How-To: Install a Trunk
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:25 pm
Right out the gate, I have to disclose that I am a Honda fanatic. Virtually every bit of machinery in my home is from Honda. Two cars, two scooters, a riding tractor and a push mower. I'm also a HUGE fan of OEM parts from Honda. I've also spent over 20 years working on Hondas as a side business doing everything from regular maintenance to engine and transmission rebuilds and swaps. Ask me about my rebuild of my Metro scooter after my brother totaled it in a head-on accident! He walked away with only a sore neck.
After buying my PCX 150, I read up on the forums and looked at all the options for a trunk. The Honda one seemed pretty solid (better than the one for the 125!), but was not wide enough to fit my 15" Macbook laptop. The Givi B33 and E370 were the finalists and I decided on the E370 (with backrest) for the option of the brake light in the future. Now, onto the mounting plate. The Givi adaptor seemed fine, but pretty primitive. Scrubbing around the internets, I discovered an image of the Honda plate that seemed much more substantial. I took the chance and ordered the 08L70-KZY-910 from Powers Edge.com and the Givi trunk and backrest from the great guys at Sport Tour.com With all these in hand, I decided to set off on a "How To" with some tweaks to what others have posted around the internet and using the Honda plate. 01. Opening the seat, you'll find that the tail trim is separate from the rest of the seat body panels. You'll need to remove this trim to make some holes for the new mount. 02. There are two philips screws to remove here. 03. The rest of the trim is held on by clips. You'll want to take care in pulling the trim up. If you are hasty, you can pretty easily crack the rear edge. Start on the leading edge of each side and gently pull up. 03b. The side of the trim needs to be tugged out to the side to get past the claws on the frame. 03c. Here is another look at that side claw. From here, you'll just pull up to pop loose from the rear clip. 04. Behold the metal frame of your bike. Notice the four empty bolt holes near the rear. This is where you will attach your adaptor plate. 05. First, you have to make four holes in your beautiful bit of trim. NOT my favorite thing to do on a brand-new machine, but I need a trunk! Place the trim upside down on a soft towel or other surface. 05b. Honda, in their infinite accessory wisdom, has provided faint marks on the underside of the trim panel where you will make your holes. These are the larger ones and you'll need to find the center of each. 05c. I chose to first make smaller pilot holes to make sure I had found center. 05d. And here is the top side with all four holes. 05e. Time for the bigger bit! Honda calls for a 20mm bit. I only have a 7/8" bit, which is about 1mm wider and I had to take care to not carve more than just the bit width. 05f. Here is the rough larger holes. 06. Okay, now for a bit of a detour. Honda's instructions have you begin filing away the edges of the holes to allow the mount to fit precisely. This involves some test fitting and snapping the trim on and off the bike a few times. In an effort to NOT break off all the clips, I decided to remove all three while getting through this part. You can use a straightened paper clip to gently pry open the clip on either side. (bonus points for who can identify what I used) 06b. And here is the clip mount with the clip removed. 07. A test fit on the bike to see how the alignment is working. I actually placed the mount plate on and determined where some trimming would be needed. 08. Caution as you begin filing. Don't bang into or break this alignment tab on each side. Otherwise, you may end up with some NVH in your tail! 09. I would suggest a round file for the work here. Others have used the edge of their bit, but you'll chip off a lot of paint in the process. Even by hand, you have to be careful to file ONLY away from the outer body paint and towards the underside. 10. Once you get it all lined up, time to bolt on the plate. Don't forget to reattach your clips, if you removed them. Honda calls for 20 ft/lb of torque on all four. I used just a bit of blue thread lock to keep these secure. Love this OEM Honda plate! So strong, you can actually pick up the bike from the back edge. Very clean too. 11. Okay, now time to mount the Monolock base which comes with the trunk. Takes a bit of rigging, but I had decided it was worth it for the Honda plate. 11b. I did a little bit of "fancy" work involving washers and a metal tube, but you can just use the included Givi brackets. 12. And the finished Givi plate installed and VERY sturdy. The grand finale with the trunk (with the optional backrest) installed. Sorry for the messy garage background, but it was a cold night when I finished! Total project time for me was about 2 hours, obviously taking it slow. Let me know if I missed something or you'd like more detail!
