I was at my buddy jon's and whenever he and i get together something has to be fabricated. I had been pondering some designs for a tailbag mount and since we had no 1/8th aluminum sitting around we started to look for something to make a mock up from. We wanted to use something just as a proof of concept until i could make my way to the local salvation army and find a donor cookie sheet or something similar to cut the rack out of. What we did come across was an old paint roller grate, the kind that sits inside of a bucket.
We thought that would be a decent starting point as it is just about the correct size for the klx tail and we wouldnt have to worry about drilling holes. Plus they are 2 bucks at wally world. We pounded the bent end flat, and unfolded the little prongs on the back so they make a right angle to the "rack". The diagonals of the grate are kind of sharp, so we wrapped the whole bit in duct tape. (It's never a good sign when duct tape actually improves the looks of a project.) So we lined it up, and bolted it on with the stock tailbag mounting hardware and a couple of large washers. To my surprise the thing felt pretty sturdy. Would I venture to put 20lbs on this "rack" alone? Absolutely not. But, as soon as i mentioned something about the tabs being good to keep the luggage on, we both looked up on top of the cabinet at jon's old KLR tailbag and our faces lit up. The tailbag fits perfectly on this thing and if you criss cross the mounting straps under the tail assembly it is just the right length to have a real snug fit. Now at this point we are both just kind of laughing at the thing, I took it for a quick spin and he said it didnt flop about like we thought it would. So i figured what the hell, let's test what this thing can do. I went and bought 3 w liters of BIG K cola (wouldnt want to dump the good stuff if it all goes to pot.) and stuffed them inside this KLR bag. I took it out to the street and did some hard acceleration, stops, curves and even a couple of wheelies and this thing did it's job very well. It didnt flop, didnt come loose, and best of all it was free! Could this use some revising? Absolutely, one could use some sheet aluminum, or weld some cross struts to the strainer for extra support. (it is surprisingly sturdy for a simple framed grate.) But for maybe 5 bucks at most in this thing, it has been over 500 miles, and some seriously tough trails (for me) and it hasn't become loose or misshapen. The KLR bag obviously wasn't free, but almost every motorcycle enthusiast i know has at least one piece of luggage, or duffell bag that they could apply this to. I will post some pictures or maybe a video of it tomorrow when it isn't dark out. I just wanted to share my venture into pennytech glory

 

Serious ingenuity. You could add a flat 2" steel or aluminum 1/8" cross bar for a shade more support if needed, without anything but drilling. Just a simple thought on your comments.

 

Chay, good effort and thought, but a problem with the back end of most bikes that do any off road riding...even just dirt roads...is vibration. This is the area where you have to be really creative in either designing the item with extreme strength and/or a very clever isolation system that still supports some weight. I admit that I'm amazed that you've gotten it to last 500 miles with some serious trail riding involved, but hey...most of the moon landing module was made of material not much more substantial than tin foil, so anything is possible.

 

Little preview on a phone/gps mount i have been mocking up. I wish i had more aluminum like that, I could make a nicer tail rack. If i can find a cheap source of the stuff i would like to fabricate some different guards around the bike like heel guards and disc guards.




I will agree that this doesn't inspire confidence like a nice tubular aluminum rack that is bolted on in two different places, but for my application (Work clothes/camping gear/groceries) I think this thing is plenty tough. I'll be making new threads as time goes on and my tinkering budget goes up.

 

Wouldn't mounting the iPhone there interfere with turning? Also, how do you plan on keeping it from falling?

I'm using a RAM mount and it holds the phone fine. Here's where I put mine.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...install-38003/

 

Nope, it clears the tank just fine. I have a droid x with an otterbox case. The case has 3M dual lock on it, and so does the aluminum plate. Two strips of that was overkill, it really only needs one. If you havent checked out the dual lock, it is like mechanical velcro that is extremely strong.
It nearly rips the phone case off before it actually comes off the plate.

 

It survived this. Thats my buddy on a fully loaded klr650. Had a blast today through some fairly technical mud and sand.