Pannier rack installation - Bad fit?

[It'sNick]

So I ordered my pannier racks quite a few months ago from someone on Ebay. They were OEM RE racks, apparently. They look like it and were packaged like it.

Anyway, I've since tried installing them twice now, and I keep getting it where the lower, most front connection point, looks like this on each side:




Anyone else having this happen? I believe I followed the directions closely, but I can try once more to be sure. If I can't get it to sit right, they do feel solid enough. I'm not mounting hard luggage, just going with saddlebags. Should I try to use some rubber washers in there? Maybe use a silicone sealant around to keep water out?

I'm beyond any kind of return window, and I wouldn't want to pay for shipping back to India anyways.

 

[TCBronson]

I saw on You Tube that the RE racks do not line up properly and it took some effort to mount them. I think either one of your ideas will work fine.

 

[johnny42]

Why not try to loosen all the other mounting bolts and tighten the ones in your photo first. Then tighten the rest. Worth a try!

I have the same OEM racks and they fit very nicely.

 

[cwadej]

Take a file to the mating portion and make the profiles match? that would be the best option. you dont really want to pre-load all the fasteners to get it to line up.


oh, they are known to be less than stellar fit.

 

[Pirate]

My panniers were fitted by the dealer prior to my bike being delivered to me and the racks look the same as Nick's It hasn't bothered me unduly until now! Nice suggestion from johnny42 which I might try sometime - like Nick, it's only the front lower ones that don't quite work.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

So, everything mounts up secure, but you don't like the way it looks?

 

[Pirate]

So, everything mounts up secure, but you don't like the way it looks?

That's certainly the case for me - solid as a rock but look closely and it's not pretty. Did a trip to France and back and nothing fell off!

 

[Robert]

Got the OEM rack and I must admit that it required a bit of bending in the vice to obtain a proper fit. But now is fits like it was made for the bike....

 

[It'sNick]

So, everything mounts up secure, but you don't like the way it looks?

Well, you've got those bolts exposed and I'm worried about water/rusting in there, and who knows if the way it's installed does anything to the bolts. Are they more likely to snap this way? Idk, thought I'd see if anyone had any idea. Also wanted to see if anyone knows of this, and found a way to fix it without just ignoring the problem.

 

[It'sNick]

Got the OEM rack and I must admit that it required a bit of bending in the vice to obtain a proper fit. But now is fits like it was made for the bike....

I might go this route. If I just bend that a little bit, it'll be perfect.

 

[It'sNick]

Why not try to loosen all the other mounting bolts and tighten the ones in your photo first. Then tighten the rest. Worth a try!

I have the same OEM racks and they fit very nicely.

I'll give that a go before I try bending anything. Thanks for the tip!

 

[grymsr]

Mine came from dealer with the panniers and they look fine. My only issue is that I have rather short legs (30 inch inseam) and its a trick to throw my legs over the bike without getting my foot stuck on the pannier lid. I may take them off or just learn to deal. Time will tell.

 

[TN_twowheeladdict]

Mine came from dealer with the panniers and they look fine. My only issue is that I have rather short legs (30 inch inseam) and its a trick to throw my legs over the bike without getting my foot stuck on the pannier lid. I may take them off or just learn to deal. Time will tell.

Try putting your left foot on the peg first like getting on a horse.

 

[johnny42]

My inseam is shorter than yours. A couple things to try.....

Mount from the right side. Maybe you're more "agile" with that leg.

Or, put your left foot on the left peg and stand up on that leg and then put your right leg over the bike. If I have a bag or something on the rear seat, I have to do it that way.

 

[Metalsnacks]

My pannier frames came installed from the dealer and are far from perfect. My bolts look torqued more than yours, but I think that has made the racks sit lopsided.
The blinkers are centred between the frames, but they are not centred to the mudguard/centre line of the bike. They sit a good inch off to the right, and the right frame sits at a much wider angle, (facing out), than the left side. When I asked the dealer about it they said they will try to adjust them so they are symetrical, but told me that they havn't seen a set of pannier brackets mount perfectly square, ever!



My pannier frames came installed from the dealer and are far from perfect. My bolts look torqued more than yours, but I think that has made the racks sit lopsided.
The blinkers are centred between the frames, but they are not centred to the mudguard/centre line of the bike. They sit a good inch off to the right. And the right frame is at quite an angle, whereas the left one looks nearly parrallel to the bike. When I questioned the dealer they said they would try to adjust them but warned that they hadn't seen a square set of racks yet!

 

[Donkey Mat]

So I ordered my pannier racks quite a few months ago from someone on Ebay. They were OEM RE racks, apparently. They look like it and were packaged like it.

Anyway, I've since tried installing them twice now, and I keep getting it where the lower, most front connection point, looks like this on each side:

View attachment 1369
View attachment 1370

Anyone else having this happen? I believe I followed the directions closely, but I can try once more to be sure. If I can't get it to sit right, they do feel solid enough. I'm not mounting hard luggage, just going with saddlebags. Should I try to use some rubber washers in there? Maybe use a silicone sealant around to keep water out?

I'm beyond any kind of return window, and I wouldn't want to pay for shipping back to India anyways.

 

[Donkey Mat]

Sorry to say this is a common condition on RE and other motorcycle aftermarket parts. The advice to loosen all and retighten is the best place to start. I use alignment pins (any Harbor Freight is fine) (tapered) pins to get it started . The alignment pins get it basically located. Remember, your frame and is not made of high tensile steel, so strong-arm encouragement tends to work.
And....if this doesn't work......get out your die grinder or ...Dremel tool.....and 'adjust' the fit. Touch-up with a high quality black paint then use a brush (not spray paint!...which is super thin and will soon rust.
Even on my New (then 2006) Ducati ST3....I had to grind and pry to get the Panier frame to fit. Frames and paniers were made by Nonfango....no kidding...which must be Italian for 'toothless'.

 

[Robert]

I got the RE pannier rack and noticed that the front most hole was misaligned. Nothing five minutes in a vise couldn't correct. Didn't even damage the paint. As more people seem to run into this my guess is that the jig at the manufacturer is set up wrongly. Maybe RE changed the position of the lug: it doesn't look as straight as would be logical.

 

[BurnieM]

Yes, a lot of people have problems, particuarly with the positioning and angle of the left front mount.
This seems to have mainly been a problem from about March 2020 onwards.

Perhaps a mis-alignment on the jig or perhaps changing to a new manufacturer.

Regardless, I would suggest that we all need to go back to our dealers and demand straight brackets.
If you bend/re-align them yourself and something breaks then no way do you get a replacement or refund.

The only way this gets fixed is for the RE factory to decide that the negative PR is too high a price to pay.
Sucking it up and trying to fix them yourself does nobody any favors.

 

[It'sNick]

get out your die grinder or ...Dremel tool.....and 'adjust' the fit.

This is probably what I'll end up doing! Got a buddy that works on motorcycles and metal fab to a point, I'm gonna see if he can help me out. I'd imagine just grinding it til it fits will work just fine.

Regardless, I would suggest that we all need to go back to our dealers and demand straight brackets.
If you bend/re-align them yourself and something breaks then no way do you get a replacement or refund.

I completely agree with this! I know it's not the dealer's fault, but I've already seen a few people say they got it installed by the dealer and got it like mine. That's unacceptable, regardless if they're straight from RE or not. I unfortunately went the ebay route, it was much cheaper than the dealer, otherwise I'd be taking it back. Including labor costs I'd be pissed if I got it back like this!