After buying my PCX 150, I read up on the forums and looked at all the options for a trunk. The Honda one seemed pretty solid (better than the one for the 125!), but was not wide enough to fit my 15" Macbook laptop. The Givi B33 and E370 were the finalists and I decided on the E370 (with backrest) for the option of the brake light in the future. Now, onto the mounting plate. The Givi adaptor seemed fine, but pretty primitive. Scrubbing around the internets, I discovered an image of the Honda plate that seemed much more substantial. I took the chance and ordered the 08L70-KZY-910 from Powers Edge.com and the Givi trunk and backrest from the great guys at Sport Tour.com With all these in hand, I decided to set off on a "How To" with some tweaks to what others have posted around the internet and using the Honda plate. 01. Opening the seat, you'll find that the tail trim is separate from the rest of the seat body panels. You'll need to remove this trim to make some holes for the new mount. 02. There are two philips screws to remove here. 03. The rest of the trim is held on by clips. You'll want to take care in pulling the trim up. If you are hasty, you can pretty easily crack the rear edge. Start on the leading edge of each side and gently pull up. 03b. The side of the trim needs to be tugged out to the side to get past the claws on the frame. 03c. Here is another look at that side claw. From here, you'll just pull up to pop loose from the rear clip. 04. Behold the metal frame of your bike. Notice the four empty bolt holes near the rear. This is where you will attach your adaptor plate. 05. First, you have to make four holes in your beautiful bit of trim. NOT my favorite thing to do on a brand-new machine, but I need a trunk! Place the trim upside down on a soft towel or other surface. 05b. Honda, in their infinite accessory wisdom, has provided faint marks on the underside of the trim panel where you will make your holes. These are the larger ones and you'll need to find the center of each. 05c. I chose to first make smaller pilot holes to make sure I had found center. 05d. And here is the top side with all four holes. 05e. Time for the bigger bit! Honda calls for a 20mm bit. I only have a 7/8" bit, which is about 1mm wider and I had to take care to not carve more than just the bit width. 05f. Here is the rough larger holes. 06. Okay, now for a bit of a detour. Honda's instructions have you begin filing away the edges of the holes to allow the mount to fit precisely. This involves some test fitting and snapping the trim on and off the bike a few times. In an effort to NOT break off all the clips, I decided to remove all three while getting through this part. You can use a straightened paper clip to gently pry open the clip on either side. (bonus points for who can identify what I used) 06b. And here is the clip mount with the clip removed. 07. A test fit on the bike to see how the alignment is working. I actually placed the mount plate on and determined where some trimming would be needed. 08. Caution as you begin filing. Don't bang into or break this alignment tab on each side. Otherwise, you may end up with some NVH in your tail! 09. I would suggest a round file for the work here. Others have used the edge of their bit, but you'll chip off a lot of paint in the process. Even by hand, you have to be careful to file ONLY away from the outer body paint and towards the underside. 10. Once you get it all lined up, time to bolt on the plate. Don't forget to reattach your clips, if you removed them. Honda calls for 20 ft/lb of torque on all four. I used just a bit of blue thread lock to keep these secure. Love this OEM Honda plate! So strong, you can actually pick up the bike from the back edge. Very clean too. 11. Okay, now time to mount the Monolock base which comes with the trunk. Takes a bit of rigging, but I had decided it was worth it for the Honda plate. 11b. I did a little bit of "fancy" work involving washers and a metal tube, but you can just use the included Givi brackets. 12. And the finished Givi plate installed and VERY sturdy. The grand finale with the trunk (with the optional backrest) installed. Sorry for the messy garage background, but it was a cold night when I finished! Total project time for me was about 2 hours, obviously taking it slow. Let me know if I missed something or you'd like more detail!