My Diy Rack And Panniers Under $60 Ammo Cans *pics*

I recently sold my car and the tractor is now my main form of transportation, thus I needed to increase its cargo capacity. Being a pretty odd and old bike (1996 Honda VFR750) the only commercial option I saw were the Givi cases and mounts. Even the most basic set up would cost me over $600. So I decided to make my own.

Making and mounting panniers for under $50, little to no tools, and almost zero fabrication experience.

First, I set out to look for the actual boxes. After much research and indescision at various stores I settled for US Army ammunition cans. The 11X16X5 in 60mm mortar ones. Why ammo cans?

* Cheap at $10 per box
* Airtight and durable
* Come in a variety of shapes and sizes
* Many places to get replacements

So here are the said cans.

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I then continued to see how they would fit on the VFR by using bungee cords.

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Satisfied with the looks I now needed a sturdier replacement for the bungee cords. Thus I pulled off the plastics and was surprised to see two holes in the frame already pre-drilled and threaded.

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Obviously, the plastics of the bike would not allow me to attach the panniers directly to these holes, so I decided to make L -shaped brackets from aluminum (aluminium). Scroll down to the test fitment part if you're impatient.

I went to my local hardware store, in this case, ACE Hardware and picked up some aluminum square tubing, L - shaped door brackets, and nuts and bolts to hold everything together and WASHERS. Lots and lots of washers. I can not stress the importance of those enough when putting together anything that requires tension.

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I chose aliminum vs steel because it was cheaper, much lighter, and a lot easier to cut and drill. Steel would be weldable and stronger.

Using a folded sticky note as my 45 dedree angle I started making the actual rack. The pictures below are out of order, but the point is to test fit as many times are you can.

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A few things happened on the way. First, the plastics would not go on over the brakets, so I ended up having to cut out bits and pieces of it to make it fit. The whole thing looked crooked and did not line up properly. Turns out - the plastics were not on straight and the previous owner that installed the turn signals and tail light also but it on croocked.

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I tested the whole thing by trying to break of the racks with my weight, but they worked out just fine.

To attach the ammo boxes, I simply drilled holes and used very large washers along with rubber ones to spread the stress.

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They were then bolted to the bike.

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Here is the final product. I added a flex-bar to prevent the cans from bending inward .The front is supported by the passeneger pegs.

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It looks as though now you will be able to carry more, I do like the ingenuity & cost of your bags!

I like it...but what stops your stuff from spilling out while you load the boxes? Are they removable?

what are you doing for waterproofing?

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Feb 25 2009, 06:28 PM, said:

I like it...but what stops your stuff from spilling out while you load the boxes? Are they removable?

When parked, the boxes are at about 5 degrees. Stuff doesn't spill out much. They are removable by taking off 4 bolts. Still working on that.

[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on Feb 25 2009, 06:28 PM, said:

what are you doing for waterproofing?

The ammo cans are waterproof and airtight by themselves, when I drilled the holes I used rubber gaskets and RTV. They are still waterproof. I have had the cans on for about 2 months now and no issues as of yet.

I also had the misfortune of crash testing them. Dropped the bike while parking - very embarassing.
The cans held up well although they took the hit, just some scratches and the bike was saved.

Hehehe, very entertaining... a misers (mis)adventures in ingenuity.

Maybe you should paint the bike to suit... :ph34r:

The best thing is the domain exists... still under construction, but is a solid calling card, you can see the quality of your IT work.

What about bicycle wheel quick-release mechanisms for adding removability??

Personally, I like it, but my taste has been called into question as it pertains to home made stuff.


Never stop!

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on Feb 25 2009, 07:17 PM, said:

What about bicycle wheel quick-release mechanisms for adding removability??

eh? Show me what you're referring to.

[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on Feb 25 2009, 05:37 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on Feb 25 2009, 07:17 PM, said:

What about bicycle wheel quick-release mechanisms for adding removability??

eh? Show me what you're referring to.


Behold, bicycle wheel skewers:

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wow i love them thats awsome man!
the style looks alot more klr ish.... but i love klr's!

if u ever dinged it up... drab green rattle can would look sweet in my opinion (my old drift car was camoflouge!)


lovin the duct tape seat repair, do u have the lower fairings?

I'm still trying to give away some olive drab motocross bars..............................................

Timmy, I think if he painted the bike flat black, he could be your long lost brother!

Is that an LED taillight from a trailer as your taillight? Did you buy the bike like that or did you mod the tail yourself at some point?

Love it! I've been looking around for a while for something like this and had considered ammo cans. If you can get past their appearances (I can) they are quite functional and very cheap. Would you mind possibly sketching your design and giving dimensions? I think this is something that I would be interested in implementing myself.

[image: View Post]Gap Trash, on Feb 25 2009, 10:30 PM, said:

Love it! I've been looking around for a while for something like this and had considered ammo cans. If you can get past their appearances (I can) they are quite functional and very cheap. Would you mind possibly sketching your design and giving dimensions? I think this is something that I would be interested in implementing myself.

I dare you to paint them red. :biggrin:

[image: View Post]vfrdreamer, on Feb 25 2009, 08:48 PM, said:

lovin the duct tape seat repair, do u have the lower fairings?

The duct tape is also an amazing theft deterrent.
I bought the bike with no fairings. Honestly, I like it better that way - the 4th gen fairing look too wide to me.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on Feb 25 2009, 09:30 PM, said:

Is that an LED taillight from a trailer as your taillight? Did you buy the bike like that or did you mod the tail yourself at some point?

Bought with the light. It's actually a motorcycle brake light with high-powered LED's.

[image: View Post]Gap Trash, on Feb 25 2009, 09:30 PM, said:

Love it! I've been looking around for a while for something like this and had considered ammo cans. If you can get past their appearances (I can) they are quite functional and very cheap. Would you mind possibly sketching your design and giving dimensions? I think this is something that I would be interested in implementing myself.

I'm working on a dead charging system right now, but I'll measure the brackets.

Talk about ingenuity, wow. Very well done!

[image: View Post]veefer800canuck, on Feb 25 2009, 07:40 PM, said:

[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on Feb 25 2009, 05:37 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Auspa�ol, on Feb 25 2009, 07:17 PM, said:

What about bicycle wheel quick-release mechanisms for adding removability??

eh? Show me what you're referring to.


Behold, bicycle wheel skewers:

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Not quite sure how I would implement that. Only way I can think of is having another tab on the case, and then having the nut off of the skewer rigidly attatched to the luggage rack. Then it would be just a matter of dropping the cans on, screwing in the shaft, and locking it down. Not sure if that thing could take the beating though. For my pelican cases, I couldn't do larger than 1/4 inch. Must do some testing...

Are the pics still up? For some reason I cannot see them (maybe work computer related)... :mellow:

[image: View Post]vanion2, on Feb 26 2009, 10:42 AM, said:

Are the pics still up? For some reason I cannot see them (maybe work computer related)... :mellow:

Yes they are.

Try this page http://petrolpowered.com/?page=tech