I'll be ordering a pair of Givi V35 PLX sidecases for my VFR1200 soon and am wondering which color best matches the trim on the bike? I have the standard red-on-silver color offered in the US for the bike. The cases offer a choice of gloss black, matte black, gloss silver, or matte silver for the accent trim.
It would be great to match the silver trim on the bike to a silver accent on the cases, but I don't know if either the gloss or matte options on the Givi's are a close enough match. Anyone seen them first-hand to offer an opinion?
Are you sure you want to go the Givi route, Honda bags doesn't require brackets. If you take those bags off imagine all the bracket tubing sticking out.
[image: View Post]Dae, on 27 June 2011 - 06:20 PM, said:
Are you sure you want to go the Givi route, Honda bags doesn't require brackets. If you take those bags off imagine all the bracket tubing sticking out.
Yeah, but the OEM bags cost $1400....ouch! You can get the GIVI's for 1/2 that price. Makes the bracket's sticking out not look soo bad.
[image: View Post]CADMAN97, on 27 June 2011 - 07:00 PM, said:
[image: View Post]Dae, on 27 June 2011 - 06:20 PM, said:
Are you sure you want to go the Givi route, Honda bags doesn't require brackets. If you take those bags off imagine all the bracket tubing sticking out.
Yeah, but the OEM bags cost $1400....ouch! You can get the GIVI's for 1/2 that price. Makes the bracket's sticking out not look soo bad.
I don't know about you but I bought this bike for the slick looks with or without luggage. Didn't make sense to me after spending all the money I did on the bike to put some fugly bags and bracket system on it to save a couple hundred dollars. I don't think the Givi mount system is as solid or nice either. My friend has a Bandit with the Givi system and he's spending all his time trying to figure out how to modify it to be stronger and not crowd his rider.
From what I understand, the SW-Motec mounts for the Givi bags allow you to remove the mounting rack with 3 quarter-turn fasteners, leaving only a few small tabs visible. Also, the Givi bags are larger capacity than the Honda ones. Finally, while I agree that the OEM bags look slicker with the matching color scheme, I'm concerned about scratching them as I plan to leave the bags on it for most of the time and my garage space is very tight. It's only a matter of time before a scratch occurs and it would be less noticeable on the matte black Givi's (I speak from experience here, my old BMW's bags really went through the wringer over the years).
I've seen a few pics of some members' bikes w/ the Givi's and the appear to look very cool, in my opinion.
...so I got impatient waiting for opinions and ordered the gloss silver yesterday (shipped same-day from Twistedthrottle!). I'll be the guinnea pig and will let everyone know how closely it does or does not match, I guess.
[image: View Post]rydfly, on 29 June 2011 - 04:36 AM, said:
...so I got impatient waiting for opinions and ordered the gloss silver yesterday (shipped same-day from Twistedthrottle!). I'll be the guinnea pig and will let everyone know how closely it does or does not match, I guess.
Soooo.....how do they look?? Post a few pics when you can, would like to see how they look on the bike.
Sorry it's taken so long. I've been enjoying the bike so much since I got it back from the shop after my final drive leak, I've been riding as much as I can rather than browsing the internet...
The bags have been on the bike for a couple of weeks now and in my opinion, they look great! The silver is NOT an exact match to the silver trim on the bike (bike is a shade darker), but it does match the wheels and swingarm castings. I've received many compliments on how nice they look from my friends and co-workers when they see the bike out in the daylight.
Functionally, they work very well and are cavernously huge! As you would expect, they do add some girth to the width of the bike (more than the Honda bags would), but I'm not lane-splitting here in Ohio so it's no big deal. I went with the SW-Motec mounts w/ the quick-release fittings and they fit the profile of the bike very well. They're so beefy, I think they could double as crash bars! One down-side, they add a significant amount of weight. No idea what actual weight is, but the box they came in felt like it weighed 20 lbs! It did include the SW-Motec rear carrier, and extra hardware I didn't need. About the only gripe I have with the SW-Motec stuff (other than the weight) would be the quality of the fasteners that are used. I'm sure they'll be fine forever, but some of the allen-head fasteners seemed a little soft when tightened fully. A stainless steel fastener option would be nice. Also, some of the threaded holes would have benefited from running a tap through them once more before assembly.
Speaking of assembly, you have to put together every last component of the mounts... there is absolutely NO pre-assembly of the parts prior to shipment. Expect a box full of tons of fasteners (not all of them are needed) and lots of strangely shaped tubes. On the up-side, the instructions were pretty clear. Total assembly took a couple of hours for both the rear carrier and case mounts. It could probably be done faster, but I took my time.
See the attached pics of my bike with the bags installed. I would recommend them as a great alternative option to the genuine Honda bags for significantly less $$$.
Holey crap dude your in Troy Ohio, Im only like an hour or so away from you in Marysville, where Honda's are built. I ride the roads around Springfield, Urbana, West Liberty, and Bellefontain all the time. Did you get your VFR at Competition Accessories in Springfield? Ive been there a bunch of times as well. Maybe meet up and go for a ride sometime??
Oh yeah....those GIVI bags look really good, almost like they were meant for the bike. I just use a Cortech duffel bag that I bungee on the passenger seat for now, but those GIVI's may be a serious contender in the future. Thanks for the pics!
I would agree - those bags look very nice - the silver / black picks up the silver and black accents (swingarm, engine cases, etc) on the back of the machine. I think I may like these better than the red on the factory bags. Good addition.
