Author |
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Bobsims
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 10:51 am: |
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Hello all, Commo check and my first post from Stuttgart, Germany. I'm active US Army, and just recently took delivery of a new leftover orange 2006 Ulysses purchased through the military exchange new vehicle program. I'll be retiring my '95 Kawi GPZ1100 that I've put over 80K miles on over the years across both North America and Europe. To echo what a lot of the other Uly newbies have said here, I'm really blown away by both the comfort and performance of this motorcycle. Two years ago, I *never* thought I would have bought a Buell, and I certainly never thought I would buy anything with a 45-degree, air-cooled V-twin. :-) A public thanks to Gerhard Mörk Buell in Leonberg, Germany for allowing me a brief test ride, even though they knew I'd probably never buy a (German-spec) bike from them. On a related note, anyone stateside have a spare messenger bag they could send me? :-) I'll gladly pay postage. I've been lurking here since the Buell first released the Uly back in 2005. The community information shared here was critical to my decision. At the risk of nobody caring, I posted some of my thoughts on my own Buell conversion to my personal website here. On another note, I'm trying to figure out a way to mount Givi hard luggage cases. I prefer the Givi cases over the OEM H-B cases for a number of reasons. They are cheaper, parts are available worldwide, and I already have a set (complete w/sticker collection!). I initially thought this would be simple using the Happy Trails racks, which are pre-drilled for the Givi mounting lugs. However, I've since discovered that the Happy Trails racks cannot mount the common Givi E36 or E45 luggage cases due to interference from the passenger peg bracket. Although I am very impressed with the strength of the Happy Trails rack design, as well as they exceptional customer service, the brackets are placed a bit too far forward for the larger 36-45 liter Givi sidecases. My next option will be a set of racks made by the German firm Fehling. These racks are specifically made to fit Givi luggage cases to the Ulysses. I've uploaded a few pictures here. Has anyone else mounted Givi luggage to the Ulysses, either as top- or sidecases? I'll let the board know if I'm able to find success. Bob |
Maximum
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 02:22 pm: |
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Congrats! Sounds like you did the same research that I did while in Iraq last year. Five months and 6,000 miles later, still grinning! |
Lorazepam
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 03:38 pm: |
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I like the givi luggage, it is probably the best option for the plastic variety out there. If you do come up with a mount kit, I may sell my HB bags, and go with the givi setup. |
Mike_dinger
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 03:39 pm: |
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Bob, please let us know what you find out about the luggage rack. A few inquiring minds wanna know. I have been looking for a rack, to no avail w/o purchasing the top case be it Givi or Hepco-Beckers. If Fehling will sell the rack only, I'm sure quite a few will be gobbled up from Uly owners here on BadWeb. |
Bobsims
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 03:50 pm: |
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Maximum: thanks again for your previous advice. I'm curious -- do you know if a typical FF helmet will fit in any of the aluminum Happy Trails cases? Lorazepam and Mike_dinger: will do! Bob |
Chris_in_tn
| Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 05:27 pm: |
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You should check out the Carribou luggage. It uses Pelican hard cases and they are almost industructable. http://www.adventure-motorcycle.com/store/?name=Ho me I'll be picking up my new Uly the end of this week, I hope. This is the set-up I'm going with. I had the stock Hepco bags on my first Uly. While they were decent bags they are pretty flimsy compared to the Pelicans. |
Bobsims
| Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 04:03 am: |
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Chris_in_tn: Many thanks for the response and suggestion. I've seen the Caribou luggage page -- those cases and racks look super-tough. I especially appreciate that Roger chose to support the Ulysses with his system. However, I commute daily on my bike, and I really need cases that will hold my full face Shoei helmet. I don't think either of the Pelican cases he sells will hold a FF helmet? Thanks again. Bob |
Chris_in_tn
| Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 05:35 am: |
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No the pelican's will not hold a ff helmet. That is why I am trying to find the stock Buell rear bag and or rack to fab it up to mate to the Caribou side cases. |
Ozyuly
| Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 - 06:58 am: |
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I just made a topbox rack for my givi maxia 52 (2 fullface capacity), and it works very well. My passenger says there is no vibration when using it as a back rest - which surprised me. The next project is the pannier racks for the maxia or E36's (which look a lot better). I figured from photos the happy trails racks were too close to the pegs, so i am adapting a set of Givi wingracks - stay tuned. |
Maximum
| Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 - 09:30 am: |
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Ozyuly: Any Pictures? (Message edited by maximum on May 20, 2007) |
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