I’ve had my new 2008 SM610 for 4 weeks now, and I’m really enjoying it. My plan is to use the bike as more of an adventure bike than a supermoto, so one of the first items on my mod list was a rear rack. I have an XR’s Only rack on my Honda 230, and I was considering the Pro Moto Billet rack for the Husky, which looks similar. However, one drawback I’ve found to that style of rack is that it’s a bit narrow. So I decided to try the Borrego Rack by Turbo City (TCI Products). The Borrego rack is steel, yet it only weighs about 3 lbs. The silver color is a nice match to my Husky frame, and it was easy to install (with no help from my husband—even though he wanted me to need his help! ). Turbo City sells a nice bag to fit on the rack, but I already had a Motofizz tail bag, and it fits perfectly on the new rack. For camping I will also be using an Ortlieb rack pack that will sit on the rear of the seat and attach to the rack. I’m really happy with the setup, and since I haven’t seen a Turbo City rack on here before, I thought I’d let you guys now about it. So far my only other mods include the Uptite billet oil cap, a bar pad, and I removed the smog can yesterday .
Wow...beefy looking rack! I like how it mounts through the side panels. That seems to be a much more sturdy way of mounting than going through the top of the fender like my PMB rack. The PMB rack on Eric's WR mounts like your rack and I just thought mine would be the same. I've not had any issues with it or anything, though. I like the tail pack, too! Do you put your camping stuff (tent, pad, bag, etc) in it when you go camping? Is it waterproof? BTW, your lawn looks like a putting green WoodsChick
nice option to carry a larger piece of luggage.. Can you photo or explain how the rear bolts of the rack attach? Also dimensions of the rack platform?
I like it It looks very old school/adventure tough I’ll tell you another product TurboCity makes that I like is their skid plate with it’s old school side tubing, I dig it So there’s no drilling into the fairing, right? BTW congrats on the bike, I like the color you’ve chosen +1 on the lawn and how's the this year?...
The Motofizz bag expands on the ends, although it's not expanded in the picture above. I can fit my sleeping bag, Thermarest mat, pillow, tent (minus rainfly & poles), stove, fuel canister, cooking pot, and a few other odds and ends in the bag. My gear is ultralight backpacking gear, so it packs small. The bag also holds two water bottles (or fuel bottles). It's not waterproof, but it does have a rain cover. I put the rest of my stuff in a Ortlieb Rack Pack, a tank bag, and a soft cooler. I've done two overnighters with this setup. Here's a pic of the bags on my Honda: The Motofizz bag works better on the Turbo City rack than my XR's Only billet rack, because it has a wider base. I'm anxious to do some trips on the Husky now. I may even add Wolfman enduro saddlebags for longer trips.
The rack attaches with 6 bolts. If you look under your rear fender you will see two bolts on each side that connect the aluminum support bar and the plastics to the frame. The rack comes with brackets that attach there, and then you bolt the rack to the brackets. It then attaches to the side covers/frame with longer bolts/spacers, which you can see in the pics. There is no drilling required. I'll get the dimensions of the rack this afternoon.
Just be careful of not overloading the rack / bag and riding rough country. Several stories of broken sub frames. It was not built with this in mind. Your Honda probably had a steel sub frame able to support much more weight.
Really? I haven't heard of broken subframes, but I am new to Husky. My complete camping setup is only 20lbs, since I have ultralight gear. I put about 10 lbs. on the rack and 10lbs. on the rear seat. I also carry a few items in a small tank bag. Total weight on the bike including me, my riding gear, and my camping stuff would be about 135lbs. Obviously that's not much weight, but I assume what you mean is not to have too much weight on the rear of the bike. How much do you think it could support?
You should be fine with that. It is not the seat weight but the weight applied to the two rear tabs on the subframe. Not trying to alarm you just letting you know putting 30 pounds on that rack and hitting endless whoops might have an ugly result. 15 pounds and mild riding should be fine.
As you can see in the pictures, the rack is wider towards the front and narrower toward the back. The width of the platform at the front is 16.5". The width at the back is 14". The length of the platform from front to rear is 10".
Thanks JC.. just as an FYI..the stock OEM TE610 rack is rated for 20lbs or less. I've hauled all my overnight equipment on it (bivy tent, down bag, thermarest, tarp, breakfast and misc@<12lbs) at a pretty good clip and haven't suffered any problems yet. I do think hitting endless miles of 2' plus woops at speed with 25lbs might do the rear subframe in. Just wondering to myself what having a 120lbs pillion aboard for 150 offroad miles would do to the rear sub frame... wonder if she could stand thru the woops or be forced to after the first few? similar to riding a jet ski, 2 up, thru rough wind blown rollers..
I'm 105lbs. That means the bike weighs 3X as much as me. I don't notice it when I'm riding it, but you should see me trying to push it around. And you're right, I don't think the bike knows I'm on it. It's kind of like riding a fully rigid mountain bike. Hopefully I'll get a revalve down the road. For now, lighter springs are going on soon.
how is your stand over height with supermoto trim? any problems getting the leg over the rear fender when in camping mode?
Luckily I have pretty long legs for my height, so seat height isn't too bad. I only put one foot down when I stop. I can almost get both toes down, but not quite. Once I get the softer spring on and proper sag, it will be better. The front has been lowered, by raising the front forks 7/8" which helps. No problem for me getting on it with gear on the rack as I'm pretty limber and usually don't swing my leg over the fender anyway.
I just did a 'test' of my camping setup. I'm 185, probably another 10# with boots and armor. I think my stuffed to the gills giantloop bag weighs 60# I was shocked when I took it off the bike. The bike (I have a TE) was fine over some pretty rough single track and whoops though obviously very difficult to control. I'd be interested to know your camping setup, what gear you have because mine isn't cutting it.
Part of the reason I can travel so light when camping is that I always travel with my husband and he carries about the same amount of gear, and so far we've only gone overnight. If you're camping alone, I'm sure you'll have a heavier setup. But to give you an idea, here's a list of some of the gear I use: - REI Quarter Dome T2 Tent (4lbs, 2oz.) and footprint (13oz.) - I carry the tent & poles, and my husband carries the rainfly, stakes, and footprint - REI Kilo Flash sleeping bag - (1lb., 3oz.) - Compresses super small, but is only a summer bag - Thermarest ProLite Pad - (24oz.) - Thermarest Compressable Pillow Medium - (9oz.) - MSR Pocket Rocket Stove - (3oz.) - MSR Stowaway Pot - (9.5 oz.) - I want a lighter titanium pot! - REI Ti Ware Spork - (0.62 oz.) - Sea To Summit X-bowl - (2.8 oz.) - It's collapsable - Food - Dehydrated backpacking type (Mountain House, etc.), oatmeal, snacks, apples - Extra Clothing - Patagonia Houdini Jacket (4 oz.), zip-off pants, capilene top, compressible/lightweight down vest, lightweight trail running shoes We're going on our last motorcycle camping trip for the summer this coming weekend. It will just be an overnighter. I'll post some pics of the Husky loaded up when we get back.
