Tour Pak Top Box

How to fit it to a BMW R1200GS.

By Mick From Tassie.

Editors Note: I had fitted an Rjays top box to my R1200GS and Mick had rung me up for some tips. He decided to go the Tour Pak option. Mick did use the original BMW support bars as I did as these offer lots of strength, especially if a pillion like to use the top box as a backrest. So, in Micks words here is review.
Thanks Mick!

I have been after a topbox to fit to my R1200GS for a while.
I did not like the size or the price of the original equipment one, although I did get the BMW Vario panniers when I bought the bike and they are well made quality items. But for over AU$ 1000 I thought I could get better value with an aftermarket top box.

Shopping around I was concerned that most of the topbox mounting kits available had very low load capacities (Givi 6KG Max.) where the Vario fitting kit allows 10KG. For reference a case of stubbies weighs about 10KG, so for me that sets the minimum standard.

I thought that using the BMW original rear top box support with a cheap Chinese top box was the way to go. I priced the rear support arm by itself ($180) and the full kit to suit the Vario top box ($190). I went for the full kit and have a few bits over that I did not use.

After having an Rjays box on a previous bike and having some issues with the mounting plate cracking, I decided to try another similarly priced box. The top box I went for is here was from ebay: ($175 delivered) The ebay page and product is listed below this article. Just hit the "search" button and scroll down.

The fitting was fairly simple although required some tapered spacers to fit the aluminium plate to the BMW rear rack. I made these out of some alloy hollow bar that I had lying around.

 
I used the BMW top box adapter plate that came with the support to mark the holes to mount the plate to the original rack.

I used six screws to mount the plate to the rack and the rear support.

 
Then I used another 4 screws to mount the top box mounting plate to the alloy plate.

 
I reckon it looks good and feels solid.
The box itself is a fair bit more flexible than an Rjay or a Givi, When the box is closed though it feels solid and does not rattle. The fixing method to the rack is not as convenient for removal as other designs, but is solid. I reckon it looks good and feels solid, time will tell how good it is in daily use. But for the moment I am happy with the result.

 
I have taken it for its shakedown run and it managed to get the beer back from the bottle shop without shaking it up too much.

 
Mick from Tassie

Thanks Mick, I reckon it's a great review and thanks for the photos showing how it's done. The ebay page and product is listed below this article. Just hit the "search" button and scroll down.