[jefo]

I'm just kitting out my newly purchased 1260 MTS for a spring tour in 2020, being very careful with my money ( Blame my Yorkshire UK heritage) one thing that bugs me is the cost of official Ducati accessories, for instance they want around £500.00 for a rear top box system. ( Most manufacturers play the same game, BMW being the worst )
However, Givi market a sub brand called Shad, who offer a much better value alternative. Unfortunately their fitting kit adds about 4.5kg of weight alone, coming from a 200kg GT1000 Sport Classic, I'm trying to keep as much weight as possible off the bike so I sent the fitting kit back and came up with my own solution which others might find useful.
Luckily the MTS comes with a nice large rear grab rail which acts as good support for a base plate. I drew up a template out of cardboard, transferred this to some 19mm plywood and cut it out with a jigsaw.
The template also got marked up with holes drilled so that heavy duty cable ties could secure the base plate to the hand rail, both on the sides and rear, as you know these things are incredibly strong so no issues with strength.
I also covered the top of the rail with some self adhesive neoprene to protect the rail itself.
I then made a couple of 3mm aluminium plates to fit in the bottom of the top Box, these distribute the load over the bottom of the box when the securing bolts go through to the base plate.
It may help to view the pictures for clarity, but it works a treat, upsides are that it saves around 4 kgs of weight and the cost of the fitting kit, which was about £125.00, you could use any make of top box, you're not restricted to one brand and you could, with a new baseplate fit it to any bike with a suitable rear support and you keep the bike completely original after removal.
Downsides are; as the Top Box is fixed, you have to use a dry bag to remove your stuff at the end of the day, it won't suit owners who must have the official kit, or don't like the DIY element of it, you do need to drill 4 small holes in the bottom of the top box so resale value of the box will be hit but secondhand boxes are cheap anyway.
For me the weight saving alone is worth it. Hope this has been of help to like minded souls.

 

[Jeff_Tippett]

Nice work. However, I would not trust plastic cable ties in that application even if they are called "heavy duty". Plastic weakens with age

 

[jefo]

Nice work. However, I would not trust plastic cable ties in that application even if they are called "heavy duty". Plastic weakens with age

Thanks Jeff, Take your point but the ties are actually under very little stress and at 10 cents a tie easily renewed if need be.

 

[Siddo]

I'd be inclined to bolt that case in place. There's a mounting plate on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-m...810362?hash=item2cfe2b47fa:g:Ne0AAOSwePpd6SHz

 

[batman137]

...dude

 

[Team Gorgonzola]

...dude

...yep

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Damascus]

I appreciate your work ethic, but the end product, not so much. It looks like a hack job done to a $20K+ motorcycle to save a couple of pennies. It looks like a hack job done to a 450 pound motorcycle to save a couple of ounces. We're talking tiny fractions here.

The "... dude" and "... yep" responses above are spot on. No offense, but it's just wrong. Sorry, mate.

 

[DaveK]

The ducati kit is stupid expensive just like any branded gear... but it's also well designed and lightweight. The big miss with a homemeade version is the additional support (which I assume is still present in the 1260 design). The Duc kit has a fairly low weight limit but even so it includes substantial bracing of the subframe... without that bracing the weight limit will probably be MUCH lower.

You can buy the Shad top case mount/brace for Multi's from Revzilla for $230... I'd not try to do that myself. It gives you a stout base and still saves you a few hundred dollars over the Duc branded Givi stuff.

 

[batman137]

I didn't want to pay for the Duc top box either. It hurt even more when it came in and said GIVI inside of it. LOL
That being said, I use it more than anything, and I can take it off in 2 seconds using the bikes key.
If anything ever happened to it, I would buy another one.

I would also add that the duc case makes for a sturdy back rest.

The day you goose the throttle and send your sandwich maker ass over elbows off the back of your $20,000 + bike, I want to see the video of you explaining the shortcomings of "heavy duty" zipties.

