Jesse's topcase mount broken. Anybody else had this happen?

[MrTwisty]

The other day I noticed that the mount to my Jesse's topcase had broken. I have no idea how or when it happened. Has anybody else had this problem?

The good thing is thaJesse'ses Luggage sent me a new one immediately, no questions asked. Great company to do business with. I'm more than a little surprised that this happened because their luggage is very high quality, sturdy stuff.

Haven't gotten it yet, but I hope they changed the design.Perhaps if the gussets came further out and maybe if there were more than 2 gussets it would help. I couldn't be the only one.

 

[cadcamkenny]

Damn, I can see the breakage is severe. Do you think this happened off-road and was your top case full or empty before the break?
I have the SW Motech steel top rack and the 2 long mounting bolts have broken twice on me both times, the top case was empty. Twisted Throttle sent me the new revised top rack after the first breakage but the 2nd set of bolts holding the new rack promptly broke after just two weeks. I properly torqued the bolts each time. The Jesse rack looks to have a much better mounting design than the SW Motech but this is clearly a stress break and will probably happen again.
I have since replaced the countersunk German bolts with Ace hardware grade 8.8 bolts and they are holding but I have no confidence in riding even light off road with a top case mounted on there.
In reading this forum, you can find that many have had top case failure with different brands including the stock top case. There must be unusually large stresses back there.

 

[MrTwisty]

I don't know how when it happened, but I'm pretty sure that happened off-road. The top case stays on the bike and usually contains my rain gear and my wife's rain gear. I only use the side bags for long trips, as the top case is usually enough storage for a day ride and my wife likes the security of having something behind her.

I had a $89 JC Whitney top case on my KTM 950 for years and I thought it would break for sure, but it never did. Now I buy an expensive top case for the S10 and it breaks within a few months, and I don't ride the S10 as hard as I did the 950.

 

[gbergma1]

Mr. Twisty,

Thanks for sharing the photos. I agree with you, when I pulled the rack out of the box I thought it was a robust steel weldment. I haven't had any issues with mine and I have been abusing it, but once a crack propogates with that enormous lever off the back end, it could be really bad news. I've since added tie down straps to reduce the moment and hopefully avoid some highway excitement. Glad to hear Al took care of the issue. Curious, did he want the broken part back? They should want to know why it broke, design, or process? I have photos attached, this is the heaviest thing I put on the rack, all together it is under 30 pounds.

...gb

 

[MrTwisty]

gberma1,

I don't really know what caused the topcase mount to break, but I suspect that the whipping affect induced by off-road riding was the culprit. I think the cheap JC Whitney unit may have held up better because it was more flexible, and the rigidity of the Jesse's system may have been it's downfall. When I get the new mount I think I'm going to try to find some thick rubber washers to give the system more flexibility. Therefore, I think it was both design and process, but the design should withstand the process. That's why I plan to add some flex to the system in an attempt to reduce the stresses induced.

Straps may help but they would be a PIA every time I wanted to get into my topcase. They look like a great idea for transporting your bicycle though.

Yes, Al wants the broken mount returned for analysis, and he included a pre-paid UPS label. Like I said, Jesse's Luggage has been great. The quality of their luggage and their service is top notch. However, it may be the superior quality that caused this failure because the rigidity of a structure doesn't always make it stronger. This lesson was learned by structural engineers building earthquake resistant buildings, and I'd say it may also apply to building motorcycle luggage.

 

[rush2112]

Ah, what do engineers know anyway?

Sent from my LG Optimus G using Tapatalk HD

 

[MrTwisty]

Ah, what do engineers know anyway?

Good point.