Hepco & Becker Rack

[Bobic69]

After singing Hepco & Becker's praises on the forum a few days ago, this happened. The rack was on my Bellagio when I bought it so unsure of its age but it snapped the first time I put a bit of weight on it - definitely less than the recommended 5kg. It snapped in the same place on both sides. Obviously a stress point. A pretty easy weld fix but disappointing all the same. I'll insert some rod into the tubing to reinforce it.

[pebra]

Thanks for the warning!

That looks like the rack I have on the Griso.
I find it very useful, and probably carry a bit more than 5 kg when touring.

[Knuckle Dragger]

5Kgs is bugger-all!  That's surprising, alarming & extremely disappointing.  I'd always thought of manufacturers' recommendations regarding rack loading to be extremely conservative, & well below more "realistic" load limits.

Is there any possibility of providing some additional thin-tube triangulation?

[Bobic69]

5Kgs is bugger-all!  That's surprising, alarming & extremely disappointing.  I'd always thought of manufacturers' recommendations regarding rack loading to be extremely conservative, & well below more "realistic" load limits.

Is there any possibility of providing some additional thin-tube triangulation?

5kg plus the weight of the box overhanging the rear provides a bit of leverage on the rack over bumps, it's easy to see how it broke. But yeah, it's really not very much weight. The rack is hollow so I'll try to find a rod that fits inside to reinforce across the break. Once it's bolted back on to the bike I can't see it breaking again.

[Kev m]

I have regularly overloaded my many HB racks over the years (4 on Guzzis and 2 on Harleys).

I DID experience one failure, one time, about a decade ago. Totally my fault though. I had modified an HB rack (cut and welded) for the Jackal that had an integrated backrest. I'd then bolted a universal HB topcase adapter to the old HB rack at the thin crossbars with these cheesy clamping pieces. I hit a hella bump in the road on the way to a rally and one of the thin crossbars snapped that had the clamping pieces on it. Hindsight was clear, I'd attached the adapter plate to the weakest point on the rack.

Since the failure was only at one of the two cheesy crosspieces I pivoted it forward and secured the front end of the adapter plate to a larger part of the rack using hose clamps I got at the next truck stop and it held fine.

Guess I'm saying I'm surprised at the failure, but they can occur. I have to wonder if it was defective or overloaded at another point in time.

[pebra]

Well I think I'll continue overloading the rack on tours

So far, so good 
I doubt I've carried more than 10 kg on it.

[malik]

Bob, hydraulic line from a dozer should fit. It's steel, thus weldable. Worked for me, but that was way out west where there was plenty of that sort of stuff lying around. Also ended up needing to brace the big angles nearby with triangular plate.

Mal

[Bobic69]

Thanks Mal. I think I'll look for something a bit more solid. Looking at the rack again, I'm surprised it broke where it did as it's right next to a fixing point. I'm guessing the rear bracket (with the indicators attached) is flexing over bumps and stressing the arm that broke. I know nothing about welding but would the adjoining weld weaken the steel?

[Tom]

"Also ended up needing to brace the big angles nearby with triangular plate."

Mal

I'd do this.  That would give the rack more support or attach another piece to both sides of the end point of the rack.

[fotoguzzi]

I bet your bike looks a lot better without a big old box hanging back there.

[LowRyter]

I had an HB rack break on my EV.  Chuck from Indiana told me it could be welded.  When I got back home, I discovered that one of the fastening bolts was less than an inch long, it sheared causing the rack to break.  Got the the rack welded and the broken bolt removed and replaced with proper length.   

Still good 12+ years later.

Chuck helped me another time with same bike many years later.   Going to Indy, the bike fell in the trailer, crushed some stuff.  Went to his house and got the whole thing serviceable.  Chuck even helped me source another fender- the bike looks good as new.  So thanks to him I have more years of Guzzi life even now suffering with no oil pressure on the bike as I write this.

Thanks Chuck      <meant in the best way possible>   Thirteen+ years with that bike for better and for worse.

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

I know nothing about welding but would the adjoining weld weaken the steel?

No. Only if it was hardened steel. Which I know it’s not. You can weld that back up just fine, maybe some gussets for support. If you’re not a dab hand at welding most welding shops will fix ya right up for a 12 pack! 

[Bobic69]

I bet your bike looks a lot better without a big old box hanging back there.

Yep looks much better without the box and rack.

[Bobic69]

Rod inserted into the tubing and welded. Will see how it holds up.

[Tom]