Righto, so what would be classier on a new bike than an old beat up ammo can bolted on the side of it? Not much that I can think of. Why do this when you can just buy some pretty saddle bags, wait this is on a Triumph, you can drop tons of money and get "City Bags." Well let me explain why I'm going this route other than the dirt cheapness of the whole deal. For those of you who don't know ammo cans are water proof, and with very little work you can also make them to lock. I'm really worried about people stealing shit off of my bike, to the point that on my SV650 I would take my empty tank bag off and carry it into the gas station to pay for my petro. Since moving to the Scrambler I have lost my small locking under seat storage area as well. Anyway I wanted a way to carry my rain gear with me with having to take up most of the space in my awesome Aerostich courier bag. So one day at work the light bulb flashed on above my head and I though "Ammo Can!" So after holding a few different ones up next to my bike (four years in the Marines you learn to love the usefulness of the ammo can and have quite a few follow you home) I found one that was large enough to fit my rain suit and I think I can stuff a few tools in there to boot. I pretty much mocked it up, I think I want to get some one inch by quarter inch steal bar stock to make a stronger one, but I might road test this set-up for shits and giggles.
After doing some homework on the internet on how other people have made side racks for the Scramblers I figured I could use the unused threaded holes under the seat and the shock mount bolt. Another benefit of using the shock bolt was that anything closer to the frame would cause the lid of the can to rub on the seat or the seat would plain be in the way of the lid causing me to have to remove the seat to get into it. Although that would be very secure, if it started to piss rain on me I want to be able to get into the can pretty quickly. Now on to the picture and such...
I pretty much used a hammer to get the proper bends in the brace to get it to clear the seat and hold the can in the position that I was looking for.
A pretty straight forward mounting off of the shock bolt, I have a nut between the can and the mounting bracket to help give the can proper distance from the seat.
Side shot, sadly this can had all the ammo info spray painted off of it like "should" be done, so the can will get sprayed flat black.
From the front, the can sticks out 7 1/2 inches from the frame at the furthest point, the high pipes on the other side are only two inches closer, so its pretty even.
From the rear.
I still need to open up the hole a little on the closure handle and mount a tab with a hole in it to accept a pad lock. I'm also planning on putting some strap points onto the top of the can for added goodness, and after it is fully sorted the bolt holes will be sealed with silicon from the side. I think this should do pretty well. The bikes style works well for this type of accessory I feel, if not I'm always game for making other riders cringe at the things I have done to my bike.
Part Two:
The all the mounting brackets can be remove when the seat is removed. To mount a lower brace it would have to shoot out from the passenger peg. The liquid sealing measures are mostly because it is easiest and will work. The can I used wieghs in at about 5lbs (5.56mm ammo can) so it isn't too bad, I'd guess in the same ballpark as leather bags. My welding skills suck so the bolts will stay bolts till I learn to weld better.
Part Three:
Ok, here is the finished product. I made the final brackets out of some eight inch corner bracket stock that I found at Home Dump. The strap mounting brackets are from Aerostich, and some nice contrast to the flat black finish on the rest of it. The can is very stable, and a couple of people have already asked if I bought it. The size is perfect for what I was looking for, I can fit my full rain suit, a small socket set, and my analog GPS system (laminated maps).
The mounting brackets
The lock setup
The top
Looks great. Would love to see a side shot of the bike. Question....are you still able to carry a passenger or does the ammo can get in the way?
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