[image: View Post]CADMAN97, on 13 July 2011 - 10:07 PM, said:
Holey crap dude your in Troy Ohio, Im only like an hour or so away from you in Marysville, where Honda's are built. I ride the roads around Springfield, Urbana, West Liberty, and Bellefontain all the time. Did you get your VFR at Competition Accessories in Springfield? Ive been there a bunch of times as well. Maybe meet up and go for a ride sometime??
No, I bought it at Honda East up in Maumee, OH. They sold it to me for $3300 off sticker. I'd be glad to ride with you some time, I just need prior notice as the home life is pretty busy.
Just ordered the Honda top box and mounting thingy today for a little of $800 from Accessories4bikes.com, with shipping. Hated to pay that much was going to go with the Givi but went and did it anyway but I'll like stowing my stuff in there when I stop.
[image: Posted Image] VFR1200Exhaust
My VFR1200F only has about 400 miles on it, as I need bags to do my commute, so it's been hard to rack-up any miles.
Voila, found matte black Givi V35 with CLEAR (Euro) reflectors, on eBay for $460 delivered from that place in Calgary, and got the SW-Motech racks for $225 from Twisted Throttle, total delivered price all-in about $700.
I think the satin silver looks best, but I'm so cheap I squeak, so matte black it was. The SW-Motech rack went on in a little over an hour,moving slowly. Total width is about 37 inches, almost exactly the same as my Aprilia Futura with the OEM bags, which was quite a pleasant surprise. Quaity of rack and bags is excellent, HOWEVER, as expected, the Givis will NOT hold my Size L Shoei RF1100. No big wup since I've been locking my helmet to the Futura with a bike lock for the past three years anyway, since the ATGATT gear fills-up the Futura bags.
I think the Givis look pretty good. Now, to contemplate putting LEDs behind those lenses.
Attached thumbnail(s)
[image: Attached Image: VFR1200f side view with GIVI.jpg]
[image: Attached Image: VFR1200f Strbd Bow with GIVI.jpg]
[image: View Post]hareynolds, on 04 August 2011 - 11:22 PM, said:
Voila, found matte black Givi V35 with CLEAR (Euro) reflectors, on eBay for $460 delivered from that place in Calgary, and got the SW-Motech racks for $225 from Twisted Throttle, total delivered price all-in about $700.
OK, so now that someone else has the V35's I can ask you... have you had any troubles with the little rubber straps that are supposed to keep the lids from flopping all the way open when you release the latch? I contacted Givi to complain because the self-tapping screws that fix them to the inside of the bag stripped out of their holes the first time I put a little weight on the opened lid. It's not bad enough for me to send the bags back for replacement, but it's frustrating all the same.
[image: View Post]rydfly, on 24 August 2011 - 06:23 PM, said:
[image: View Post]hareynolds, on 04 August 2011 - 11:22 PM, said:
Voila, found matte black Givi V35 with CLEAR (Euro) reflectors, on eBay for $460 delivered from that place in Calgary, and got the SW-Motech racks for $225 from Twisted Throttle, total delivered price all-in about $700.
OK, so now that someone else has the V35's I can ask you... have you had any troubles with the little rubber straps that are supposed to keep the lids from flopping all the way open when you release the latch? I contacted Givi to complain because the self-tapping screws that fix them to the inside of the bag stripped out of their holes the first time I put a little weight on the opened lid. It's not bad enough for me to send the bags back for replacement, but it's frustrating all the same.
My striped too! Now I have my thigh against it when opening the latch so it won't flop open with contents falling out. Or I can crazy glue the screws next time.
Have any of you been riding hard with the Givi -setup?. I have the Givi's from my earlier bike and I should buy the SwMotech -parts to fit my new VFR1200. There are some people that say that you should buy OEM bags to be able to ride speeds above 200 km/h. Any experience with Givi's on higher speeds? Any wobble etc?
I don't know about 200kph, but at a slower sustained 90-95 MPH, I've had no concerns running on US Interstate highways w the Givi's and SWmotech setup. I'm sure I've nudged 100MPH on occasion without any issue.
I'm sure there is no problems on 100 mph but there are some bikes which may start to wobble at 120-140 mph if there are problems with luggage etc. Of course you can not drive like that anywhere but on German highways there are no speed limits...
[image: View Post]pete2, on 17 September 2011 - 12:47 PM, said:
Have any of you been riding hard with the Givi -setup?. I have the Givi's from my earlier bike and I should buy the SwMotech -parts to fit my new VFR1200. There are some people that say that you should buy OEM bags to be able to ride speeds above 200 km/h. Any experience with Givi's on higher speeds? Any wobble etc?
Apparently I am a bad boy; since I've gotten used to the VFR1200, I've gradually been goosing it more and more on the way to work (on a practically empty reverse-direction high occupancy lane; everybody gets to watch me but I'm all alone out there).
I pretty regularly hit The Ton as I'm making the long sweeper onto the HOV, but one day last week I looked down and saw 117 mph as I was throttling-back. Smooth as a silk nightie on a college volleyball player. Have no idea how fast I had been really going, but it felt like about 100 (just as 100 feels like about 80). No issues whatsoever with the bags; no shake, no wobble, no nothing bad.
PS pretty nice motorcycle, at least for for THIS old guy,
If I were riding the Autobahn and regularly going >>120 mph, I'm pretty sure I'd be adding a safety wire thingy to the bags just for extra peace of mind, but for USA riding with brief bursts of 100+ mph, it looks like the V35s on the SW-Motech rack are fine.
I haven't had any issues with the retaining straps, but I baby them, and don't load-down the lids if I can help it; previous extensive experience with OEM Givis taught me to exercise caution.
End of thread · 19 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 30 Sep 2011