Homemade Tour Pack Mount

Hello boys and girls. Today in the garage we are going to discuss the ins and outs of making a proper tour pack mount for your rocket 3.
I'll be your instructor for this task. You may call me Mr. C. Today I will be assisted by Mr. Beer as this is not a 1 hour project. This is an advanced course that requires welding, drilling, painting and the ability to measure accurately and drink responsibly.

Step one. Remove the passenger back rest and luggage rack if you have them. If you do not have them, you are not prepared for this advanced course and are here by mistake. Please report to the classifieds or eBay or your nearest triumph Dealer to acquire the brackets as you will need them.

The back of your bike should now look something like this.


Now that those 4 pesky bolts are removed, have a beer and proceed to step 2.


Step 2. Time to go shopping. Decisions Decisions! I elected to purchase a used Harley tour Pack. It came with the mounts and supposedly everything i thought i would need.... Wrong.
There is no way to use the mount that came with my pack on a roadster or classic.

I decided that I wanted adjust-ability, so I went with the Kuryakyn Quick Adjust Tour-Pak Relocator
This way I had not only adjust-ability, I also had a mount from which to use as a template.

Speaking of templates. Here's one you may find useful depending on which year tour pack you decide to use.


Also the material of choice is 14ga steel. Stainless if you'd prefer and your parents can afford it. The tube is .750 or 3/4" square for all yo people who have trouble with fractions.

5 feet of square tubing and a 12"x12" 14ga plate should be enough material. Total cost... about 12 bucks, depending on the cost of steel in your location.

Once your materials have all arrived you are ready to begin.

Step 3. You will need a way to cut the steel. I have a bandsaw as you can see. But a chop saw or even and angle grinder would probably work.



I used 45 degree cuts for everything to keep it nice but you could use 90s. The miter cut for the legs however was not 45 degrees. We will get to that later.

Using the backrest as a guide I was able to make 2 legs and a small frame.

Like this.




I urge you to use tack welds for easy disassembly. Do not permanently weld anything until the end of the project. Also to all of the students whom purchased the relocating bracket. You can bolt the legs to the bracket when you weld them and they won't move from the heat. This will make the final product perfectly straight.


Step 4. Test fit.
This is the first of many depending on your skill and your desired placement. I personally didn't like mine as I thought it was too tall.









It would work, but this is my bike, and i want it as close to perfect as i can get it. I hope you all take as much pride in this project as I have.
Time for a break as class is coming to a close today. Go back to your lives and ponder what you have done today. Be sure to get your homework from Mr. Beer and we will resume the lesson tomorrow.

Welcome Back!
Today we will be fine tuning out projects. I truly hope you all are having as much fun with this as I have.

Take a note, as this will be on the test! There is a magical equation. To make the tour pack level with the back of the bike use these 2 miter cuts.

45 Degree cut on one side and a 27 degree cut.
you may add or subtract from one side, but be sure to add or subtract the difference from the other.
I suppose you could do dual 36 degree cuts to make it level.

Anyway. I took off as much as I could from the legs on the frame. I also move the bracket as far forward as possible by shortening it up.







I could lower the tour pack another inch or 2, but that would require re working of the bracket and moving it further back. Perhaps a whole new design all together even. I believe that this should work for now and we will move along.

You will notice that the base plate is very low and close to the back of the seat.





I find that this worked very well for me. I stayed up very late with Mr. Beer to get these examples done for you for this morning.

Extra credit....
I put sleeves in the mounting holes in my brackets legs. You probably don't need to do this, but i did because the original backrest had them

I drilled out the holes from 8mm to 1/2" and then went about making some sleeves.
I have a lathe, you may not. Our classroom budget doesn't allow for students to use mine. I hoever recommend finding some DOM tubing with a 8mm or close ID and cutting that down



Time to make gussets! Remove your bracket and take it over to a flat surface. A sharpie is your friend here. trace your bracket over your 12"x12" 14ga plate

I have access to a plasma cutter, but you may use a bandsaw or angle grinder to do this.


Clean up your gussets with a angle grinder with a flap wheel and let them cool down. Time to get some assistance from Mr Beer.

Welding time!
Weld your gussets closer to the inside of the bracket. If they are too close to the center, they may contact the brackets on your bike and will create interference.

Be sure to move around as the plat will want to warp with the heat being put into it. Weld all seams. Now is the time to be 100% sure you like your bracket because there is no going back!



Time to let things cool down. See Mr Beer for a short recess.


Alrighty! Time to clean this bugger up! The top of the bracket needs to be clean and flat if you are using a mounting plate. Time to grind those welds flat. Also you may need to dress the welds on the legs as they may come into contact with the bracket on the bike.

Clean up the bracket and give it one last test fit on the bike to make sure it fits!

If everything is satisfactory, time for finishing!

I know all you rich kids will probably send yours out to be chromed, but the rest of us will use about 2 coats of primer. It will then look something like this.



Time to let the primer set and have a word with Mr. Beer.

Now that the primer is set, how about some color?
I chose chrome in a can! most of you will probably chose black. I recommend flat black and not gloss or semi gloss.

After about 3 coats it should look something like this.



Time to let it set overnight. Be sure to see Mr. Beer on your way out, and I'll see you all in the morning for finals!

Welcome to finals class.
Today's class will be very short for some of you.

If your brackets paint has set up it should look something like this.


Time for final assembly












Not a bad project, if i do say so.

I will be sending my tour pack out for paint in the winter months, and i suggest you all do the same.

Any questions, see me after class and have any of you see Mr. Beer?

During lesson 1 I was starting to worry about your project's ability to hold the weight of the trunk.
Not to be disappointed, You & Mr Beer came along in lesson 2 with the proper gussets to accommodate that issue!!!!
Fantastic Post Sir!

I wished I had skills like this...

And tools...

And beer...

Nice job, but I think Mr Beer pulled a switcheroo while you were taking a nap as your pack turned black overnight maybe it will go faster.

I indeed changed packs as i didn't want lights in the rear, nor having to wire them up. Anyone wanna buy a tour pack?

1olbull said:

Not a trunk fan,

Click to expand...

I took a class with Mr. Spliff one night but we never finished the project. Seems like security on campus was pretty slack and every time we'd turn around another tool was stolen. Then my neighbor Buzz came over and none of it seemed that important any more anyway.

Very nice job and write-up! thanks for posting