My Givi E55 is mounted, with pics

[philipintexas]

For what it's worth: I believe Premier uses the Givi mounts, they are slightly lower heights than the SW-motech kits. On a flat surface the Givi sits lower, and they supply appropriate height round rubber bumpers. My rack has the mounting points below the top surface of the ribs about .100, so I use the SW-motech kits. Being slightly taller, I supply 1" X 6" felt pads that tension the mounts and protect the top surface of the rack.

[MrPepsi]

Thanks Phil, I'm not in any way faulting you or your work. But I will use this knowledge to take a look closer at it. So far I have only used when it was empty.

[Huero]

Oregon, I think this looks great. You did a great job.

Anyone know where is can buy a connector like this? I mean, like the one that admore uses? It can have molded wires or not. But, I like the 90 degree bend.

Thanks,
Huero

I'm using the stock plug that came with the Admore lighting kit. I drilled a hole and mounted the plug towards the bottom of the box, dead center. The power wire is routed through the same hole that the brake light assembly uses. I used a Dremel bit to carve out a small notch in the brake light assembly so I could easily feed the excess into the bike when I wasn't using the trunk. I also put a small bit of clear tape near the plug to protect the paint from getting scuffed by the plug.



Here's a picture with the trunk removed and the wire retracted.

[novacon]

On the Ferry to Grand Manan Island , N.B. for some camping over the Victoria Day weekend

[just gone]

It took me a while, but I finally got my Givi E55 painted and mounted to a Phill rack. The color isn't perfect but pretty close...

Getting back to the painting part just for a minute ( Oh, by the way, nice job!  Beautiful bike.)

Did you just mask and spray or did you disassemble the case and spray? How about the top, is that
a colored top lid cover that you repainted or just the original black lid repainted?
You say the color isn't perfect....is that a local match or is it a Color Rite paint?

[OregonLAN]

Getting back to the painting part just for a minute ( Oh, by the way, nice job!  Beautiful bike.)

Did you just mask and spray or did you disassemble the case and spray? How about the top, is that
a colored top lid cover that you repainted or just the original black lid repainted?
You say the color isn't perfect....is that a local match or is it a Color Rite paint?

I took it apart. They come apart fairly easy using a screwdriver. The hardest part was removing the pin from the lid so that I could remove the side molding.

It's a gray paintable top lid cover (~$30.00). The stock/unfinished lid is textured and not paint friendly. If you're planning to paint you E55, order the paintable top lid cover at the same time (to save on shipping).

I started out by trying to have the paint matched locally. I took my battery side panel to 2 auto body shops and a PPG paint dealer. Each of them tried a combination of different paints, pearls and candies. Nothing looked right.  The parts sat at the auto body shop, unpainted, for about a month until the shop owner called me and said that they would setup an account with Color Rite. I know they got a discount on the paint, but I'm pretty sure they ate the labor costs because I didn't pay a dime over the ~$200.00 they quoted me. As a token of my appreciation, I had a few large pizzas delivered to their business the following Friday.

The colors aren't "exact", but I'm very picky. In direct sunlight, the top case is a slightly darker/deeper than most of the bike. This is the nature of candy paints. You can generally get them close, but never exact. I've noticed that even some of the OEM panels are darker red than others...

[just gone]

I took it apart. They come apart fairly easy using a screwdriver. The hardest part was removing the pin from the lid so that I could remove the side molding.

Thanks OregonLAN, I took mine somewhat apart to put silver reflective tape behind some of the red tinted plastic (it really should come that way from the factory IMO) and I was happy with just the Bergman Blue top I had. Then I saw yours and now I think I'd prefer to have the side molding painted blue too vs. the stock silver/gray.

Any tips on punching out the hinge pins?  Were they knurled anywhere or just smooth pins? Which direction did you punch them (or which direction do you recommend if you have regrets), towards the center or towards the outside?

[galaxieman]

Anyone know where is can buy a connector like this? I mean, like the one that admore uses? It can have molded wires or not. But, I like the 90 degree bend.

I'd just email the Admore guys.  I just installed their kit in my E52 and it came with that same connector... definitely a +1 here on that piece of equipment being slick kit.

[OregonLAN]

Thanks OregonLAN, I took mine somewhat apart to put silver reflective tape behind some of the red tinted plastic (it really should come that way from the factory IMO) and I was happy with just the Bergman Blue top I had. Then I saw yours and now I think I'd prefer to have the side molding painted blue too vs. the stock silver/gray.

Any tips on punching out the hinge pins?  Were they knurled anywhere or just smooth pins? Which direction did you punch them (or which direction do you recommend if you have regrets), towards the center or towards the outside?

They only come out in 1 direction. One side of the pin is physically larger than the hole that's drilled through. If I'm not mistaken, both of them punch out from the center of the case to the outside. If you open the lid, unscrew the hinge support bracket and lay the lid down on a table, they tap out easily using a punch or thin screwdriver. Once you get the pin started, you can use a pair of pliers to remove it completely.

I really like how it turned out. It was only slighly more expensive to have it all painted versus just the top cover. I thought the glossy black trim looked out of place.

[just gone]

I really like how it turned out.

Yeah, I think most of us here are in agreement with you on the results. {green with envy emoticon goes here} (I say most because there is a certain group that only recognize black as a color, I think we all know of whom I speak.  )

They only come out in 1 direction. One side of the pin is physically larger than the hole that's drilled through. If I'm not mistaken, both of them punch out from the center of the case to the outside. If you open the lid, unscrew the hinge support bracket and lay the lid down on a table, they tap out easily using a punch or thin screwdriver. Once you get the pin started, you can use a pair of pliers to remove it completely.

Thanks  , that info will be very helpful when I do mine.

[OregonLAN]

Yeah, I think most of us here are in agreement with you on the results. {green with envy emoticon goes here} (I say most because there is a certain group that only recognize black as a color, I think we all know of whom I speak.  )


Thanks  , that info will be very helpful when I do mine.

That's OK, they can keep their black bikes. I had a custom black cruiser before this bike. It was a thing of beauty, but I found myself washing it more than ridding it. When I bought my Connie, I vowed to never own a black bike again. I wanted something I could ride, wash and put away wet. My color of choice would have been silver, but I got such a good deal on a red that I couldn't pass it up.

[MrPepsi]

I had a custom black cruiser before this bike. It was a thing of beauty, but I found myself washing it more than ridding it.

That had nothing to do with the color. 

[Tony]

That looks really nice, I am looking at the Givi Blade with blacked out lights...

[Tony]

Or this Kappa..... Both I seen on e-bay new for a smoking deal...

[556ALPHA]

are those both monolock cases?   I prefer the monokey design because I use Phils rack with the SW Motech mounting kit.  It looks much nicer when the box is off but now I have found the case is always on so it really doesnt matter.   Now I would probably just choose which case I like best.  Those both look modern.

[Kinetic1]

That looks fantastic. I was debating on whether or not to paint the trim pieces on my GIVI when I paint the bike and after seeing yours I definitely will.

[12menzer]

Your case looks great.  I was under the impression you can buy a lid that is candy red.  Was that not available when you ordered your case?

[OregonLAN]

Your case looks great.  I was under the impression you can buy a lid that is candy red.  Was that not available when you ordered your case?

I've seen the candy red Givi. While it looks better than black on a red bike, it's not even close to the same color.

[MrPepsi]

I've seen the candy red Givi. While it looks better than black on a red bike, it's not even close to the same color.

Wow, I find it to be very close. Especially when there is a foot of distance between the trunk and any other body panel.

[12menzer]

Interesting.  I guess it comes down to personal opinion.