Custom passenger backrest

I finally finished building a passenger backrest for my Swing. Below are some pictures and a little bit of an outline of how I made it.

My goals for this were:

1) Make the entire thing for less than what the Givi costs.
[In the end, the total cost of materials ended up being more than what I would have spent on the Givi, so I failed there].
2) Make something more comfortable/supportive than the Givi.
[I haven't ever seen a Givi in person, so I can't really compare the two].
3) Incorporate a luggage rack and saddle-bag support/tie-down.
[This was accomplished, although I could have done the same thing with the Givi].
4) I don't particularly like the permanent backrest look, so I wanted something I could remove when my wife isn't riding with me.
[This was also accomplished, and I'm happy with the way I implemented it.]

All in all, if I had it to do over again, I think I'd just buy the Givi - any advantages of my system are probably more than offset by the time and money savings with the Givi .

Anyway, if you're still interested in what I did and ended up with, then read on...

I started with a piece of 0.75''x1.75''x48'' uhmw plastic and cut the supports for the backrest (about 12'' each) and saddle bags (the remaining 24'' cut in half longways) from that: [EDIT: previous picture was wrong]



This wasn't quite the size I had originally intended to start with, but my father already had the piece of uhmw and he wasn't using it, so I decided to save some money and work with that. After cutting it, we used a heat gun and a couple blocks of wood to heat the plastic and form the bends. It took several attempts to get backrest supports uniform, but it worked out in the end.

Since this uhmw wasn't uv-stabilized, I made vinyl covers for all the pieces. Were I to do it again, I would get black uv-stabilized uhmw and skip the covers. Anyway, here's what those pieces look like on the bike:




The pan of the backrest was made out of abs plastic. I already had a sheet of 1/8'' black textured abs, so I used that. For the main part, I took two pieces (I think they were about 8''x20'' - can't remember for sure now) and glued them together with abs cement. Once that dried (about a day), I heated in a 275F oven (while my wife was out of town ) and bent to the desired shape:




[My wife was out of town with the camera while I was doing the rest, so I don't have pictures for the next few steps.]

I then padded it with a layer of 1'' rebond foam, added another later on just the back, and put strips down the middle and along the bottom of the back for spine and lower back support (spray glue holding everything together). Once the glue dried, I smoothed out the corners and trimmed away excess foam until I had the feel that I wanted. I glued a layer of a softer 1/4'' foam over the whole thing to smooth out the irregularities, and
then a layer of plastic over it all to water-proof it.

I covered it with a single piece of vinyl (I had tossed around the idea of sewing something, but didn't want to spend any more time on it and didn't trust my sewing skills to make something worth looking at). A pneumatic staple gun is essential for this (I tried a manual one and it couldn't drive into the plastic). I was able to stretch everything out nice and smooth.

I formed another sheet of 1/8'' abs as a cover on the back, and bent another 4'' strip of abs around a stainless steel rod and attached this in the middle (the rod goes through this piece and the uhmw supports to hold everything together on the bike).

I put bead of black silicone sealant around the edge to help with looks and water proofing, and riveted the back cover to the padded part of the backrest.

Here's what the final result looks like on the bike:





The seat can't be lifted with the backrest down, but backrest can easily be flipped back to allow access:

Looks great and well thought out, she should be able to nap without fear of going over backwards.
Craig

I'm impressed.
So what if it cost more than the Givi - if it does what you want.....and there's the satisfaction of DIY.

You also have a one of a kind custom fitted setup.
Craig

Any one can buy one , but not everyone can be creative and build their own.

Good Job. You are officially a member of the "McGuiver" club.

MaxB ( long time member)

I too like the creativity. Adds function without appearing gaudy - good job.

crahar wrote:

Looks great and well thought out, she should be able to nap without fear of going over backwards.
Craig

Craig,

I'd like to hear from Mrs. Waspie re: napping on the back of a motorbike.

This design would seem to help center up and hold the passenger a bit.

Dale something tells me that there's a story there too be told if Waspie ever gets the courage to tell it. It might be one in which after the telling he would want to leave his helmet on for a month or so. Nuckle bumps on the noggin can be painful if applied with a cast iron skillet.
Craig

Now you just need DennisB's passenger armrests and you are all set!

I'm glad everyone likes the look.

dspevack wrote:

Now you just need DennisB's passenger armrests and you are all set!

Ah, those would be nice, but I don't think they're in the budget right now My wife is taller (5'10'') and she says her knees are at a good angle/height for her to rest her hands and arms on them while she's on the bike, so we'll see if she still feels that way after a longer trip.

jdeereanton wrote:

This design would seem to help center up and hold the passenger a bit.

Yes, that was the reason for curving the sides. She hurt her hand this week, so we haven't been able to go on a ride yet and test the support levels.