Givi Trunk

[Jambo_imp]

I have used Givi trunks before and really like them. I had one I put 30K miles on a previous Honda Magna cruiser, and then removed that before selling it and installed it on my new daily driver, Suzuki Bandit 1250, where I put another 30K miles on the same unit. That previous Givi had a spring loaded electrical connection that permitted the trunk light to activate along with the bike brake light. It required tapping into the bike brake light circuit so they would both light up. That connector was built into the generic mounting bracket the case attached to. It would have gone farther, but some ditz backed into my parked Bandit knocking it over and damaging the unit. I recall it was a 45L (liter) unit.
I can tell you that once you become accustom to having that kind of storage capacity on your bike, you won't want to live without it. That sized trunk is large enough to swallow two full faced helmets, which is convenient if two up, to not have to carry those around. When solo, or commuting, that size will allow you to carry your laptop case, lunch, and rains. Both Magna and Bandit had after-market racks (Magna was an OEM) that the trunk mounted too.

So, I am a fan of the Italian made Givi’s from positive experience.
So, upon getting the CB, I wanted the same. So off to the internet. Turns out, and perhaps a function of the global economy now, scouring all the major retailers including Bike Bandit, Revzilla, J&P, etc., the cheapest price I could find was actually through Motostorm, an Italian retailer. So I placed the order through them. It shipped from Italy. Was concerned there might be customs or duty, but there were not. I did it in two orders (by mistake), first buying the trunk (GIVI V47NN TECH, $204.79), Givi chrome bike rack specific to the CB1100 (GIVI SR1118, $185.41), and the optional rack that attaches to the top of the trunk (GIVI-E159, $52.73). I mistakenly thought the trunk mounting bracket that attaches the trunk to the bike rack was included with the trunk. It was not. Including $33.13 shipping (from Italy), the total was only $475.95, which was much less than purchased from a US retailer. I crossed fingers on the customs and duty fees (to which there were none). That order was placed on 8/4 and arrived on 8/17 and 8/18 in two boxes via FedEx. Not bad!

It was then I discovered it did not have the mounting kit. Bummer! So back to Motostorm for that: Givi E251 Monokey plate ($ 40.36), and GIVI E134S (which was the optional backrest pad [$ 31.84] while I was there) and had to pay shipping again ($33.13). If I had the hindsight, then I could have ordered the mount (and maybe gotten the backrest “free”) not having to pay shipping twice. The second order was placed 8/18 and arrived 8/26 (yesterday! Now mounted!). That was a pretty quick turn-around that was not much more than some US stuff I recently ordered.

Back to it. So, to me, adding a trunk big enough to provide meaningful capacity, it is difficult to find something that looks great seamlessly. Especially on something like a retro inspired UJM. The Givi V47NN Tech (47 L with CF looking center accent) and nice looking “lights”, is about as good as you can get. It looks aerodynamic, though somewhat bulbous. To me, the goal is to add on the storage that doesn't really suck aesthetically, not trying to “improve” the looks. For certain it won’t. I notice some improvements over the old model, including a larger gasket to keep out the H2O. It should do that well as the gasket is much larger than the previous o-ring style gasket previously. The Monokey plate secured with four bolted brackets I endeavored to spread around the perimeter, driven by the underlying rack structure (where the tubes are).

BTW, the Givi rack itself was a decent quality unit. The chrome was well done and seems triple plated, and substantial. The welds were not the best looking, but fade into the chrome background, especially with the rack covering most of it on top, and the stock handholds hiding substantially the rest on the sides. You remove the existing handholds with turn signals attached, and for the ’13-14 CB, remove the existing handhold bolts that go through the bungee tie-downs, put it on the inside of that next to the subframe, and rebolt it back keeping the bungee tie downs (great!). It was a bit of a pain to get it in place without scratching with only two hands, but I liked the result. There was a whole other page for other years that has the installer doing a different procedure involving more supplied hardware (that was unused for my application). It was substantially cheaper than any price on the Honda OEM units I could find anywhere that was 50% more.



All Givi instructions are pictures only making them mediocre.

Mounting the rack was straightforward with a little jiggering to get it as straight as possible. I chose to have it sit back about 0.5” from being butt up against the rack riser (thinking to add some clearance for the backrest and preserve passenger room). The plate is a grate type structure, and you insert metal square plates with elongate slots (for adjustment) you thread bolts through that go past the chrome rack into the brackets and secured with locking nylon nuts. I snugged them well, but not too tight as the plate is plastic and I did not want it to distort or crack. It is actually a heavy weight thick ABS type plastic.


