Long-Term 2016 BMW S1000XR: Recycled SW-Motech Cargo Rack

WRIST: Marc Cook
MSRP (2016): $19,760 (as tested)
MILES: 11,318
MPG: 38
MODS: Recycled SW-Motech top rack

It seems odd to admit that a guy running a $20K long-term bike would also be a cheapskate, but it’s true. Or maybe as much as that I’m just impatient. You see, my daily commute on California freeways calls for—no, it actually demands—a narrow, agile motorcycle. Which is why I’m such a fan of the top case; I have a place to tote lunch to work and bring junk home at night without causing the XR to be any more of a traffic challenge than necessary.

Problem is, the XR's rack is unique. And it's taken some time for the aftermarket to catch up. For example, Givi is in the process of making an aluminum plate that bolts to the BMW's stock rack to carry a Monokey top case. But it's not yet available. SW-Motech has also just begun delivering rack adapters, but the first product is the Alu-Rack Toprack (see Alu-Rack here: twistedthrottle.com). I have long used the sister product, the Steel Toprack, because it contains built-in mounts for Givi Monokey or Trax Adventure boxes, needing only bag-specific hardware to make it all work. But the Alu-Rack depends on a plastic intermediate piece (see Adapter Plate here: twistedthrottle.com) to carry the top box itself. I had this setup on my personal Kawasaki Versys 650, but felt that it wasn't quite as solid as I like.

It just so happened that I had a leftover Steel Toprack from another project that I thought I could make work on the XR. I started by removing the BMW’s plastic luggage-rack cover. It connects to the rack with six screws. By placing the plastic piece over the soon-to-be-modded Steel Toprack, I could see how it all fit together. After some contemplation, I found an orientation that would let me use four of the six pickup points on the BMW rack with adequate edge distance from the new holes to cutouts in the steel rack. Four newly drilled holes later, I had my new Steel Toprack. (Incidentally, the donor rack fits the Yamaha FJR1300 sport-tourer. There may be better candidates in the SW-M catalog, but I don’t have the option of checking in person.)

With the proper hardware in place, the modded rack carries my Givi B33 Monokey top case (see Givi B33 here: giviusa.com) with ease, turning a wonderfully fast, theoretically sexy machine into a geek-box-toting commuter missile. Fine by me.

Oh, you might be wondering why I don’t just get the BMW accessory top case. Simple answer: It’s too easy!

The XR is about ready for the 12,000-mile service, and while it's there I'm going to have Mamba Motorsports (mambamotorsports.com) check on a weeping right fork leg, which, ironically, isn't the leg with the damping apparatus.