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Cutting board pillion rack

HarveyM

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Someone asked about my pillion rack so here’s a little write up: I started off with an 17-1/2" x 13”, 1/4” thick Epicurean cutting board which a wood fibre/resin composite (originally intended for skateboard ramps), removed the pillion pad, centred it on the cutting board and traced the rear mounting bolts onto it. The wooden mounting plate is a simple pine 2x4 rough cut the hinge arm pattern but probably any hunk of 2x4 would do. I first used bolts and washers to hold the front down at the seat’s ‘bump stops’ (inner front). Then I saw a youtube video where the guy used eye bolts fitting the seat catch - worked a charm. The gas hole was made with a 2 3/4” hole saw and the corner holes were cut to match the original.



A couple other threads on pillion racks:

Rear Rack, I want a rack to take the place pf the passenger seat.
Home made rear rack with gas hole

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That is really nice and looks like a good weekend project. I may have to give this a try. I love the simplicity of using eye bolts. I didn’t think of that.

Thanks for posting!

JT
 
Did anyone try to heat up the cutting board with a heat gun and bend the front edge down to match the seat profile?

I looked for large cutting boards on Amazon and they have some that look big enough to have extra material to bend and match the seat profile in front of the gas cap.

What material are your cutting boards? I saw HDPE and HDPP materials. I think the HDPP may be more ridged but not As good with UV? I’m not sure.

One cool option i discovered is that the cutting boards can be had in many different colors. No problems with scratches in the paint!

JT
 
The Epicurean cutting boards are made of 'Richlite'; 65% paper layers bonded with phenolic resin. It's closer to Masonite in working properties than plastic.
 
This is brilliant. I was planning to search through the forum looking for someone's wooden rack and here it is at the top of the list. Winner.

Thanks for showing us how it's done HarveyM.

How does it go with the bags on?

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Thanks- I put a couple Rok straps through the holes to strap the dry bag and soft cooler to. No problems even with the 69 litre bag shown here. I've since switched to a 29 litre bag for a lighter weight. The rack tilts forward (due the length of the eye bolts) so the edge doesn't dig into my butt. The minor disadvantages are unhooking the straps & shifting the bag a bit for fill-ups (but it's left locked down) and an awkward reach to the grab bars when putting the center stand down.
 
I ordered a large 18”x24”x0.5” black cutting board. It should have enough extra material to attempt heating and bending the front edge to fill the gap to the seat. I’ll be sure to post my success or failure in that attempt.

JT
 
I ordered a large 18”x24”x0.5” black cutting board. It should have enough extra material to attempt heating and bending the front edge to fill the gap to the seat. I’ll be sure to post my success or failure in that attempt.

JT

A series of photos would be appreciated.
 
You call that a rack?
This is a rack!

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Just received the 24” x 18” cutting board from Amazon. I should have plenty of material to make some test bends.

I’m going to use the box it shipped in to make a cardboard prototype before I cut into the board.

JT
 
Made some cardboard patterns to see what I like. This seems to be a good size. I’m not happy with the gas filler hole yet.

I’ll need to think about the supports underneath. The versions in the first few posts sit high and level. I might try to mount it low to the hand rails. This would give me room for a Rotopax fuel container and be somewhat level with the rear rack. Also want to fill in the sides to minimize dust and water intrusion. Still scratching my head on what I want. Good thing cardboard is cheap.

JT

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Made some cardboard patterns to see what I like. This seems to be a good size. I’m not happy with the gas filler hole yet.
I’ll need to think about the supports underneath. The versions in the first few posts sit high and level. I might try to mount it low to the hand rails. This would give me room for a Rotopax fuel container and be somewhat level with the rear rack. Also want to fill in the sides to minimize dust and water intrusion. Still scratching my head on what I want. Good thing cardboard is cheap.
JT
Hey JT, Great work there. Do you have any pics of the completed project? Also if you have any pics of the rack fully loaded with the Rotopax fuel container, that would be very interesting to see.
 
Hey JT, Great work there. Do you have any pics of the completed project? Also if you have any pics of the rack fully loaded with the Rotopax fuel container, that would be very interesting to see.
Sorry, no. I got side tracked and haven’t finished it yet. I bought some Tusk panniers and am working on mounting them first. It’s a bit cold in the garage here in Michigan, so need to wait until it warms up.

JT
 
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