Hard vs soft luggages for long trips

[ChinaV]

Whatever trunk you get, it is far better to permanently mount it to the rack rather than use the quick release mounting kit it comes with. If your partner is leaning against it, and your bouncing stuff around on the bumpy roads of China, it will break, guaranteed.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[Lao Jia Hou]

I also use the Adlo 929 on each of a YBR125 and a YBR250 and I am happy with it. It is very large, reasonably decent quality (for the price), and has a nice touch of an integrated brake light. Many people use this box for extended touring in China, but I don't think it would withstand a direct impact (e.g., the bike's weight being supported by it on a fall). Yes, it has a back rest, of sorts, although it doesn't look/feel very fancy/comfortable.

I also use a very similar rack (might have even been the same taobao vendor), but it is only a rear rack, no side supports. Those side supports look useful for soft luggage (I opted for hard luggage on the 250, with a different mounting scheme).

The rack attached via 4 bolts, into holes that are already tapped under the YBR seat (easy & very secure).

EDIT: Forget to add re ChinaV's recommendation - so true. The quick release mounting that Adlo uses on most of its trunks are susceptible to coming apart under heavy use (happened on an Adlo box I have on my JH600).

[Fred]

Thanks again for the new info about luggages.

ChinaV or Lao Jia Hou, if you advise not to use the "quick release system" but to mount the trunk permanently on the support, would you care to detail how do you do that ? My meaning is : do you need to drill some holes by yourselves, or weld, or does the trunk include some "built-in" possibilities to attach it directly to the support without the quick-release system ?

[ChinaV]

Thanks again for the new info about luggages.

ChinaV or Lao Jia Hou, if you advise not to use the "quick release system" but to mount the trunk permanently on the support, would you care to detail how do you do that ? My meaning is : do you need to drill some holes by yourselves, or weld, or does the trunk include some "built-in" possibilities to attach it directly to the support without the quick-release system ?

I just drill 4 holes in the bottom of the box and use some long screws and large washers to attach it to the rack.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[marcomagica]

Hi Fred,

I will happily answer all your questions, but I return only yesterday to my bike. All those goodies I mentioned where waiting for me (I've ordered during my work trip via my assistant) and so far I've had time only to install the rack and the ADLO box (15 minutes approximate assembly time).

So, here we go!

1) Rack, there are indeed only four bolts to connect it, you will need to remove your seat, unscrew the black metal piece that is on the back, and use the same four bolts to mount the new rack. No adjustments needed.
It fits perfectly and is very solid, as it screws on a main chassis part.
I know, 4 bolts seems a bit less to me too, but it seems very solid, the welding of the bolted plate seems solid, and I doubt it will brake apart even under substantial loads.

2) The trunk it's very fair quality, as other mentioned I doubt it will survive a direct impact but it is certainly a very good value for the money. From my research it was the best Made in China (for China) product available on the market.

So far I installed it using the plate they give, which allows fast release. I like the possibility to take it away, although I'll probably either take ChinaV suggestion or study the possibility to create my own custom made "counter plate" to attach to the trunk. I will take some pictures tomorrow which explains why this trunk release mechanism doesn't seem shock-proof under heavy stress.

About the maximum weight I wouldn't know, as so far I'm planning to use only to store my helmet and jacket when I park the bike. From the look of it the problem is not really the trunk itself but the rack (go back to point one) on which it rests. I would say 50 Kg is the maximum I would put on the whole rack, with a 15-20 Kg max in the trunk.

There isn't a rubber thingy (which no doubt your miss would appreciate) but there is something as you can see in this other seller page. However it's stiff.




I will come back to you tomorrow with some pics and (hopefully) more answers about the (most probably fake) GIVI windshield. All I can say it's that's is real easy to install on your own, but I've not started yet, as I'm fixing the HID light before, and man... THAT is a real pain the ass as you need to disconnect all the plugs and cables that pass trough the light assembly in order to put the HID one.

[marcomagica]

I also use a very similar rack (might have even been the same taobao vendor), but it is only a rear rack, no side supports. Those side supports look useful for soft luggage (I opted for hard luggage on the 250, with a different mounting scheme).

Hi Lao,
very possible, the same vendor has also have these
Didn't know you had a YBR250 too, how did you fix your hard luggage to the bike? Care to share some pictures of your configuration?

[bikerdoc]

I have several ADLO topboxes, all are model 981's with the quick release mechanism. I have 3 simply because I have 3 motorcycles, and rather than just buying one, I got three so I needn't worry about swapping the box between bikes. I have used ADLO for 5 years, and have been way more than happy, and have commented about the quality and robust construction of the boxes used. On my first JinJian Startrek scooter, there was a standard plastic topbox that cracked several times, on the rides I used to do frequently between Ningbo-SH-Ningbo. Keep in mind that these rides would take me around 7-8hrs one way and I often would do the return in the same 24hr period. If the standard topbox wasn't much cop, and after these type of long rides, I experienced trouble with the standard topbox that were supplied by the manufacturer. I had the topbox replaced a couple of times, under warranty and a later I bought the last one from the dealer, while I tried to find something more robust.

