Installing a case and rack system on a motorcycle 

A set of cases adds greatly to the utility of a motorcycle - and your biking holiday will be even more enjoyable if you’re able to take your usual things and your favourite outfit with you. Especially if you're touring with your partner, side cases that allow the pillion passenger enough leg room are worth their weight in gold.

There are many different types of luggage to choose from. For tough off-road conditions (e.g. on a touring enduro), sturdy aluminium cases are the right choice. But for a road trip, conventional plastic cases do the job perfectly. Soft bags are a comparatively recent innovation. Essentially, they’re the modern version of the traditional saddlebag combined with securing to special rack systems – ideal for supersport and retro bikes, for example.

Before you start on installing the rack system, you need to find a suitable place for doing the job with plenty of space and a clean surface. A large sheet of cardboard, a piece of carpet or a blanket is useful for laying out all the components.

Jack up your bike using a paddock stand or the bike’s centre stand so that there is no risk of it toppling over see DIY tip Motorcycle Stand Basics. Read the installation instructions carefully before you start.

Here we use a Ducati Multistrada to show you how to install a Hepco & Becker “Lock It” Side Carrier.

On our demonstration bike, the first step is to remove the pillion footrest brackets from the frame because these mounting points are required for the front side mountings of the luggage rack.

For the top mount, we use a bracket which, on the Ducati Multistrada, we can simply install under the tail with two spacer sleeves and bolts. On many other bikes, you first have to remove the seat and partially dismantle the rear end in order to make the securing points for the luggage rack on the left and right. On the Ducati, we also don’t need to make any changes to the lighting – unlike some bikes, on which the turn signals have to be repositioned to make space for the cases.

Now one half of the rack can be put in position on each side and firstly secured at the top securing point on the bracket that we have just bolted on.

The next step is to secure the rack at the top rear securing point on the bike itself, again using a spacer.

The arm for the mounting point can now be fixed in place under the footrest bracket.

On the left, the arm is installed first, then the footrest bracket is attached using long bolts. On the right, the footrest bracket is installed on the frame first, followed by the arm, using two spacer sleeves.

At the rear, the luggage rack is stabilised with a cross-connector (located behind the mudguard). This cross-connector is secured between the right and left racks with two bolts at each end.

Now we check that the loosely mounted luggage rack is free of tension and aligned as symmetrically as possible with the motorbike. No two motorbikes are identical, so if there is any tension or any gaps at the mounting points, you should attempt to determine where the problem is by jiggling the rack, and then install spacers accordingly. 

In exceptional cases, it may be necessary to slightly lengthen a bolt hole on the rack using a metal file, or to reduce any gap by carefully bending the arm a little. These measures are always better than simply using force to bolt the parts together because if the rack is under tension, it may develop cracks later! Once you’ve aligned everything optimally, you can tighten all the bolts fully.

Before the case can be attached to the rack, you need to install the retaining clips on the rack. Hepco & Becker side cases come with these retaining clips. 

Now make sure that the case fits accurately on the mount, and test the locking mechanism. You can do this by attaching the case on one side and pressing the other side into the locking mechanism. If you have any problem snapping the case into place, undo the case mounts again and re-align them until they work properly. If the key will not turn in the lock, or only with difficulty, this may be an indication that the mechanism is not yet correctly aligned.