The rating of this case is 10Kg (22 lbs). That was about what the previous one I had was rated too, but I think there is some margin in there, and I have easily carried at least that without worry. I wouldn’t want to put 50 lbs in there, but less due to concern the rack/trunk would fail as you probably just don’t want that much weight cantilevered off the back of the bike that could impact handling.

I also previously said “lights”, because the 47NN looks like it has them, but they are only lenses with ports that will let out light IF you install the optional LEDs inside the trunk. But, the generic mount does not have that built in spring-loaded connector that transfers the brake circuit to the inside of the trunk. I elected to forgo trying to fit something other than the generic mounting plate, plus it was a pain to splice into the brake light harness previously.

With the plate in place on the rack, it installs easily. It inserts into two forward hooks, and then snaps into place with the aft lock. One key (spare included) can unlock the case with the push of the upper button to pop the lid, or pushing the lower button releases it from the mounting plate. Then you can bring it in (your hotel room) if you want to with all the contents inside, or pop it off if you don’t need it for some sporting riding where it is unneeded (or just to make the bike look better). It looks pretty good without the case attached.


Attaching the rack to the trunk lid was a pain. That rack is a well made anodized aluminum piece and bolts to the lid after you drill four holes. A paper template is provided. No instructions, only pictures. It says to remove a bunch of stuff there is no need to (reviewers on line commented as such and that was true). It was a pain because the provided template taped to the lid appears to not line up with the rack four short legs that angle inward making the holes look too closely spaced. What you have to realize, and this was my fault, it has spacers you insert under the feet that are canted inward, that then makes the template holes be about right. Not realizing this caused me to have to remove the rack 10 times to ream the holes just enough, and fight the fasteners from the inside of the lid to line up without cross-threading. Once finally secured, it looks great. I could see attaching a dry bag with a lightweight tent and bedroll to that lid rack to preserve cargo capacity inside. The backrest was an easy 5 minute affair using the template, but those two bolts had markings inside the base, where the trunk rack did not. It would have made the whole affair of attaching the optional lid rack much easier if they had done the simple same thing on the lid with drill hole markings on the inside for the rack. It would have also allowed slightly undersizing the holes such that the bolts threaded through the lid plastic for additional water resistance, though it should not be an issue given the rubber grommets included with the fastener stackup.






Overall, I like the result and am looking forward to getting years of use from it. Considering the heavy chrome rack of good quality, mounting plate, trunk, and optional top rack and backrest, it seems like a good value for around $550. And it is not fugly as far as bulbous cases go.

[peterbaron]

Jambo, good write up backed by nice pics =

[Cormanus]

Good write up indeed, Jambo. You could end up with an awful lot of weight out the back of the bike if you filled the trunk and had gear on the rack.

[Gone in 60]

Great job, Jambo. I've always wondered what a V47 looks like with the optional rack on top!

When I bought my CB, I transferred my Givi V47 to the Honda with the same rack that you just installed. Being able to click it off when I get to work and carry my stuff in was too convenient to give up. Mine has the silver trim on top, mainly because there was silver trim on the back of the BMW, so it blended well. That sort of carries over with the CB's silver side panels.

Keep an eye on the welds - from the used Givi chrome racks I've seen, that's where they start to rust first.

A few things that I modified on mine. Since the "taillights" are just colored plastic and don't do anything practical, I took the lenses out, and cut some pieces of 3M Scotchcal reflective tape to fit the insides of the lenses, and reinstalled them. I figure that they can at least be reflectors if they're not lights.

Also, I didn't like all of the wording printed around the band of silver trim, so I painted that over to make it look a bit cleaner, and not a rolling advertisement for itself.

Finally, I added a flexible LED strip along the bottom of the rear edge of the rack. It acts as an added brake light, and works with the box on or off, and flashes several times before going solid. When I added a Givi rack to my Bonneville, I did the same brake light setup.

With the V47 fully loaded, I definitely feel the weight high up on the back, but it's not scary. And, since I rarely need that much space, I kept my eye out for something smaller. I picked up a slightly used V40 a while back, and use that a lot more than the V47. Most days the biggest thing I haul to work is my lunch, but the V47 is great for weekend trips, taking work projects home, or when my wife tapes a shopping list to my helmet. The V40 is, I think, a little more on the fugly side - sorta looks like a round Weber barbecue on the back of the bike.

[peterbaron]

I like the LED stop light and its powerful brightness !!

[Gone in 60]

Case in point regarding the V40...

Anyone want a burger or a hot dog?