Fortunately I found my first ADLO 981 up in SH at a scooter shop that did lots of upgrades with after market gear imported from outside the mainland. I showed them the problem I was having with the standard box which was being shaken apart, and they sold me on the ADLO, with its better plastic and quick release mounting system. It helped that it was well under a couple hundred kuai.

That box lasted me a good 3 years. I installed that box onto the scooter and then later bought a second base plate which I fitted to my Dragstar Classic 1100 here in China and then swapped the same topbox over to it. The box did fall off one time, but that was nothing to do with the topbox, the base plate nor the locking mechanism. It was because I'd installed the baseplate onto the rear rack on my Dragstar 1100 with a wooden base I'd sandwiched in between the chrome rack and the steel plate. After some rough riding the wood split and the topbox still attached to the base plate came off one night and bounced down a local road. I turned round & went back to find a local and his female companion trying to bungy the box to their bike. I stopped and said I will have that back thank you very much -it's mine. No protest. When I got home to see why it had come off, I found it was my fault. But more importantly, amazingly the box was in one piece, just a little road rash but only just. I simply reinstalled it back to my Dragstar minus the wood base insert and rode 2 more years, until it came off on a week long ride me and some mates did round Zhejiang & Fujian. I was riding a crap goat track when to topbox came off. I stopped and found that the locking mechanism had finally decided that it'd had enough of all the crap road surfaces I'd ridden for the past several years.

The lock doubles as both the box lock and the lock for the release mechanism. I usually used a bungy or two over the box stretched front to back, just to quieten the vibration noise that the box would make on the rough roads/tracks, since the 4 rubber stoppers designed for just such a purpose never could do the job, that day I'd opted not to attach the bungy's. If I'd had those bungys on that day, the box would have stayed on.
It didn't turn me off the ADLO's at all, I went and bought 3 new sets of the 981's which hold a fair amount e.g. a full face hemet. The boxes are light enough, and I've carried up to 20kg in them on trips. They are meant to hold about 10-15kg max from what I recall. I always use bungy's on all of them, but since replacing my first one, the locking mechanism has been redesigned, as has the base plate. My original base plate didn't fit with new boxes.

Oh, and I get them from a Hangzhou motorcycle market seller, and they were cny160 delivered to my door direct from ADLO in Guangdong. Beats buying a GIVI for 5-10 x the price IMO.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Hi Lao,
very possible, the same vendor has also have these
Didn't know you had a YBR250 too, how did you fix your hard luggage to the bike? Care to share some pictures of your configuration?

Hi Marco - yes, I think that 185 rmb is the one I purchased for the 250. I was a bit skeptical, at first, but when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Strong and fit perfectly. Not sure how the finish will last, but powder coating in China is inexpensive, should I ever need it.

I haven't yet fit the luggage, as I am still waffling on which option will work best on the 250. I am kinda tilting towards the pelican-style knockoffs, but also really like the slim Tourfellas that Motokai now has on his JH600. Either way, I will have the mounting rack custom built (a disadvantage of hard luggage, each with its own unique mounting scheme).

I picked up a 250 because I really like the 125 (certainly a contender in my top 10 favorite bikes, of all time), and the 250 seems better fitted to the stream of overseas friends (of larger body types) who visit for rides.

[marcomagica]

Hi Fred,

I'm back with some pictures as promised. Here is "she" before finishing to install the HID light (you may notice the plastic bag containing the front light as yesterday I left the work half done)



And here at work completion



I can't report yet on the windshield air deflection, hopefully I'll have a sunny day tomorrow for some riding. All I can say is that I mounted very "vertical" hoping it will not deflect air on my helmet. It's very small though, so I don't know how much it can do.

Next step is to find some "tourfella style" hard bags for the sides, which I plan to fix to the lateral rack with some bolts. The only problem is the huge exhaust, which leaves little margin for bags on the right side as you can see here

[ChinaV]

Next step is to find some "tourfella style" hard bags for the sides, which I plan to fix to the lateral rack with some bolts.

Marco, you might want to re-think the idea of adding hard cases to those racks. They are designed to keep soft luggage from getting caught up in the wheel, not for attaching cases. If you do attach cases and add a little weight to them, they will sway from side to side as there is no support other than the 2 welds at the top. Hitting a few bumps at speed could be a real disaster.

Have a look a the racks on my V-Strom, this is a very common 4 point design that many bag manufacturers use.



Not trying to tell you what to do, but please be cautious.

Cheers!
ChinaV