ALTrider Luggage Rack Evaluation. ALTrider sent me one of their luggage racks for the TR650s. http://www.altrider.com/altrider-lu...qvarna-tr650-terra-and-strada/pid/1100/cid/15 Background: While the TR650s are nice bikes, one of the few common problems people who own them have, is that the plastic OEM rear rack tends to break at the most inopportune moment - It looks to me that the ALTrider Luggage rack will fix that problem, and is a piece of art as far as I am concerned. The shortest description of the ALTrider Luggage rack is it is “an aluminum plate”, but elegantly shaped as you should be able to tell from the pictures shown here and in the link above. As shown, the front part of the plate is bolted into the subframe where the OEM rear mounts are with spacers. Because of the nature of the TR650 subframe to OEM rack angle (not completely perpendicular) part of those bolts are slightly proud. There are also 3 additional bolts which bolt the ALTrider Luggage rack directly to the OEM Luggage rack. Simple, lightweight, and effective. If you have a TR650, somehow improving the rear OEM rack should be on your ‘must do’ list, and the ALTrider Luggage rack seems like a good option. ALTRider is also sending me an accessory to mount a ROTO pax gas can and I will update this when I have evaluated it. Things I found interesting: 1 - The listed weight of the product is 2.7 lbs, but it certainly feels much lighter than that, and 2 - The instructions said the max load was 10lbs, but to me it looks like it would support much more than that. 3 - There is no interference with the seat. It can be removed and re-installed easily with the ALTrider Luggage rack installed. Full disclosure: one of the locknuts that came with the kit originally worked too well and had trouble disassembling, you may want to test those out before doing an install. In addition, since my TR650 is my main mode of transportation, and I need to carry extremely heavy items, I will probably continue to use the another much heavier rear rack - not sure how many people need to move that much weight on their rear rack, and it make no sense to add weight to a bike unless there is a reason.
Nothing, it is simply a plate that bolts onto the OEM rack with 3 bolts and keeps the rear rack from breaking. More updates next post.
Update to my evaluation of the ALTrider rear luggage rack, which is an aluminum plate which bolts to the OEM rear rack. The 3 bolts and lock nuts that come with the luggage rack has super hard & durable, and do not need loctite (more on that later). As you read the rest of this, keep in mind my bike has 7,600 miles on it, many of them in rough terrain… and at least 3,000 miles since I installed my ALTrider crash bars. If you are reading this but are unaware, eventually the TR650 rear rack will break even with a light load if the terrain is tough enough. At least 1 person had an issue with a 1 gallon Rotopax on the back on the OEM rack… I highly recommend doing something if you are still using just the OEM plastic rack, or as Murphy’s law dictates, it will fail at the most convenient time. Full disclosure: in the past I have placed extensive loads on my OEM rack and it held up fine - but that was only on ultra smooth roads, I certainly would not do that in rougher terrains. The original plan was to take a hard ride then do a quick write up with pictures of where I rode, and consider that to be sufficient. But the evaluation was much more exhaustive. Evaluation, Day 1 (Friday): I rode *really* hard ride over to a local OHV area, then the OHV offroad, then back. The suspension, especially the rear suspension was fully compressing much of the time. Sadly, while at the OHV area, I noticed the rear rack had loosened up because the OEM bolts into the sub-frame had backed out. Doh! Forgot to use loctite on the bolts. Mental note: No matter how good a product is, it cannot cure (my) stupidity. Total ride, about 150 miles, and I was so sore I could not move the next day... Evaluation, Day 2 (Sunday): After using loctite on the OEM rear rack bolts. I was ready to try again, and this time the plan was even more ambitious: Go north on the interstate (to save time) then ride through Stonyford, an awesome and large riding area - then head west to Upper Lake, a trip I had never done before. It was an incredibly stupid plan. I was solo, with (almost) bald tires, and had no idea how rough things were going to get, and especially had no idea I needed to cross creeks that were running wide and deep. My hope was that there would be other riders around because it was a Sunday but once I ventured deep into the woods there was no one. During the trip, again the suspension, especially the rear suspension was often fully compressed. While the trip was difficult, I did manage to survive unscathed. About the time I got close enough to civilization where I was not as worried about being an ‘unfound statistic to be found years later’, I noticed the bike no longer felt ‘solid’ and had several new noises. The first thing I’d noticed is that a bolt from my after market windshield had fallen out! And of course my very next thought was ‘what else is happening with the bike’? After I had recovered the next day, I noticed the ALTrider crash bars were loose - I (again) failed to use loctite on the upper engine mounting bolts, and I had lost the bolt on the right, and the left bolt had backed almost all the way out! NOT good, and another testament to my stupidity… on the other hand those crash bars had several thousand hard miles on them and they had not backed out, so it that ride was definitely a hard ride. Later that day I noticed that the rear brake reservoir had broken during my evaluation of the ALTrider luggage rack! Yikes! Evaluation of the ALTrider luggage rack summary: If anyone is out there that uses the OEM rack, you need this product. The rack was perfect after 400+ miles of incredibly difficult riding, even though other parts of the bike did not hold up as well - bike bolts loosened and were lost, and I had ridden so hard the rear brake reservoir did not survive. ALTrider makes good stuff. For reference here are some select pictures: Windshield bolt fell out Missing upper right engine mount Broken brake reservoir Mill Valley did not burn! I thought it had…
ALTRider luggage rack about to be installed, with rotopax mount Underside of Luggage rack with rotopax mount First attempt at backpack on rotopax, but the rotopax slowly leak fuel on the right hand exhaust Second attempt at having backpack on rotopax, but I could not find a way to keep the slow leaking rotopax from dripping on my backpack - so I wore the backpack on my back
Change your tires before they get this worn, the OEM front tire is *very* thin (7600 miles on tire). On a slightly different topic, here is a pic of the rear shock which I pulled out when servicing the rear suspension after the ALTRider luggage rack - I wanted to go through most of the bike checking for anything that might be incorrect or loose. And yes… the spring had been rubbing the shock. I pounded the spring back to center, lets see how long the spring stays centered on the shock.
Glad to see you're back and still have the Terra. I was thinking of getting this for the brake reservoir. Mine already cracked at the mount and started leaking, not as bad as yours. This one can be found in red or black, downside is no inspection window. http://www.ebay.com/itm/271362988919?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
ktm-parts.com has the stocker, 8537279, for $0.50. Man they are cheap. I should buy one and throw it in the parts kit.
