New Old Top Box

[Gone in 60]

Rainy day, so I geeked out in the garage on a new project. Carrying luggage is a necessity for my commutes, and I have three Givi top boxes ranging from an E36n which simple and light with no trademark Givi fake taillights, to a V47 which is spacious and can carry everything I need for a long day or a few days, but is sort of heavy and has the fake lights and lots of trim details that don’t necessarily match the style of my “classic” bikes.

I’ve always wanted an E45, basically a larger E36 which would match its vintage, simple style but with the capacity of my biggest box. But, they’ve been out of production for a long time. I’ve searched from time to time without luck. There’s a cheap copy of it available on Alibaba and Amazon but the mounting points don’t match Givi’s Monokey (probably to avoid being sued).

One popped up on FB Marketplace and I snagged it. The owner wasn’t a motorcycle person so she didn’t ask much for it. It was beat up but not too abused, and was attached to an old Givi rack. She had no idea what bike the rack was for, but the box’s key had an old Suzuki key on the same ring and the key tag said “Red SV650”.

I disassembled the box and stripped it down to the two plastic clamshell pieces and sanded as many dings and scratches out as to not smooth out the grained finish. Cleaned it and shot it with an adhesion promoter, then matte black all-finish paint. Cleaned up the hardware and reassembled it, and gave it a red reflective pinstripe to match my E36. Black reflective tape for the outer band is on the way.

Very happy with the results.
And if anyone needs a Givi rack for an SV650, let me know…

[the Ferret]

nice grab!

man, you are a stickler for finishes aren't you lol

[Gone in 60]

nice grab!

man, you are a stickler for finishes aren't you lol

Ha. Yeah, it's sort of an affliction.

[Cormanus]

Good job, Gone.

[Gone in 60]

Thank you! Now I just need to decide if I'm going to leave it alone, or if I want to re-key it to match the other box, so I only have one key for each of them. That'd be kind of unnecessary but if I'll set a reminder to check Ebay for deals.

[peterbaron]

Gone, with these XL side panniers and your top box you need to go on at least a 2 week trip!!
>>>>>>

[Gone in 60]

Funny you mention that... I pulled off the Givi badge on the top of the box before painting it. When I went to reattach it, I was wondering about the orientation. Seemed to look better with the badge facing the rear of the bike so it's right-side-up as you look at the box and open it. But, on the E36, the logo is pointing in the other direction. It occurred to me that the E36 is commonly used as a side pannier, with the handle facing up, so the logo is right-side-up in that position.

I currently have four boxes now, none of which are the same, so that would be a weird combination if I used three of them. Might sell my V40, as it's now the odd box out.

[Tev62]

It looks well Gone, nice job. I don't have the patience!

[Nachodaddy]

Nice work! You are an artist, my friend.

[Gone in 60]

Wow, thanks, guys. It's nice in photos. In the car world, it's what we'd call a "ten footer". Still, shoulda taken photos of it as it was.
I was going to christen it on a commute to the office, but glad I didn't... I forgot to transfer the toll lane transponder from the V40 to this box. Would have had to do some digging into the Fastrak toll authority website to make sure I didn't get charged.