I do admire your creativity, and determination to not get ripped off, but just take the hit on this one. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Damascus]

I do admire your creativity, and determination to not get ripped off, but just take the hit on this one. You'll be glad you did.

Yeah, I've had my eye on the new Ninja 1000 and the S1000XR (plus 300 other bikes if I'm honest LOL) and I'm already thinking about the $$$Extra$$$ luggage options. On the Ninja 1000 in particular, the panniers and top case kit look to be about 15 - 20% of the price of the bike itself when all is said and done!

It sucks, but it just looks right. It is what it is. ?

 

[AXSPwr]

The bracing that comes with the stock kit is substantial, like DaveK said. It's still that way on the 1260s. I really don't understand why such heavy bracing is necessary for a box that isn't supposed to hold more than 15lbs, but that's sort of the point of buying the OEM kit; I don't have to be an engineer, or understand all the relevant loads and forces acting on that box at 90MPH.

I get wanting to save a buck, but peace of mind and liability reduction are worth something, too.

 

[DaveK]

The bracing that comes with the stock kit is substantial, like DaveK said. It's still that way on the 1260s. I really don't understand why such heavy bracing is necessary for a box that isn't supposed to hold more than 15lbs, but that's sort of the point of buying the OEM kit; I don't have to be an engineer, or understand all the relevant loads and forces acting on that box at 90MPH.

I get wanting to save a buck, but peace of mind and liability reduction are worth something, too.

So IMO the they're worried about how much impulse force the unit can exert when you're hitting the bump stop with weight flying around inside the case (given how far it's leveraged off the back of the subframe).

 

[TallOne]

The bracing that comes with the stock kit is substantial, I really don't understand why such heavy bracing is necessary for a box that isn't supposed to hold more than 15lbs

No kidding. Don't shoot me, but I've put double that amount in the Ducati top box for grocery runs. Does it upset the handling? Absolutely! And there you have the essence of the weight prohibitions. It's massively overbuilt.

As far the mod box OP made, it's plenty stout, and those tie downs could support the weight of a grown man. If there are four, which it looks like but not totally clear in the pics, I wouldn't hesitate to put assorted road trip crap in there. Pretty elegant solution, with the caveat that the OEM system leverages the load ONTO the subframe itself, not just hanging over it. SO for his application, for sure stay under that 20 lb limit.

 

[jefo]

I'd be inclined to bolt that case in place. There's a mounting plate on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-m...810362?hash=item2cfe2b47fa:g:Ne0AAOSwePpd6SHz

Thanks for the heads up, the plate will make a sturdy template.

I appreciate your work ethic, but the end product, not so much. It looks like a hack job done to a $20K+ motorcycle to save a couple of pennies. It looks like a hack job done to a 450 pound motorcycle to save a couple of ounces. We're talking tiny fractions here.

The "... dude" and "... yep" responses above are spot on. No offense, but it's just wrong. Sorry, mate.

Thanks for the feedback, as I said, it's not going to suit those who are precious about this sort of thing, I don't think saving 4 kg's on a shad fitting kit is ounces.

The ducati kit is stupid expensive just like any branded gear... but it's also well designed and lightweight. The big miss with a homemeade version is the additional support (which I assume is still present in the 1260 design). The Duc kit has a fairly low weight limit but even so it includes substantial bracing of the subframe... without that bracing the weight limit will probably be MUCH lower.

You can buy the Shad top case mount/brace for Multi's from Revzilla for $230... I'd not try to do that myself. It gives you a stout base and still saves you a few hundred dollars over the Duc branded Givi stuff.

Thanks Dave, good point re the bracing which I hadn't realised they did, the box will be just for general accessories, I won't be going over board on the weight.

No kidding. Don't shoot me, but I've put double that amount in the Ducati top box for grocery runs. Does it upset the handling? Absolutely! And there you have the essence of the weight prohibitions. It's massively overbuilt.

