has anybody tried Bestem topbox?

A buddy of mine had one of these on his ST1300
It looks great and he has had it for at least 2 years now, and is very satisfied with it!
the only thing he complained about was the lights were not very bright!
$60 including mount!!!
anybody have one? I'm seriously considering....
http://www.cruiserbackrest.com/product_info.php?products_id=402

I put one on my swing this spring. I don't think the latch is as nice as the one on my GIVI E350 I have on my reflex. I painted the orange trim black and it looks much better. I also installed a couple of lites on the top back corners as running lites and turn signals. I am quite happy with the quality for the price. I had to drill a couple new holes and elongate a couple more in the mounting plate to make things line up with the holes in the wing.
I had to use some spacers between the wing and the mounting plate to make things set leval. I also added some rubber spacers between the trunk and mounting plate to keep it from ratteling.
I added some pictures in my album of the instaled box and of my wireing install and of the velcro I put in to mount my saddlebags.

Danny

Thanks Danny! NICE job on the wiring!
I'm going to have to get one!

forgitaboutut wrote:

A buddy of mine had one of these on his ST1300It looks great and he has had it for at least 2 years now, and is very satisfied with it! the only thing he complained about was the lights were not very bright! $60 including mount!!! anybody have one? I'm seriously considering....

I installed that same Bestem 929 TopBox on my Silverwing several months ago and it works fine. The mounting plate will need to be drilled for he Silver Wing's mounting holes. Take the wing off, disassemble it, drill out the 4 holes in the wing, measure, measure, measure, measure again and the drill the holes in the mounting plate. After that it is a simple assembly job. Took me 2 hours with the help of my 5yr old son.

I've since run wiring and turn signals to the top box. 4-wire 14gauge just fits thru the hole/grommet at the bottom of the box. If your box rattles, then add a rubber washer on each post on the mounting plate(you'll see)

The box isn't as appealing as other, especially with the bright orange ring around it, but that can be fixed (as Danny pointed out). The box works and durable. I would recommend buying it over the Givi or any other high-priced top box, unless you want name recognition.

Hi, this is "Old Dave" in Western Nebraska....I installed a "Bestim" T-Box on my SWing and love it. It was like 60 dollars and well worth the bucks. As was said had to re-drill a couple of the holes but not a big deal. I went to Wal Mart and purchased some material like you put on the back of car seats purchased some spray in glue and lined mine in gray material. Makes it quiet and looks factory. I am particular so took my time to do a good job. I also made a mount to put a back rest for a passenger and a high mount brake light so I don't have to run with the T-Box on all of the time. It fastens on to the mounting plate of the Bestim and can be quickly removed and interchanged. If you go to the trying to take a picture section you can see what I am talking about for the back rest etc. My pictures are there....

forgitaboutut wrote:

A buddy of mine had one of these on his ST1300
It looks great and he has had it for at least 2 years now, and is very satisfied with it!
the only thing he complained about was the lights were not very bright!
$60 including mount!!!
anybody have one? I'm seriously considering....

I just bought the Bestem box & installed it a couple of days ago. I haven't had any chances to ride with it because it's either been snowing or raining. I suspect there's a lot more plastic than on a $250+ box, but what the heck. It seems plenty sturdy to me, & it was a lot bigger than I thought, which is great!

I'll be creating an album soon showing the installation.

Hi Folks,
I just ordered a Bestem top box yesterday so my jury is still out for awhile. Does anyone know if the LED set in this box can be wired as a brake light? Is it really not very bright?? I'm also going to order the "wig wag" brake lite unit from Signal Dynamics; they also have some LED strips that I was thinking of putting on the box to use as brake and or turn signals also. Any caveats in this area or any ideas on what might be some additional brake illumination?? Thanks.

DickO,
I have a Bestem Top Box on my 2005 SWing and love it. It was inexpensive and the quality is good. I took the time to line mine with material like is on the back of car seats. Cut to fit and used spray in glue to secure the material in the box. Makes it quiet. You can go to the "Trying to post a Picture" on this forum and see the back rest I made to use when you don't need the box on.

DaveR,
Did you "add" any other brake, running, signal, etc, lights to your box?? I believe you wrote somewhere that you had wired up the existing light as a brake lite; true?
Also have read the the existing light isn't very bright, especially in the day. I'll be looking for that backrest of yours too. Thanks.

By the way, if anyone else is looking to buy one of these boxes, make sure you go the CruiserBackRest site http://www.cruiserbackrest.com/product_info.php?products_id=402. You'll save ten dollars over the Bestem price. I didn't find out till looking at these posts again .

I put a police LED bar on my Goldwing....Probably on the SW eventually...
not cheap but it rocks! turn signals are bright on sunny days! custom made for you! each section is $30 (went up $4 since last year)
I did 3 sections...Red(brake in middle) and amber(turn) on sides
put you back about $100
http://www.rimindustries.com/product-p/11.8200-5.htm

I have this box too and it is a really good price. But it isn't quite as nice as the Givi but is a heck of alot cheaper. I like it and it does what a Givi does but you might have to put some rubber washers, or something like that, under the box since it will vibrate some. The box doesn't mount as firmly as the Givi and will wiggle. So you will will hear a "rattle" when riding. At least that is what happens with mine. I just put some rubber in there and the compress it down when I put the box on. This will make the box more secure and it won't rattle then. This may not happen with your box but it is with mine but the fix is extremely simple.

