The mounting plate is a plastic E121. It costs about $30. I reinforced it with a 1/8" piece of aluminum, cut to shadow it and painted black. (You can see where I put a few small bolts in picture four). In order to mount using the original rack threaded holes, I had to cut off approximately a half inch of the E121 up by the seat. I left about 1/8 to 1/4 inch to retain the brackets "rigidity." This allowed the bolts to go through the E121 bracket, the aluminum, and into the threaded holes. Also, I purchased 4 new hardened bolts that were about an inch longer. This assured enough thread was present to accept the height of the E121. I used locktite (nail polish, whiteout, etc.) on the bolts, and "airplane paint"ed them black.

I used a handful of washers to place between the aluminum and original rack to allow the E121 to be "level". I actually have it tilting slightly towards the front of the bike. (see pix 1 and 2)

I use a Monokey E45N Trunk, with the E61 backrest. The trunk goes on and off quickly with one key, and will easily swallow 2 full face large size helmets.

Date: 03 Jan 97 19:27:48 EST
From: Andy Glass

A few months back Hugh Bisco offered COG members a 10% discount on Givi stuff. I recently took advantage and bought a top box setup, which included the custom Concours baseplate/rack combo and Givi's E460 case (in black), which I'll use as a top box. For those interested, Hugh was a pleasure to work with, and in addition to saving 10% (off retail) I saved another 8% on sales tax (he's in Illinois, I'm in Calif.). Evidently his brother rides a Concours, although Hugh didn't say if he was a COG member.

note: Bley, and/or Hugh Bisco, no longer handles the Givi line, contact Givi directly for details on local distributors. They can be reached at giviusa@mindspring.com, or via mail, phone, or fax:

Givi USA Inc.
805 Pressley Road Suite 101
Charlotte NC 28217
704.679.4123 (phone), 704.679.4133 (fax)

You might want to check the Givi home page in Italy

My total package cost $215, including shipping, and took about two weeks to receive from the time I placed the order. Hugh had Givi ship the order directly to me. I was very impressed with the quality, fit & finish of the Givi equipment. It is all first rate. The top box, though roughly the same size in external dimension as the stock saddlebag, seems to hold about 1-1/2 times as much, and the interior shape of the Givi is much cleaner, so you don't have any wasted nooks & crannies. There is so much room, in fact, that I'm going to use the top box for my main storage, and have pulled off the stock bags & antlers, which I'll probably only use when touring. The coloration and finish texture on the Givi is pretty close to the stock bags, although the roundish shape clearly distinguishes it from the stock bags. Installation is a snap, just unbolt the (worthless) stock plastic luggage rack and bolt the Givi rack in it's place. Took about ten minutes.

I'll find out tonight if the bag is watertight, as it looks like a rainy ride home is in the offing.

Andy Glass/COG#1920
'94 Kawasaki Concours
'94 Honda XR650L

Date: 07 Jan 97 11:50:33 EST
From: Andy Glass

Spencer, the Givi top box mounting hardware is Connie specific. It consists of a solid steel mounting plate that replaces the stock plastic "rack". Givi provides four slightly longer than stock mounting bolts that countersink fully into the steel mounting plate. Onto the steel mounting plate Givi provides a second waffled plastic piece, which mounts with four additional bolts (provided in the kit) onto the steel plate. Lastly, once the waffled plastic piece is bolted on, Givi provides a black plastic sheet that press-fits onto the waffled plastic piece to provide a smooth surface onto which the bag sits when its mounted. When you don't have the bag mounted, the flat surface can be used like any luggage rack. All the pieces provided by Givi fit perfectly.

Given that the Concours comes standard with bags, Givi evidently decided not to provide a "wing rack" (as they call it) to mount saddlebags. I think you'd have to go with their generic wing rack package and customize it. Lawrence Dee went this route when his stock bags were destroyed, and he seems to like his setup just fine. Looks damn good too. A few months ago someone here suggested Givi might be willing to build custom wing racks with a minimum guaranteed order quantity. Don't know if that went anywhere, but I think a Givi setup would be a better way to go if you were in a position where you HAD to replace both your stock bags.

Andy Glass/COG#1920
'94 ZG1000
'94 XR650L

Date: Tu., 07 Jan 1997 00:13:55 -0800
From: Lawrence Dee

From: PeteLang@aol.com Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 14:18:57 -0500
> I'm considering a GIVI purchase. Could any GIVI setup owner help me with
> a few quick questions?

Sure

> 1) How many inches does the box add to the bike? One of my two parking
> spots is *very* tight right now. I'd like to measure the spot before a
purchase.

Lez see, with the 36L side bags, with Givi's universal mount for their wingrack, I'd say width is the same (quite possibly a bit narrower- though it provides more room by remounting the turn signals). The 45L trunk mounted atop the wing rack adds (running out to garage.....) The top of the wingrack adds about 5 inches beyond the stock luggage rack, and ends up sticking out to almost exactly the same spot as the bottom of the rear fender (net - the bike is no longer than stock). With a case mounted that will add approx. 4' (for either 36 or 45 L bags). As these are Monokey bags, it is REAL easy to simply unlock the bag and take it with you. (I have a picture, as mentioned below, which shows this overhang)

> 2) How does the backrest portion attach/detach from the bag? Is this
> easily done?

In Avon, I saw one Connie with the stock bags and Givi trunk (with backrest) similar to Cipriano's, but I never saw the owner to ask him about the backrest. Hopefully Mark will answer. Givi should be able to answer that one pretty easily as well, and they are only a 800# away. (uh.. but all my m/c mags are in boxes, so I'm no help there).

> 3) Any comments about handling with this setup?

For testing purposes only ;) I ran across part of Utah on the way back from Avon and did 100+mph for 2 hours straight (with the slight headwind encountered, mileage dropped from 45+ to 30 mpg, and I had to refuel at 210 miles) No handling problems whatsoever. At speeds in the mountains, 2-up with all 3 givi bags packed and a Vario tank bag expanded and full - no problems. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the only thing to be careful of is dragstrip starts, as the front end gets airborne REAL easy when loaded up like this.

> 4) Any feedback from passengers?

I got the bags before I got a SO, so I didn't initially order a backrest. Part way into our first ride, my wife indicated that it wasn't comfortable to lean against the Givi trunk bag in stock form. I pulled a towel and a single, variable-length bungee cord out of a bag as a temporary solution for the rest of the ride. That was 2 years ago. We still use a towel and bungee cord. It provides a flat surface allowing my wife more manuevering room. She sat on the Connie in Avon (mentioned above) and said she thought the backrest would be uncomfortable on long rides (she is 5'1" and of regular build). I figure one of these days I'll have my uncle (an auto upholsterer) custom make a flat padded backrest.

Lawrence Dee ldee@mci2000.com
'90 Concours - COG # 1603 Southwest Area Director