[Jambo_imp]

Good write up indeed, Jambo. You could end up with an awful lot of weight out the back of the bike if you filled the trunk and had gear on the rack.

True, so that requires some common sense. The top rack would be good for a dry bag if camping you could put in a tent and ground pad as mentioned. I have a real nice REI 2-person (well...two really intimate people...really a 1.5) and ground roll. That might weigh 6-7 pounds, and then if you were say camping, have dual purpose lightweight gear in the trunk. If solo, I could also utilize the passenger seat for a couple more dry bags attached to the bungee tie-downs and trunk rack. I have done this before (not on the CB). If you have ever done m/c camping before, then it is all about weight anyway, so you have small burner and aluminum or titanium cookware, and most everything you bring can do multiple things, like tarp for under the tent, or rain shelter for you or the bike, etc. I likely would not put but maybe 30 lbs max on the rack. That is to say the rear BIKE rack.
I would never put something heavy on that trunk rack because it attaches to the lid. It is not flimsy though. Where you drill through the lid goes through a couple layers and it is like 3/16-1/4" thick. I would not be afraid to put 10 lbs on it. It could also be used to lash something that simply does not fit in the trunk, but is lightweight. A couple months ago I picked up a violin in a HSC off CL and just bungeed to the Valk backrest. That rack would have made it more convenient and secure. Something like that.

Great job, Jambo. I've always wondered what a V47 looks like with the optional rack on top!

When I bought my CB, I transferred my Givi V47 to the Honda with the same rack that you just installed. Being able to click it off when I get to work and carry my stuff in was too convenient to give up. Mine has the silver trim on top, mainly because there was silver trim on the back of the BMW, so it blended well. That sort of carries over with the CB's silver side panels.

Keep an eye on the welds - from the used Givi chrome racks I've seen, that's where they start to rust first.

A few things that I modified on mine. Since the "taillights" are just colored plastic and don't do anything practical, I took the lenses out, and cut some pieces of 3M Scotchcal reflective tape to fit the insides of the lenses, and reinstalled them. I figure that they can at least be reflectors if they're not lights.

Also, I didn't like all of the wording printed around the band of silver trim, so I painted that over to make it look a bit cleaner, and not a rolling advertisement for itself.

Finally, I added a flexible LED strip along the bottom of the rear edge of the rack. It acts as an added brake light, and works with the box on or off, and flashes several times before going solid. When I added a Givi rack to my Bonneville, I did the same brake light setup.

With the V47 fully loaded, I definitely feel the weight high up on the back, but it's not scary. And, since I rarely need that much space, I kept my eye out for something smaller. I picked up a slightly used V40 a while back, and use that a lot more than the V47. Most days the biggest thing I haul to work is my lunch, but the V47 is great for weekend trips, taking work projects home, or when my wife tapes a shopping list to my helmet. The V40 is, I think, a little more on the fugly side - sorta looks like a round Weber barbecue on the back of the bike.

Be interested in you sharing the details on the brake light enhancement you installed.
If you think about it though, if someone is going to a** pack you, it is probably because their nose is in their phone, and an additional light can go equally unnoticed.
Still. Did mean it when I said I am interested in the details.

One of my favorite expressions is:
"Stupid people with smart phones".

Case in point regarding the V40...

Anyone want a burger or a hot dog?

Pretty sure none of us put those on for style points.
If I want to impress, I will definitely take the case off...Lol.

[Lord Popgun]

I have a Givi V46 (I think it is) on a Honda Rack. Mounted like Jambo shows. I bought the light kit directly from Givi in North Carolina (they also have a place out West) and it came with all the spring connectors. I don't like them but the connector for the rack to box works well. I had trouble with the one for the box to lid for the lights. So much trouble I finally just hard wired that one. The Givi on my ST works just as Givi designed it though. I will say I HATE those connectors. They are difficult to work with.

The lights themselves are LED. Each side on mine consists of an LED panel that has the LEDs wired in 2 groups with each group fused with a small surface mount fuse. So if one group of LEDs pops a fuse you still have at least half of the lights on that side.

That happened to me. The bad thing is that you cannot buy a Light by itself. You have to buy a new kit.

I wired mine as brake lights but there can be other options that they don't mention but the LED card is wired for.

Funny story. Being a tech and working with techs, I took the bad card in to work. One of the techs grabbed it and said he was going to figure out what was wrong. I said one of the LEDs is shorted and the fuse for that bank popped. Not good enough for him. So he jumpers the fuse and hooks up the card to a bench power supply, turns it on and a WHOLE LOT of magic smoke appeared. Burned the card up! Jeez dude, that blown fuse should have told you something. Maybe you had to be there but it was funny.

