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C 400 GT: Shad 59X -- With Room For A Passenger! -- Mounted On BMW Luggage Rack

wspollack

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Recently (just before a couple weeks' non-moto vacation), I installed a Shad 59X top case on my '23 C 400 GT. I had the OEM luggage rack and the OEM top case already on the bike, as part of my original purchase, but wanted more room (for two-up helmet storage for day trips, or just generally, for solo multi-day out-of-town trips) than the 30L of BMW's case.

For those interested in this subject:

1) I started out by following HedOpp's instructions for mounting the expandable Shad on the stock luggage rack: see www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJCL0Euh2L0

That worked out okay ... if you never ride with a passenger (unless the passenger is extremely skinny). The problem is that his mounting system results in the passenger backrest on the Shad being about 3" (c. 8cm) forward of where the backrest on the stock case is positioned. This is with the Shad in the medium or full-expanded positions (in the smallest setting, the front -- passenger -- side of the Shad is tilted such that the backrest pad is not completely functional, and, anyway, part of the purpose of the case is to enlarge it for extra storage when riding two-up).

So I wound up doing a modified version of his mounting system, moving the mounting points backwards about 3". And I drilled two holes in the luggage rack, just for extra security; that stock rack is one thick piece of aluminum -- I had to resort to a masonry bit -- and two ¼" holes does nothing to its structural capability, IMO.

2) I bought the case from Motostorm in Italy: https://www.motostorm.it/en/accessories/luggage/shad-sh59x-expandable-top-case-aluminium.html

With the included backrest, that €264 price is about half the $602 price of buying the same thing at ShadUSA: https://www.shadusa.com/collections/sh59x-expandable/products/d0b59200 . Also there are coupons available for first accessing the site, or maybe returning to it, or later on via email, etc. Here's a screenshot of my email order receipt from July:

Screenshot 2024-08-20 at 7.47.19 PM.webp

If you buy from Motostorm, set the payment option to Euros, NOT dollars. This way, you'll be dealing in the store's actual currency, there'll be no BS regarding currency conversions, etc. (There were no "Custom Duties involved in my purchase or delivery.)

Motostorm seems to get very negative or very positive reviews on TrustPilot and suchlike, with not much in the middle. Apparently, if they don't have items in stock, you can wait forever (or until you cancel an order), despite being charged right away; also, they appear to respond to emails whenever they feel like it, or not at all.

On the flip side, it took nine days from my ordering the case to its arrival here in upstate NY (via FedEx for the USA part of the journey); all parts -- base plate, backrest pads, hardware -- were included and nicely packed. So I had no issues whatsoever, a very positive -- and money-saving -- experience.

For those really interested, I'll post many detailed (and higher-res) pics and captions in my gallery, probably sometime next week, showing my exact mounting method. But I thought I'd just give an early heads-up now, in case anyone's just about to buy a Shad and mount it on a BMW luggage rack.

In the meantime, here are some (forum-compatible 1MB low-res) pics, the first three with the case in its lowest (42L) position (which will be my default), and the last one in the largest position:


2024-08-05_13-06-34 2.webp


2024-08-05_13-06-49 2.webp


2024-08-05_13-07-31 2.webp


2024-08-05_13-09-30 2.webp
 
Last edited:
Update, Aug. 29, 2024:

In case anyone's interested in duplicating my work, I've now finished updating my C 400 GT gallery, adding about 30 photos/captions/links with detailed instructions on how to add a Shad 58X/59X top case to the BMW luggage rack on a C 400 GT ... while still maintaining stock-depth room for a passenger.

The newly added instructions start with this particular image/caption: https://billanddot.com/C400GT/#S-119
 
Thank you for this, I've been looking at getting that top case as well.
With an odd question do you know if you can add the key lock for the BMW case into the SH59X? I think Shad makes the OEM case as well and figured it would be handy to have a lock that used the bike key to open.
 
Thank you for this, I've been looking at getting that top case as well.
With an odd question do you know if you can add the key lock for the BMW case into the SH59X? I think Shad makes the OEM case as well and figured it would be handy to have a lock that used the bike key to open.
I'd been thinking about this for some time, myself -- okay, about two years. The flexcase is all well and good, but for the occasional two-up trip I've been used to large Givi cases (with an atrocious excuse for a backrest pad, by the way) on some Big Burgmans, or large stock top cases on a Valkyrie and a Victory; all of those could hold two helmets during a lunch stop.

I was reluctant to mess with success, though: my wife really liked the simple, but flat, backrest pad on the stock box, and the ergonomics associated with it. But when I started doing some searching recently, and saw the discount I could get at Motostorm (including the c. $100 pads, and the thought Shad seems to have put in designing and implementing those pads), I couldn't resist. I decided I had to make it work.

You raise an interesting question, as it's my understanding as well that Shad makes at least some of BMW's top cases. I just went out and measured the visible portions of the locks with my calipers. The BMW's metal circular OD is 0.775", while Shad's is 0.725"; the key-slot lengths are sort of proportional, too, i.e., the BMW's slot is longer. So offhand, given the tight fitting of the molded-in plastic surrounds of each lock face, I don't think a lock-body swap is doable here.
 
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