ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: Doug S on June 12, 2015, 10:21:58 PM
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So a while back I purchased the rack and top box for my 2014 SR, and it's proved to be so useful that I just upgraded to the largest "monolock" box Givi makes (47 liters). It has the same weight limit the old, smaller box has -- 3 kilograms. I'm rather hard-pressed to think of what you could possibly fill a 47-liter box with that weighs less than 7 pounds. It also, strangely, has a maximum speed limit of 120 kph.
Now, I'm not really worried about it, and I've already violated both limits by pretty wide margins (I once put a 30-lb box of kitty litter in the old box), but I am curious. Why do you suppose they put such a ridiculously low weight limit on the box, and can anybody imagine why it has a maximum speed at all?
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This is funny because just today I rode into work and went over 120kph several times with over 30 lbs in my monolock v46 :/
And what is worse is I am using a plastic mounting plate, not a metal one ;)
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I thinks they are designed to carry aerogel. ;D
bloody ridiculous, I dont know how they can sell with such low load capacity.
I think a plastic disposable shopping bag can carry more load.
Would they be worried that in an impact the load in the back would become a missle and crush you ?
thats the only possible reason i can think of and thats being crazy talk .
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Come to think of it, I have had a Givi top case break off and go flying. I was braking hard doing a stoppie to avoid hitting a 15 year old girl blowing through a stop sign right in front of me. The bike did not survive; I flew over the car, thankfully. The Givi case landed fully loaded into an onlooker's yard. The case did not break, and I still have it on my [replacement] V-Strom.
So, those cases work. I imagine the engineers have to couch those load limits heavily for legal reasons.
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I think the manufacturers are concerned about having a lot of weight located behind the rear axle of the motorcycle. A lot of weight back there could upset the handling of the vehicle by taking weight off of the front wheel and thereby affecting steering and stability when hitting a bump or when getting blown around by strong side-winds.
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I have a Givi Trekker 46L with wingrack 2 and saw all the limits but the speed limit is new to me. I'm pretty sure it is for liability reason. I put 30 to 40 lbs consistently in the box. Once I put a box of quarters, dimes, nickel and pennys in it, the handling was really bad but I manage to make it to the business 1 mile up the road. I have to retighten the bolts but other than that I don't see any damage.
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Come to think of it, I have had a Givi top case break off and go flying. I was braking hard doing a stoppie to avoid hitting a 15 year old girl blowing through a stop sign right in front of me. The bike did not survive; I flew over the car, thankfully. The Givi case landed fully loaded into an onlooker's yard. The case did not break, and I still have it on my [replacement] V-Strom.
So, those cases work. I imagine the engineers have to couch those load limits heavily for legal reasons.
There you have why the safe load limit is so strict. Stuff doesn't only needs to be secure when you drive along the road but also when stop abruptly, either on time or to late. The kinetic energy involved in that is a serious load and you don't want to have top cases flying around.
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Weight so far up and back plays hell with stability. When I put all 44lbs of Elcons & cables in my top box, I can get a wobble going frighteningly easy. The bike's rock steady when empty.
1st gen FJR-1300s could have the subframe behind the seat crack if you put more than about 20lbs in a topcase and rode down a rough road.
Some of the European police BMWs had real stability problems with all the radios and crap they packed into the back. That was in "Performance Bikes" (UK magazine) about 8 years back.
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That's probably why they use side cases nowaday yeah:
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb290/brandweeraalsmeer112/DSC_0052.jpg)