Saddle bag supports

[FirstGS500E]

I'm looking to make (or purchase for the right price) some sort of support system for my bags. I really need to get them straight and off of my muffler. Any suggestions? '93 gs500e

Colulmbus,Ohio

[Big Rich]

Do you havve a welder / access to steel tubing? I made racks for my GS450, and plan on making something for my GR650..... so I'm interested to see what you come up with for a 500.

[noworries]

Here ya go…even got a pic or two…will give ya some ideas to start...


http://adventure-motorcyclingh.com/2012/07/15/building-an-overlanding-rack-1/


and if ya drop in here, there's one of the blokes who's photo are on adventure-motorcycling showing a well-encumbered touring GS500

https://www.flickr.com/photos/randomway/

…probably all a bit heavy-weight for your good self, but lots of ideas…

[Janx101]

Mr First!!  .. to assist in general idea generation and possibilities , what brand and size saddlebags do you have?

an old thread on here with some ideas... http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=36428.0 .. a search on pannier or luggage racks brings up a buttload of options! 

an ebay listing of commercial rack (for newer bike but?) .. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KRAUSER-K-WING-SUZUKI-GS500-K1-K7-GS-500-2001-07-SIDE-PANNIER-KIT-NEW-/121401497560?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1c4417d7d8

pics of your luggage would also be cool ... the luggage itself and the slump onto exhaust situation you have , plus maybe a 'held up by hand' pic of where you want them to be? .. lots of keen thinking minds on here that might say "aha!, get this bit and weld it to that bit then bolt those bits to that bit over there!" 

thinking about this myself also.... i have an idea that may be beneficial to future users... ill have to do a bit of measuring and costing and investigating first though... hmmmm 

as Big Rich (why is he called 'big' and/or is there a Little Rich or even a Medium Size Rich?? lol) ... said .. with some tubing (or flatbar), planning then measuring, cutting and welding .. reasonable racks can be custom made by you! 

[noworries]

Do u have an IKEA store near u? A wander around their drawer/storage/laundry areas finds lots of lightweight metal shapes that could be suitable for a simple keep-the-bag-off-the-plastics type of home-made thing. On my next bike - yep, there's a dr650 coming - I'm planning on that route.

[FirstGS500E]

Thanks guys! I'll be checking out all these links as soon as I get some time. I work as a machinist so I can pretty much build whatever I need. Just searching for ideas to see what others have come up with. I'll post some stuff as i get them completed.