[Jambo_imp]

I have a Givi V46 (I think it is) on a Honda Rack. Mounted like Jambo shows. I bought the light kit directly from Givi in North Carolina (they also have a place out West) and it came with all the spring connectors. I don't like them but the connector for the rack to box works well. I had trouble with the one for the box to lid for the lights. So much trouble I finally just hard wired that one. The Givi on my ST works just as Givi designed it though. I will say I HATE those connectors. They are difficult to work with.

The lights themselves are LED. Each side on mine consists of an LED panel that has the LEDs wired in 2 groups with each group fused with a small surface mount fuse. So if one group of LEDs pops a fuse you still have at least half of the lights on that side.

That happened to me. The bad thing is that you cannot buy a Light by itself. You have to buy a new kit.

I wired mine as brake lights but there can be other options that they don't mention but the LED card is wired for.

Funny story. Being a tech and working with techs, I took the bad card in to work. One of the techs grabbed it and said he was going to figure out what was wrong. I said one of the LEDs is shorted and the fuse for that bank popped. Not good enough for him. So he jumpers the fuse and hooks up the card to a bench power supply, turns it on and a WHOLE LOT of magic smoke appeared. Burned the card up! Jeez dude, that blown fuse should have told you something. Maybe you had to be there but it was funny.

You know that reminds me. Since I had the battery tray out, I popped the fuse panel lid on the CB and noticed that all the fused circuits were 10A, and there were three spares in the panel. One 10A, one 20A, and one 30A spare. So, what are the 20A and 30A spares for? A WHOLE LOT of smoke?

[Gone in 60]

Hey, Jambo, since you asked about the details about the LED strip on the back edge of my GIVI mount plate, here ya go.

I used a Custom Dynamics TruFlex red strip. They are available in different lengths based on number of LEDs. I got the 45-LED strip in "smoke" finish, so it blends in to the back of the mount plate and you don't really see it until it lights up.

https://www.customdynamics.com/red-led-t...ng?cat=320

The LED strip has 3M mounting tape on the back side, and being flexible, molds to the slight V shape of the back of the mount plate.

To mount it, I cut up some scrap sheet metal and attached a bunch of tabs to the inside of the back edge of the mount plate, sticking down just enough for the LED strip to attach to. I could have just stuck the LED strip directly to the back edge of the mount plate, but that would leave the wire coming out of the end of the strip exposed to the possibility of being bumped and pulled out. By putting the strip under the plate, the wire is not visible or subject to damage.

With the strip mounted under the mount plate, the next step is running the wiring. The strip has two fragile strands of wire coming out of one end. I covered the wire in 3/16" shrink wrap to protect it and make it look nicer.

Here's where I took two different routes with my two bikes. On the CB, the rack only sits a few inches above the chrome "bridge" in front of the taillight that attaches to the fender. I ran the wire under the frame of the rack, then dropped it down and tucked it under the open bottom of the "bridge". It's hard to take photos under the rack, but you can see how I routed the wire in one of the photos.

On the Bonneville, the Givi rack is raised up and is well over the taillight. I didn't want a wire dangling down that distance to tuck into the taillight housing. Instead, I got some flexible U-channel chrome door edge molding, and cut a stip to fit along the inside of the rack, and attached it to the rack with a strip of 3M mounting tape. Unless you look up under the rack, you can't see the strip of molding, and the LED wiring can tuck inside the molding and run down and under the seat. It is fully concealed.

On both bikes, I just tapped the LED strip into the brake light wiring at the bulb. On the Bonneville, I had already installed the same LED strip on the bottom edge of my license plate. Adding a second strip up higher behind the Givi rack puts the second strip more at eye-level with a car behind me. With both LED strips flashing when I hit the brakes, it puts on quite a light show, and should provide some safety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38OSm3yZHq4

Jambo, I will give you one word of warning... since you bought your rack from a non-U.S. dealer, as I did, Givi USA will not give you warranty support. When I bought the rack for the Bonneville, the holes didn't quite line up. I have used Givi products for years, and have always received excellent customer service.

When I contacted Givi USA for warranty service on the Bonneville rack, they required proof of purchase. I sent them my Motostorm receipt. They very abruptly told me that since I didn't buy the rack from a U.S. distributor, they would not help me. It wasn't too big a deal - I just opened up the mounting holes a bit. But, if your rack has any problems, be ready for that...