Introduction

If you have ever needed to carry anything on your bike you will realise how inconvenient it can be if you are not properly prepared for it. There are various solutions for this, but each of these can have their own problems. For example, wearing a backpack is cheap and easy, but you can't carry anything too heavy or you risk damaging your back. Another solution might be a tank bag, but then if you have to leave the bike for any reason you will have to take the bag with you to be sure it isn't stolen.

The best solution (although it is the most expensive) it to use a topbox. These boxes are securely locked to the bike so you can leave them unattended without fear, but can still be easily removed any time you need to simply by unlocking them and pressing a button. They are completely weather proof, have a good carrying capacity, they don't prevent you also taking a pillion (unlike a backpack or tailpack) and they don't need to be removed when refuelling (unlike a tank bag).

If you plan on using your bike to carry anything on a regular basis, you could do a lot worse than to invest in a good quality topbox and rack. After shopping around for a while, I came to the conclusion that the best brand to buy was Givi. The box shown in the picture is an E52 (their largest box at the time that I bought it), but they have many other boxes available and all are interchangeable. This means you could even have a pair of boxes (one large and one small) and then use whichever was most appropriate at the time. The same rack will work with them all.

Apparently Kappa boxes are also compatible with the Givi rack systems, and the Kappa brand tends to be a bit less expensive, so there is no reason not to buy a cheaper Kappa box to use with your Givi rack.

Requirements

Warnings

• When loading the box be sure that the contents cannot move around, and be careful not to overload it. Any large weight moving around on the back of the bike when you don't expect it can be very disturbing, not to mention dangerous.
• Fitting a topbox can affect your bikes handling, especially if you have it heavily loaded. Any time you start a journey with your topbox, be careful for the first few miles to give yourself time to adjust to the extra weight.
• If you received instructions with your kit please refer to them as well as this tutorial. They may be more specific about the item you are fitting, while probably being less specific about the bike. By using both sources of information you should be able to solve any problems you encounter.
• Do not be tempted to rush ahead and do something you're not sure about. If you encounter any problems please re-read the instructions carefully and make sure you haven't missed anything. It is better to take twice as long and get it right, than to rush it and end up breaking something.
• Follow these instructions at your own risk. While every effort has been made to ensure that this tutorial is safe and accurate, I can accept no responsibility for any damage you do to either yourself or your bike while following the instructions provided. If you are not sure about something, check the instructions again, and if you are still not sure then ask someone more experienced to help.

Instructions

Before you start fitting anything to the bike, make sure that you have all the parts you need. The Givi monoracks are bought as two separate items. One of these is the universal top-plate (the bit the box attaches to), and the other is a fitting kit specifically designed for the bike. The boxes themselves are extra.

The first thing to do is to remove the bike's seat and side panels. Remove the seat by turning the key and sliding it backwards. Then remove both side panels by undoing the pair of bolts holding them and sliding them forward to release the tabs connecting them to the rear bodywork. (It is not strictly necessary to remove the side panels, as the picture shows, but removing them might make things a little easier later).

Stick some of the foam padding onto the underside of the seat clamps. This is to protect your side panels from getting scratched, so you should be able to see from the picture which areas need to be covered.

Fit both seat clamps onto the bar sticking out of the frame underneath the seat, one on each side, but do not tighten the bolt yet. You will need to be able to adjust the final position of the clamps to be sure that everything else fits.

Next you need to remove the bolts holding the grab rail in place. Each bolt has a small plastic cover fitted into it for cosmetic reasons. Using your small screwdriver, carefully prise the plastic covers out to gain access to the bolt heads. Then remove each bolt and pack them away safely. They will not be needed again unless you ever want to remove the monorack. They will be replaced by longer bolts supplied with your fitting kit.

Insert the spacers into the grab rail bolt holes (the longer one towards the front of the bike). Then hang the monorack arms on the grab rail using the new bolts from the fitting kit. Be careful not to drop them against the bikes bodywork to avoid any risk of damage to the paintwork. Bolt the front of the arms to the seat clamps, but do not fully tighten any of the bolts yet to allow for any final adjustments.

Now you should fit the top-plate onto the end of the monorack arms. Each bolt goes through the plate, then the arm and finally a nut is fitted underneath. You may find that it is tricky to get the bolt holes to line up. If you can't move the arms enough to get them to fit try loosening some of the other bolts to get more movement.

When everything is bolted together, slowly tighten all the bolts making sure that the top-plate remains level and straight. Also make sure that you can remove and refit the bike's side plates and seat without having to undo any of the monorack bolts.

When you are happy with the final postion and all the bolts have been tightened you can put the plastic plugs into the bolt holes on the top of the top-plate.

Now that you have fitted the monorack you can easily attach any Givi top-box (or Kappa box for that matter) to the plate. Just slide the box onto the runners at the front of the plate and press the back of the box down until it locks onto the spike at the back of the plate. You should hear it click into place when it is attached properly.