Givi Topcase

Just a quickie - I'll delete the thread when I've got an answer:

At present I have a Hondas 45ltr topbox on my Silverwing. I wouldn't have chosen it but it came with the bike.

On my former Silverwing I had a Givi E52 which I liked very much.

I intend changing boxes but can't decide between the E52 and the E55, which I think is lighter although it's bigger.
The price difference is not very much and of no account to me at the moment.

I'm fairly certain that a few members here have had both; I should be grateful for brief opinions.

I will buy a Givi box so do not need information about any other make.

Love you all! XX  

I got E52, very good, but now it would take e55, very nice and possibility brake lights led .....

http://www.givi.it/Bauletti/Monokey/E55%20MAXIA%203

Thanks.

Incidentally, I will almost certainly buy an Admore light bar as I had before, rather than lights to fit in the box so I can have the extra lighting even if I ride without the box.

I have the Givi 46 on mine with the Hyperlites I installed myself for added lights, (did a video on it too) love the Givi Top Case.

An E52 is on its way; at £160 it's nearly £70 less than list price.

Thanks for the comments.

46 on mine and love it.

I used a Givi V46 top box on my Majesty 250 for a year, and after years of using a 55 litre NonFango 858 top box on my 250 Helix I found it pretty useless. IMHO 46 litres is far too small, and Givi claims it can hold 2 full face helmets, it can't. It couldn't hold the large Nomad holdall that easily fitted in the NonFango either. The colour matched 46 or 47 litre Honda top box is another that's far too small to be of practical use.

That's why I originally bought a Givi E52, then a E55 because bigger is better. For a while now I've thought about going even bigger and getting a big square Givi alloy 58 litre box that fits onto the Monokey rack. Before anyone starts on the oft repeated 'top boxes ruin handling' nonsense, no they don't.

I guess one gets used to a particular 'thing'.

I got used to the E52 after the very convenient X9 box so, in truth, it was the obvious choice.
I put in a cardboard partition - one third/two thirds - so all my nick-knacks stayed together in the smaller part, leaving the rest clear for my crash-helmet. It worked for me.

The Honda box is plain unfriendly!

As for the handling: I do feel a difference in handling between full and empty box but it certainly doesn't upset it. Having a pillion or not makes a difference but it is just different.

I'll be interested to hear how the 'square' box performs if you decide to get one.

Congratulations on your purchase Mike. I am a fan of Givi products and have a few but they can be a bit expensive by the time they get to North America. Where do you get 70 off of list price?
Your spot on with the handling as I have tested under similar conditions with and without the box. It does not "ruin" handling but it is different especially at  freeway/motorway speeds. I only use the top case now if i have a need to load up for touring as there is plenty of room under the seat for around town.

I did a Google Search and, as usual, hit on Amazon UK.

In the past I've bought all my Givi stuff from a shop close to where I lived in North London. They still offer good deals on Givi but this time it was cheaper through Amazon.

Your point about not always riding with the box on is the reason I favour the Admore Light Bar over their build-in lights - if I decide to go out without the box I still have the extra lights.
In fact, a friend complained about Admore Box lights on another friend's E52 being too much 'in your face' if following close behind.

Just had a minor heart-attack; opened the invoice e-mail for the box and looked at the 'Total' figure.

'220', not '160'!

Then I noticed it was Euros, not Pounds - panic over!

In fact, at today's exchange rate, the price is £156, even better.

That's a good price Mike. I checked Amazon.ca no such luck same with Amazon.com, the UK site is generally cheaper than our local retail. As I will be in the UK next summer I may just order a few items and ship them to my buddy's house in South London. There is a Givi helmet I am interested in but would like to try one on. Any dealers you know in London where I could try a Givi helmet for fit?

It's Sod's Law; f I look for things on Amazon.com, what I want's always cheaper than on Amazon UK!

J&S Accessories seem to stock Givi helmets.

The three in and around London are at Hangar Lane (that's close to the Ace Café in West London), Stockwell and Eltham, both South of the River.

Stockwell is on the Northern Tube Line so easy to get to. Hangar Lane is also on the Tube - Central Line.

Here's a link: http://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/stores/

I had a quick wander into the J&S Accessories store in Leeds yesterday and then into the Get Geared store almost next door to it. There was nothing in either store to interest me but I did look at the Givi X.01 Tourer helmet in J&S mainly because it had a peak.

Their price was £179.99, the same helmet from Ghost Bikes over in Lancashire is £154.99 which is better, but I could buy the helmet cheaper in Germany for £120.80.

Thanks....I am well familiar with Stockwell as i attended the Vauxhall College of Building and the South Bank University in the 70's. I used to shop at Pride & Clark and Gus Khun.

I was going to delete the thread after I'd had some opinions about the boxes but I'll leave it running since it seems to be being useful at the moment.

Just a quick update which I hope might help others wanting to fit a Givi Monokey mounting plate to a Honda Silverwing:

It's not the first one I've fitted but it seemed much more difficult this time because the holes were very difficult to line up.

If I ever fit another I shall put in the four bolts that go through the 'spoiler', the wrong way round, i.e. nuts uppermost.

This will mean that they can be put in loosely until after the plastic carrier had been mounted on the metal plates.

It is impossible to get a normal Allen key on the bolt heads if the plastic carrier is in place whereas a spanner can be slipped in afterwards to hold the nuts.

This isn't a very clear explanation but if you do the job it will become clear, more so than the traditional Givi instructions.

EDIT: 'nuts uppermost' is not a very good description - put the bolts in up from underneath (through the spoiler first) rather than dropping them in through the brackets.

Yes, I just installed the SR19 bracket for the Givi Monokey cases today and I understand exactly what you mean! The Italian engineer who designed the bracket obviously never had to install it.

Thanks! I'm glad it's not just me!

Thought about this----is not the easy way to mount Givi rack, to take off the rear spoiler/passenger handles off and work with the whole thing on a bench?

Thanks, John.
That's what I did, in fact.
I'd never have got anywhere with the spoiler still on the bike, apart from not being able to get at the front two screws of the under-cover.

You will know but I'll say it for the benefit of anyone doing the job for the first time: the handrails/spoiler is very easy to take off - just four bolts....12mm socket (I'll check that)

Sounds like my husband had the same issues with the SR19. Thanks to this forum we made it, and it is perfect!

matrixusa1 wrote:

Yes, I just installed the SR19 bracket for the Givi Monokey cases today and I understand exactly what you mean! The Italian engineer who designed the bracket obviously never had to install it.

If you  take off the rear spoiler/passenger handle installing SR19 is five minute job.

Givi products are very good because these people actually ride bikes. I just yesterday replaced the OEM screen with the Givi AirFlow on my Honda SH300i. It is way better then the Honda original one and much easier to install.

The only problem with Givi are poorly written installation instructions.

I agree - poorly written instructions!

In an earlier post in this thread I said I'd put in the bolts which go through the spoiler the 'wrong' way round if I ever had to do the same job again - that is, up through the spoiler, since it is impossible to get an Allen Key in between plate and spoiler although a flat spanner will slip in with room to spare.

Today I fitted the Givi passenger backrest (TB19) which I bought a while ago to the already-fitted Givi top box and, by reversing the bolts, made the job a hundred times easier.

i used to have Givi V46 with Gilera Nexus 500. Just bought Silver Wing 600 without a top case. Decided to buy V47 because of the same pattern on both the top case and the tail end.