As far the mod box OP made, it's plenty stout, and those tie downs could support the weight of a grown man. If there are four, which it looks like but not totally clear in the pics, I wouldn't hesitate to put assorted road trip crap in there. Pretty elegant solution, with the caveat that the OEM system leverages the load ONTO the subframe itself, not just hanging over it. SO for his application, for sure stay under that 20 lb limit.

Hi, thanks for your input, defo gonna keep the weight down, mainly for the handling reasons you point out, actually 6 ties in total to hold it down, some people underestimate the strength of these things, when applied and used in the appropriate situation just work really well.

I didn't want to pay for the Duc top box either. It hurt even more when it came in and said GIVI inside of it. LOL
That being said, I use it more than anything, and I can take it off in 2 seconds using the bikes key.
If anything ever happened to it, I would buy another one.

I would also add that the duc case makes for a sturdy back rest.

The day you goose the throttle and send your sandwich maker ass over elbows off the back of your $20,000 + bike, I want to see the video of you explaining the shortcomings of "heavy duty" zipties.

I do admire your creativity, and determination to not get ripped off, but just take the hit on this one. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks Batman, one of the other reasons that I didn't want to invest in the cost of the official kit is that this bike is a stopgap user until the V4MTS comes out in 2021, you rarely get any real value back on secondhand accessories and I'll probably only use this box for 2/3 long trips next year. I'll happily take up your offer of posting an update next year and we'll see who's right! All the best.

 

[harun]

I appreciate your work ethic, but the end product, not so much. It looks like a hack job done to a $20K+ motorcycle to save a couple of pennies. It looks like a hack job done to a 450 pound motorcycle to save a couple of ounces. We're talking tiny fractions here.

The "... dude" and "... yep" responses above are spot on. No offense, but it's just wrong. Sorry, mate.

hey jefo, u pay $20K for the MTS but worry about 50$ top case.difficult to understand????

 

[jefo]

hey jefo, u pay $20K for the MTS but worry about 50$ top case.difficult to understand????

Hi Harun, I bought the bike secondhand it was $11K. You seem to have missed the point of my post title, saving Lb's as well as $. First, as a matter of principal I don't want to pay the Ducati price for a top-box system, it's way overpriced and I'm not getting ripped off. The cost of the Shad system is fine, it's what Ducati should be charging. The cost saving of the Shad is a bonus to the main point of this post which is saving 4 kg's of weight by ditching the Shad fitting kit. There aren't many areas on the MTS where you can save any weight but this is one of them. Hope this helps.

 

[Damascus]

... I didn't want to invest in the cost of the official kit is that this bike is a stopgap user until the V4MTS comes out in 2021 ... and I'll probably only use this box for 2/3 long trips next year. ...

Well, OK then. But if you slap a similar Wallace & Grommet rig on a brand new V4MTS, we are just going to have to report you to Ducati HQ on principle. Most importantly, ride safe and have fun.

 

[forsythem]

I like what you've done - good on you!

I've done a little plywood work myself in mounting my large RJays top-box to the back of the 848. Best thing I've added to the bike, though I reckon I'd have even more chance of getting reported to Ducati HQ...

 

[3B43]

I built my own rack as the after market stuff is stupid $$$. For a top case, I have two different sized Pelican cases: the one that stays on the bike 99% of the time is a 1500 Air case. For my 10+ day trips, I have a 1550. My rack is bolted down and the case is bolted to the rack. Waterproof and lockable.

 

[eonderde]

As a trained engineer I can tell you that weight is there for a reason. In this case I would assume that the weight is there to deal with the forces acting on the top case in extreme cases like an accident. Using wood instead of steel compromises you own safety. E.g. assume the case where you hit an object, tree or car, head on. In cases like that deceleration of 50g is not out of the ordinary. So your support needs to be able to withstand 20 kg time 50 g. Is about a 10.000 Newton. Don’t think you design is up to that. In the above mentioned cases this means you will be hit in the back by your top box braking loose. Please invest the weight you saved in your construction in a more than decent back protector, neck protector and world class helmet.