Thanks for the feedaback & tips guys!
I just orded one!

DickO
This is "Old Dave" in Western Nebraska
Did you take a look at the pictures I posted on this Forum under "Trying to take a picture"? The back rest that replaces the T Box is shown there. I can easily exchange either the box or the back rest with the LED brake light. I like the option as I don't need the Bestem T box on all of the time..

Hey Danny (and/or anyone who knows)

Very nice installation. I haven't had any of that plastic removed to get a good look at wiring access (although I'll probably get a quick look now that I've got mine to install; it'll just be a little while till I get to it). I assume one of your pictures is of the wiring as factory install. Then I further assume (we all know what assuming does) that you added all those nice little terminal blocks to sort things out. Is that correct?

I've read on a post here and there that the access to wiring can be had thru one of the doors in the underseat compartment. Is that sufficient or would one be better off taking off the fairings and gaining complete access.

Also, did you need any other equipment, etc, for adding your turn signals? I was planning on adding some StingerZ strips to the box and wiring them into a WigWag brake system. As I (think) I understand it, if you try to add a stop/turn/run set of lites, then you have to have a load balancer or something of that nature. Anyway, enough of my rambling questions. Thanks for any info!!!

DaveR,
Hey guy! I can't find that post you're speaking of (Trying to take a picture). Please straighten me out. Thanks!

DickO
Go to "General Chat" then "Just Trying to Take a Picture" Page 2
Happy Riding Old Dave

I removed the tuperware from both sides on the back and also the tail secton.
I used a trailer isolation relay kit that just pluged in to the oem wiring like the STAT from twtouring well sort of the one I used was for a GL1800 I removed the pins from the conectors and placed them in a 6 pin conector that fit the Swing.
I routed the output wires (right turn, left turn, brake,tail/running,ground) around the back thru the tail secton in some plastic wire loom I had. The terminal blocks were bought at radio shack thay were 12 pole conetors that I cut in to 4 pole blocks. I made small jumpers to conect all 4 poles on each block then conected the out put to one pole leaving 3 places to tap in to for added lights.
I used a 5 pole flat trailer conector to run out to the topbox.
For lights I used the one that came with the box as a brake lite and added two to the top of the box that are running lights and turn signals.

Danny

DannyAlcott wrote:

I put one on my swing this spring. I don't think the latch is as nice as the one on my GIVI E350 I have on my reflex. I painted the orange trim black and it looks much better. I also installed a couple of lites on the top back corners as running lites and turn signals. I am quite happy with the quality for the price. I had to drill a couple new holes and elongate a couple more in the mounting plate to make things line up with the holes in the wing.
I had to use some spacers between the wing and the mounting plate to make things set leval. I also added some rubber spacers between the trunk and mounting plate to keep it from ratteling.
I added some pictures in my album of the instaled box and of my wireing install and of the velcro I put in to mount my saddlebags.

Danny

That orange really clashed with the wine berry red ,I painted mine silver
it looks much better now.

DickO
Did you find the pictures? They are under "general chat" Just trying to take a picture page 2. There are two pictures there...
DaveR

Yes I did ,very nice job . Can you have the box on at the same time as the
back rest ?

DickO
The pictures are on this Forum under General chat, just trying to take a picture page 2

Hi DaveR,
And yes, I finally found the post you were talking about after hours and hours of research I must say that's a very neat looking bike. That passenger backrest is a real piece of art too. Gives me more ideas to work with again. Is the 'Wal Mart' LED brake lite assembly pretty bright? I had seen those in our local store and wondered about them. Also, was the construction of another box base plate very difficult??

Till Later... great job and great pics.

DickO
I'm glad you found the pictures. No, the plate was not really that hard to make and yes the LED light is bright enough. Someone was asking about "Pin Stripes" the other day. If you saw my pictures, you can also see the pin strips around the front of the bike. Back to the back rest set up, I have since added a leather bag to the back rest. It is really useful as well as looks nice.
Thank you for the compliment.....

Dick O
If you can access the Photo section under my pictures, I have posted some pictures of my "Modifications" including passenger back rest and GPS Mirror extenders etc. I can't seem to get everything on this Forum working but I think it is because I am more of a computer illiterate.....It is fun to try though and one of these days I will get it figured out. Some of the people on here have given me some good tips and they have worked. We just need to "teach" if we know how to do something. That will help others on this forum a whole bunch..
Old Dave

Just took my new Bestem trunk out of the box. It came with black inserts to replace the red/orange strips that are on it. I will be changing them.

Don't know if any of you looked at the "Album" section on this Forum but you will see the adapter plate and passenger back rest with the built in brake light etc. I really like it as it just locks on to the existing mounting plate of my "Bestem" T-Box. I don't need the box all of the time but wanted a high mount brake light so made this one up. Also on the Bestem box mounting bracket, I put larger rubber bumpers between the box and the Bestem mounting bracket. It took all of the wobble out and is very stable now. The brake light that comes with the Bestem is sufficient. I suppose you could add led's if you wanted to. Don't think I will... I have made some other mods and if it were easier to post pictures, I would post some. I have the Givi Air Flow, don't know if I am really excited about it though. May go back to the 214 which I have also.
Old Dave in Western Nebraska