Kevin Chalmers' Krauser-equipped Suzuki GSF600 Bandit
| Suzuki GSF600 Bandit rider Kevin Chalmers (UK) submitted these excellent notes and images from his experience at installing the Krauser K-Wing sideracks and K5 luggage cases. Many thanks to Kevin for taking time to record his installation experiences, as well as to send in the great shots of his Bandit. This will be a great resource for other Bandit riders considering the Krauser options. Many thanks, Kevin! |
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An enormous box arrived from Germany just 7 days after placing my order. Inside were 2 large boxes which held the Krauser K5's but no sign of the side rack; turns out it was inside one of the K5's, phew!
The rack itself is just 5 parts, 3 if you ignore the luggage mounting plates and the instructions looked okay, once you get your head around what their pictograms mean. Then it was just a matter of waiting for a nice day to do the work (yes we do get them in England). I started by laying out all the bits (see pic) and checking all the nuts bolts etc were there. Sadly there were 2 things missing but fortunately it was 'just' 2 of the 4 oval covers that protect the open part of the rack tubing. One nice touch was the bolts had some sort of locktight stuff already on them (the blue bits on the bolts). Next I dismantled the bike, all relatively straightforward except the indicators. The problem with them is the electrical connections which are tucked away in the tail of the bike, although they are a simple click lock connectors you really need 2 very small hands to do the work easily but a real struggle with 1 large hand. I looked at trying to remove the back light assembly but one of the mounting screws proved to be unreachable, taking off the red lens helps though as it makes it easier to poke the indicator wires underneath when you remount them. You'll also need to remove the electrical relay in the tail of the bike to get into the void behind it where the wiring hides and remember to put it back before you go to test the indicators work in their new home. It's a heart stopping moment when you turn on the ignition and nothing happens! Installing the rack is again relatively simple, just remember not to tighten anything until the 3 pieces are joined together otherwise you'll find various holes don't want to line up. Again the only real problem was re-connecting the indicators! Once everything was tightened up and checked (the indicators worked, another great relief) I put the K5's on for the first time. They look very good but make the back of the bike look huge (does my bum look big in these?), filtering will have to be done very carefully, if at all! It took about 11/2 hours in all and, now I know how the indicator connectors work and what bits go where, I could do it again in under an hour. Finally the road test. I can see both cases in my mirrors which is very useful and once on the move, although you need to be conscious they're there they don't appear to affect the handling even up to 3 figure speeds (ahem). All set now for their first use in anger, the beginning of June when I go up to the English Lake District for the Keswick Beer Festival!
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| Related Products: |
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| Krauser K-Wing Sideracks (GSF600 Bandit, '00-) |
| Krauser K-Wing Toprack (GSF600 Bandit, '00-) |
| Luggage Cases |
Comment List (1)
09.09.2003 00:43 » Bandit Installation Simon Jones
Hi Kevin, I just ordered the Krauser K-Wing Toprack , Krauser K5 luggage case, Top Luggage Rack for the K5 Topcase and the Backrest for the Krauser K5 Case too. Expensive things these aftermarket parts hey?
I'm all of a sudden $500 CDN lighter. But I know its an investment and will only add to the bikes worth (not that I'll be selling it anytime soon).
I Will probably be looking at getting the side racks and two more cases (maybe next year) but for now the one case will do, I do alot of camping, so it will really help and the luggage rack from suzuki is crap, and more expensive to boot (at least over here in "canuck"land).
I want to thank you for your diagrams etc they helped me visualize what my bike will look like (Silver Bandit 1200S) with the gear attached.
Thanks again, and cheers.
Simon Jones
