AS alu rear rack failure

[sunndog]

As the pics show its cracked on both "legs" 

 

I do have a top box but barely loaded it over AS' specs of 8kg and even then only on the road.

Very light loads off road.

To be fair I did buy it used so who knows what it went through before I got it

 

Anyone used the sw motech rack? 

Looks a lot more subtle than the AS one 

[AZJW]

@sunndog My conclusion is none of the racks that cantilever over the rear fender are acceptable for a top case unless used only on smooth pavement.   At 4:30 in this video you'll notice my son's Outback Motortek rack giving up on some less than smooth 2 track. The topcase and contents were one lb over the manufacturers 18 lb. weight limit and they wouldn't help with any repair/ exchange.  To be fair, we did exceed their weight limit, so caveat emptor.

 

 

[ninot7]

to be fair even the OEM rear rack from Yam that takes a topbox recommends a 5kg load. i wouldnt touch a topbox for the T7

[sunndog]

Perhaps wasnt clear in my first post....Yep top box was only used on road and usually with little actual weight in it 

I'm not shipping steel in it just stuff that needs to stay clean and dry. 

The "light loads" I refered to off road being a small tank bag with a few bits in it that's under 5kg total.

 

The bike isnt just a toy it works for a living and a top box is too useful to me not to have.

[Ede-DE]

I don't use SW Motech and can't tell anything about it.

I prefer Donner-Tech and started with the passenger handles as the basis of all items that will follow. It's machined from solid aluminium material and should last forever although it's very light.

Yes, it costs a lot of money but I think it's worth it. Check it out.

[174ktm]

I have a set of sw motech with the hard boxes. I have loaded up the top box, and never had issues. I'm actually selling the boxes and going to use SW racks with my Mosko Moto luggage.

[random1781]

I think the main difference between these racks for the T7 and similar racks for other bikes is that the T7 racks all rely on the side mounts and create that cantilever effect, like @AZJW mentioned. I've had top cases on previous bikes and definitely exceeded the load limit without failures, but these are generally supported by the frame/subframe directly underneath the load.

 

I think that fatigue over time will cause failure to a cantilevered hoop, even with a small load on it. IMO the only way to ensure a failure won't happen is to support a rack on the frame under the rear plastics. I use the tab just in front of the tail light between those two foam things...

 

 

That humble little tab has borne the brunt of 25+ kg through some nasty stuff and is in great condition.

 

The little rubber piece on the middle of the U-channel is what rests on that tab...

 

 

Camel's rack also uses the center part of the frame. I know they have a disclaimer with a low max weight, but a supported solution like this is the only way to go to avoid failures. Of course there's a forward-bias, but we pile a 40L duffel on it and have had no issues.

[Hammerhead]

13 hours ago, ninot7 said:

 I wouldnt touch a topbox for the T7

I’ll go one further, wouldn’t touch one ever !

[Lewie]

The box is going to move - or try to move up and down - that’s going to over time stress the meatal

[sunndog]

All this talk of cantilevers and stress

It's fine If made correctly, our jcb has been lifting three metric tons on a ten foot cantilever for 20 years.

I had a 600 bandit with a 60ltr top box on a longer cantilever than a t7 and I put some silly weight in that, it was fine too

[thruster]

I have the same rack with no problem running a box on the back filled with emergency kit, tire pump, bear spray and some tools. Weighs about 8 lbs. Lots of offroad use and a trip to south Dakota. No cracks any where on bike or rack.

[sunndog]

I've seen a few occasions of variable quality from AS. 

That's what I'm putting my money on. The metallurgy for aluminium is much less forgiving than steel 

 

Nice looking bike dude