hey guys-
sorry for the delay. seems like there's not enough time in the day..

this if for a 05-06 636. 07 ??

i'm sure this same idea could be used to fit many different bikes... i'd love to some other rides with the ammo can action!

where do i start?
i guess at the mounting points to the bike. i used two pieces of 1.5" X 3/16" mild steel flat stock. an 11" piece for the throttle side, and a 10" piec for the gearshift side. the passenger peg mounting holes are not uniform. they are offset to the gear **** side by about 7/8" off ctr. the holes are also two different distances apart. throttle side is about 3 1/16" ctr to ctr and the gearshift side is about 3 15/16" ctr to ctr. hold up you passenger peg brackets and take a look, you'll know what i'm talking about. so i drilled holes along th top edge of the flat stock and used the oem shoulder bolt to atach them.

i used 1/2" i.d. pipe for the "can holders". the front pipe goes through and through the inside of the can and is welded there as well as to the inside of the outer can wall. the rear pipe is just welded to the inside edge of the cans. (if it went through and through it would be really hard to get large items into the cans) my friend had this idea to make them stronger. he build things to withstand "forces we know nothing of" (an airplane technician term). i also ground half the pipe diameter out of the bottom of the flatstock to create pockets that the pipe would nestle into, then welded them.

the cans were originally 31.5 X 11 1/8 X 5 3/4 (with lids off) i got them from andy and bax military surplus (503.234.7538). i have no idea if they ship. they originally held two 120mm comp b m933 ????. i cut the trailing edge to 16.5 and the leading edge to 12.5". then, i cut a piece of 3/4 ply to fit recessed by a little inside the bottoms then ran four screws through the edge of the can and into the ply. (the best part of this is you can paint the plywood on the bottoms any color you like, and no one can see it unless your leaning into a corner) i siliconed them from the inside to keep elements out. rattle canned 'em flat black and done. (except for the lids... they say "cartridges for weapons" and i didn't want to paint over that!) .

i know this isn't a blueprint, but i struggle getting a drawing across via words.

the worst part of these is they weigh (guessing) about 25 pounds empty! the upside is they keep your sh*t bone dry and are virtually cruch proof. they are super easy to get the lids off and a simple weld job could give you flanges with holes to put 4 small padlocks on the latches. not to mention they look really cool (in my opinion). i have no idea on the cubic inches of capacity, but it has to be less than sup uni's saddle bags.

i laid my bike down doing about twenty about 5 weeks ago and had the ammo cans on. i don't know if you can notice from the photos but the throttle side is bent in a little. i was stocked though, 'cause the cans make contact with the rear swingarm. "forces we know nothing of" came in handy! now i'm thinking about bending the shift side in the same amount and adding some thin steel 45's to stiffen the whole rig. they're like huge frame sliders! (and yea, i'm fine, was geared up)

i'm no machinist, so the layout work was a pain. i disconnected the battery and used lots of wet blankets to protect the bike from slag. i basically tacked as i went, and solidified the whole thing once i was able to remove it from the bike. if any of you are serious about doing this project, and want some more tips, i could sketch out what i did, scan it, and send it to you.

one last thing- i read alot more than i post an wanted you guys to know that there is a TON of information and advice on here... thanks!

here are some pics-

the bike with cans-


the portions of the ammo boxes i didn't use (off cuts)-


the ammo cans un-mounted-

 

how heavy is that set up ?

 

i'm guessing around 25 pounds empty. they aren't light!

 

Nice work, that looks great!

 

haha sweet...

 

why not just buy regular saddle bags, possibly the magnetic tank bag? well done but i would immagine the extra weight on the rear is why you took the spill. maybe you wanta sport touring... id just hate to see you go down harder than 20mph for some reason we cab avoid.

 

well, i've never really been a fan of fabric bags, and the rain covers are a pain. i've put over 1,000 miles on the bike with the cans on (infact i almost always leave them on so i can go to the grocery store) and they are barely noticable. i went down because i had mud from my driveway smudged up on the left edges of the tires.

i'd rather own a sport bike and tour with it than

own a touring bike and wish it was sporty!