J.C. Whitney cargo box on a Kawasaki Concours

     On the Kawasaki Concours Facebook page there is an ongoing discussion regarding different top boxes, mounting hardware and technique.  This is similar to a thread on one of the Connie forums a few years ago when I was customizing my Connie (ok, starting to customize-I never finish tinkering, and the Connie Forum guys are infamous for continual “farkling” of our bikes!)  At that time, J.C. Whitney was having a big sale on their top boxes, so I took the plunge and ordered from them for the first time in years.

      There were lots of different ideas on mounting the boxes, everything from the Kawasaki factory luggage rack/backrest for the Concours to making your own metal rails to the most unique-using a cutting board as a base!  Well, I didn’t have a factory rack, I hadn’t started working metal at that time so off to the stores I went looking for cutting boards.  Wally World had some that were the right size (yes, I carried the J.C. Whitney baseplate in with me…) but they were either white or blue.  I’ve got the fastest color Concours, red, and thought these boards would look bad on the bike.  Yeah, it would be covered from the top by the box, but would stick out being those other colors.  So off to the store where everyone wears red, the store is red, and yes, I mean Target.  Sure enough, they had a display of cutting boards and had a red one.  So I grab it, pay something like 8 bucks and have my base.

      I get back to Millie’s Garage and start figuring out the best layout of the cutting board, base and bike.  Definitely doing the “measure twice, cut once” process and researched the project on the forum all over again.  Finally ready to cut, so I take a jigsaw, load up a new blade and cut down the cutting board.  Of course my wife and Father-in-Law look at me like I’m nuts, but this isn’t new to them.  I then sand it down, drill some mounting holes to mount the board to the bike where the small luggage rack was (the one that is pretty useless) and bolt it to the sub-frame and tail section.  I then mount the topbox rack to the cutting board.  Once all the bolts are in and tightened I go to mount the top box.  Clearance is an issue and it is a very tight fit.  The locking latch won’t fully engage, so I take the top box off and file the mating surfaces slightly.  Now it latches and is still tight/locked in place.  Off we go for a test ride.  Success!  Custom farkle and cheap storage solution mission accomplished.

      Bottom line is the top box makes this bike an awesome commuting machine!  Since the hard side luggage are one of the hardest pieces to replace, I only run them when I have to carry more than the topbox can hold.  I keep the J.C. Whitney box installed all the time.  I mounted it almost three years ago and it’s holding up well.  The drawbacks are I’m not sure it would work well for a passenger, as I don’t carry one.  It also bounces around a bit due to the flexible nature of the cutting board.  That is a little disconcerting at first.  If I either start hauling a passenger or mount one of these boxes on another Connie, I’d look to get the factory rack or make supports out of aluminum.