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Who uses a "top box" and why...


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I've been wondering who uses a top box, and why. I've been toying with the idea of buying one for the Stelvio but can't seem to pull the trigger.  I don't feel that I would actually use it on the trail and it would be a purchase for "looks" only.  I currently use a wolfman dry bag for the large stuff, tent, sleeping pad, ETC. that straps to the luggage rack and a portion of the seat.  The bike came equipped with panniers but not the top box which is available as an accessory.  My thought is that the box would be inconvenient mounting and dismounting the bike in everyday riding and not sufficiently large enough to store the equipment I'm using the dry bag for.

Looking for input...

WP_20160511_033.jpg

Edited by Mooney78865
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I need/use one for ease of commuting and if to go to clients on days I ride to work. I've got the monster Givi 52L. My Shoei GT Air helmet fits in without issue as well as room for plenty of other stuff. Jason's right -- when there's not much in it everything flies around inside.

 

I took it on my first offroad camping trip and tried to only put light stuff in it and stuff i needed quick access to -- for which it worked great. On that trip we camped in one place and took day trips so I was able to leave it in my tent when on the trails. After returning home I discovered I'd broken two of the four mounting bolts.

 

Fast forward to my only other major outing when I really considered leaving it behind since we'd be camping in different spots along the 10 day route. Short story, I decided to take it as it was too nice to pass up the lockable storage space. I broke two bolts again early in the trip and was able to replace them with others we bought at a local hardware store.

 

Moral of the story -- I don't think I'll convince myself to take it next time -- simply too much trouble for the supposed benefit. I do believe I've got a slight misalignment that in my rack that works against me but the position of the top case hanging out behind the rear tire tends to bounce around when in rutted or other rough stuff.

 

So long story is yes for street, no for offroad.

 

20150913 114800

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I would never think of one for offroad, but I'm eyeing a Givi like the one above or a Hepco Becker Orbit (large and cheap) https://www.hepco-shop.de/products/luggage/sideboxes-topcases/orbit , strictly for road touring with a passenger.

 

Would be good to arrive in a town and be able to leave the helmets in it for a walk. Also the wife would appreciate the back support during the trip.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a Givi 45L on my KLR, but I will be using soft luggage on my Tiger800XCx instead of a top box. I fill my panniers up first so it seems the top box always ended up being filled with what was left. No way to fill a void or cinch the contents. Soft luggage duffles seem to give more options & some have lashing rings to strap other things to it. That's important to me because I carry a bigger tent than most so it won't fit in a top box or pannier. Would post a pic but I haven't figured that out yet.

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I run HT panniers and rotopax when on distance runs so no room/weight available for top case. That said when I'm just running solo local FS roads I generally just run a 45ish liter First Gear soft bag on the tail which I bought right after the Tiger. Prefer it to the tank bag as it's not so in the way of out of seat maneuvers. Does give a bit of polar moment to the bike but nothing unmanageable.

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