Solo Travellers Trunk - Concept / Thoughts

[royr]

Looks very good. Just what is needed for the F6B when traveling. Eagerly waiting for the final product!

[Fla_rider]

I was looking at this closely and wondering if your width is dictated by the radio antenna. If not then you could add some width and we could relocate the antenna on the trunk which might give it better reception. It's a win-Win more space in the truck better reception for the radio.

[Patch]

Yes, the Antenna is the limiting factor. I thought about the transition of it for some time. The primary concern is trunk portability and to keep the resale value in check by leaving the antenna where it is. At least on this model. At the crest of the carrier, it sits 12 inches off the pillion pad, then has a mild slope to 10 inches at the tail. It also goes from 15 inches across at the back, to 17 inches closer to the rider and tapers back to 16 inches where the pad goes. At least that's where it is now. This allows it to slide back without antenna interruption. I do have something drafted that uses the entire back area behind the pilot and goes from opening to opening on the side panniers but there is no compensation for a second rider with it...it's just a massive trunk that could benefit police or pure soloers, 128 liters...moves the antenna array to a shark fin design to allow for multiple antenna systems. The seat also would have to be changed out.

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking we had a poor excuse of an antenna. I'm not sure why Honda would skimp on this item, but I think they did simply because the reception in my Ridgeline in certain locations is excellent compared to the F6B. From Austin, I can get reception on 5 FM stations as far away as Hempstead, which is closer to Houston, with the Ridgeline. On the F6B, all of those stations are static by the time I hit Giddings...closer to Austin. If I want music, I either have to stream it from the phone, or try to find local stations along the route.

The F6B uses a standard omnidirectional "shorty" antenna...if I were to guess, this plugs into the wire held by a clamp under that base cover. If it got better reception there would be a pre-amp and VHF compensator, which, to me, seems to be lacking on our bikes, although I may be wrong. I may look into fixing this but I'm still waiting on the service manual and have the trunk to finish.

In answer to Stevenolts questions...yes, backrest was one of the primary reasons in the design and would be part of the final solution, as is the quick-release. Initially I thought about just having it bolted down would be fine since it was for soloists, but in order to get the most out of it and allow those with pillion riders to enjoy, a slider mechanism will be used, and the current thought to quick-release would have it pulled off completely in about 10 seconds if I can fit the mechanicals in properly. This all comes at a cost. Initially I had the trunk sitting large at 104 Liters, then after a third mockup, it dropped to 92L. Now with the inclusion of the rails, and modular fittings, it's at 88 Liters.

[Kurare79]

Now with the inclusion of the rails, and modular fittings, it's at 88 Liters.

That's still a lot of room for a trip Thinking of my last bike i had about a maximum of 35 to 42 liters on each side bag. And my trunk at the top had 45 liters... so all together there will be a lot of storage on the F6B with this trunk

[pilotguy299]

In this kind of configuration:




you could leave the antenna mount to preserve resale value, unscrew the antenna mast and use a short jumper cable to place the mast elsewhere. Or maybe even use a short piece of anodized metal and offset the mast from the mount. That way you could make the trunk wider without having to do any bodywork on the F6B.

Something along the lines of this:



And something that slides & locks in to place on the Bikemp3 rack, while still using the deluxe's backrest would be amazing!

[royr]

Yes, the Antenna is the limiting factor. I thought about the transition of it for some time. The primary concern is trunk portability and to keep the resale value in check by leaving the antenna where it is.

In answer to Stevenolts questions...yes, backrest was one of the primary reasons in the design and would be part of the final solution, as is the quick-release. I Now with the inclusion of the rails, and modular fittings, it's at 88 Liters.

+1 for portability, backrest, and the quick release, 88 liters is quite a bit of space.

[Kurare79]

Hi Patch! Any updates so far? Spring is there and summer is getting closer...

[Penguin]

What a great concept. I would definitely be a buyer. Hope you can bring this product to market. Good luck

[Patch]

Hi Patch! Any updates so far? Spring is there and summer is getting closer...

Good news is that the CAD work is nearly completed. I have the clay model nearly complete and hope to be laying the initial development model up in fiberglass soon. I am trying to get the funds up to process two patents that are integral to producing this as a product the way I envisioned it...without having to compromise certain features, and they both have to do with the lock and mount system.

Once I finish the CAD work, I'm going to have it printed on a large scale 3D printer using ABS to validate against the fiberglass model and get a comparison of weight and which direction to go for production. Thus far I still don't have a good idea on the cost to manufacture as I'm getting a lot of various responses from manufacturers regarding roll-up concerns...such as tooling/dye costs, MOQ or run volumes, etc.

As soon as I have the time to get the molds together for the fiberglass model, I'll post a few photos as an update. I really want to get to that milestone by June. I had planned a trip for a couple of months around the US but that is cancelled indefinitely, sadly, so I have some time to get the project moved along.

[Kurare79]

Good Morning Patch,

thank you very much for your update! I am very happy to hear that this project is still alive and you are working on it's development
As i read in your post it's a complex thing to reach the point of manufacturing and then calculating with numbers begins. I hope you find a solution!

Sorry to hear you had to cancel your US-Trip (Our trip this year got canceled, too. My wife thought we need a new home.)

Good luck and success on your project - i am and surely many others are looking forward to it!