect of the whale tail rear end, that is so typical of scooter designs in China, that just doesn't suit the Maxi scooter design.

The photos tell the story.

Jetmax rack topbox_02_pub.jpg

So how does the scoot ride?
Actually having the topbox on the rear has changed the behaviour somewhat, she's more settled on rougher surfaces even with the topbox being empty, kind of like damping out the harshness out of the crap roads. There's no weave or anything from the topbox behind me, as some people notice when installing rear topboxes on some scoots/bikes. There's some form of weight transfer which has decreased the downward pressure being exerted by the front wheel, which has meant that the front wheel will wobble slightly side to side when I let go of the handlebars, which does not occur when the topbox is removed. It's not likely as a result of weight, but more the positioning of the topbox slightly aft of the rear wheel. It's not disconcerting at all, and doesn't make any real noticeable or significant changes to the handling characteristics other than when I take my hands of the handlebars at certain speeds.