Ordered one of these tank racks from here:
Motone Aero Parcel Rack - Stainless Steel - Universal Tank Rack - Polished - Motone from Motone Customs UK
Ever since I bought the Rocket i've had a mind towards putting a rack on the tank (strange as that might sound) because I have a bit of a passion for the look of these things on bikes of the 50's & 60's. The current Rocket is a bit of a strange brew of modern and classic, but in my eyes, its more classic than the other. So, I wanted to try to emulate the classic look with a tank rack.
With that in mind, I was planning to make a custom designed rack for the 2.5 Rocket and I had my eye on using the tank strap to act as the device that would act as the connection between the rack and the tank.
Then I saw this Motone rack thought that for the price of it, it probably wasn't worth making my own rack and that I could adapt it to attach to the tank strap without it looking like a frankenstein project.
Ideally, I would like to get my hands on a second tank strap so I can add some threaded inserts of some kind to it, or perhaps, like you suggest, rivet the rack to the strap. I don't want to spoil the one that's original to the bike.
Here's some typical fitment examples.
You can get them in black painted finish, but I think it will look good in polished un-painted finish. Can always paint it later if I change my mind.
Should be in keeping with the style of the bike and be handy to strap a small day bag on to, when the mood takes me.
Hopefully the suction pads won't clash with the recess lines in the tank.....We will see...
Well, i've already now realised that of course, the tank strap is going to get in the way of the rear suction pads. Still, not to worry, i'll resolve the issue one way or another. How hard can it be, lol...
Here are some photos of the rack placed loosely on the Rocket3 fuel tank:
It's the first time that i've removed the metal strap and I was a bit surprised to discover that the great big catch near the headstock is just for aesthetics only.
It's a fake over-centre catch......who'da thunk it?....
......The metal strap is also kinda thin and flimsy once it's off and I was thinking about adding four threaded inserts through it so I could, with the addition of a couple of small metal adapter brackets, make the rack solidly fixed to the strap, so the rack becomes rigid and in effect floats over the tank and only connects with the strap with say....x4 M6 machine screws.
I'm now not convinced that the strap is torsionally stiff enough to keep the rack from bending to either side and touching the paintwork.
One option was to thread a thin strap underneath the tank strap and use that to somehow tie down the rack to the tank. At least that solution is very simple and light. No need to modify anything on the bike, but I think there might be a chance that the metal tank strap will distort and maybe get creased using this type of solution.
The metal is 1mm thick and 40mm wide. I have a scrap length of 304 stainless strip that's only 25mm wide but is 1.5mm thick and it's a lot more torsionally rigid.
So, at the moment, i'm thinking of making a new strap out of 1.5mm or maybe even 2mm stainless steel. At least that way, I won't be spoiling the original strap and it will be a two minute job to swap them out, if I don't want the rack from time to time.
I'll post more as I do more on it.
Motone Aero Parcel Rack - Stainless Steel - Universal Tank Rack - Polished - Motone from Motone Customs UK
Ever since I bought the Rocket i've had a mind towards putting a rack on the tank (strange as that might sound) because I have a bit of a passion for the look of these things on bikes of the 50's & 60's. The current Rocket is a bit of a strange brew of modern and classic, but in my eyes, its more classic than the other. So, I wanted to try to emulate the classic look with a tank rack.
With that in mind, I was planning to make a custom designed rack for the 2.5 Rocket and I had my eye on using the tank strap to act as the device that would act as the connection between the rack and the tank.
Then I saw this Motone rack thought that for the price of it, it probably wasn't worth making my own rack and that I could adapt it to attach to the tank strap without it looking like a frankenstein project.
Ideally, I would like to get my hands on a second tank strap so I can add some threaded inserts of some kind to it, or perhaps, like you suggest, rivet the rack to the strap. I don't want to spoil the one that's original to the bike.
Here's some typical fitment examples.
You can get them in black painted finish, but I think it will look good in polished un-painted finish. Can always paint it later if I change my mind.
Should be in keeping with the style of the bike and be handy to strap a small day bag on to, when the mood takes me.
Hopefully the suction pads won't clash with the recess lines in the tank.....We will see...
Well, i've already now realised that of course, the tank strap is going to get in the way of the rear suction pads. Still, not to worry, i'll resolve the issue one way or another. How hard can it be, lol...
Here are some photos of the rack placed loosely on the Rocket3 fuel tank:
It's the first time that i've removed the metal strap and I was a bit surprised to discover that the great big catch near the headstock is just for aesthetics only.
It's a fake over-centre catch......who'da thunk it?....
......The metal strap is also kinda thin and flimsy once it's off and I was thinking about adding four threaded inserts through it so I could, with the addition of a couple of small metal adapter brackets, make the rack solidly fixed to the strap, so the rack becomes rigid and in effect floats over the tank and only connects with the strap with say....x4 M6 machine screws.I'm now not convinced that the strap is torsionally stiff enough to keep the rack from bending to either side and touching the paintwork.
One option was to thread a thin strap underneath the tank strap and use that to somehow tie down the rack to the tank. At least that solution is very simple and light. No need to modify anything on the bike, but I think there might be a chance that the metal tank strap will distort and maybe get creased using this type of solution.
The metal is 1mm thick and 40mm wide. I have a scrap length of 304 stainless strip that's only 25mm wide but is 1.5mm thick and it's a lot more torsionally rigid.
So, at the moment, i'm thinking of making a new strap out of 1.5mm or maybe even 2mm stainless steel. At least that way, I won't be spoiling the original strap and it will be a two minute job to swap them out, if I don't want the rack from time to time.
I'll post more as I do more on it.
