Since we have unusual high load on our bikes, we had to construct a proper rack for the CRF250L. The commercial racks you can order online are not made for this. So we went to a local welder that is experienced with motorcycle racks and gave him a construction layout. Together with his knowledge, we finally constructed two bomb proof racks, that never have been letting us down so far.
- We used normal steel for the racks. First of all it is cheaper than aluminium, but even more important is the fact, that it is much easier to weld. It is quite hard to find an aluminium welder in the middle of nowhere.
- The whole rack is one piece what makes it very sturdy.
- The strong bars on both sides shift most of the load to the main frame. That is extremely important, because the CRF’s subframe is not made to carry 40 to 50kg (80 to 110lbs) of luggage. The bars also run quite close to the bike. Like that you don’t bump your calves against them while pushing the bike.
- The bars going over the back part of the bike are flat steel and no tubing. This provides better seating of our luggage and is also more comfortable for a pillion rider.
- The opposite side to the exhaust pipe has an insert for a 6,6L (1.75 gal) Rotopax petrol can.
- There are two fastenings on both sides where you slide in the tabs on our panniers. On the top sides there are lead-ins for the velcro straps of the panniers.
- Both racks are powder coated in black.
We had almost no trouble with them on the whole trip, but we had to reinforce the rear mounting points in Australia. However – even with two broken mounting points, the racks were still strong enough and the rear frame never snapped.
Hello there,
What a great rack 👍 would love to have more details . Do you have a drawing from this rack??
Thanks for the nice posts about the CRF 👍👍
Hi Ineke,
thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, we don’t have a drawing, but I could send you more details, of course. We probably will get new racks made for our CRF300L next spring. We’ll return to Argentina next week till mid of february 2022, so we don’t have time to go to our welder anymore.
What we would definitely change next time, is the frame holding the canisters. It is too massive and not needed like that. We would use a simple Rotopax mount instead and rather safe some weight. This rack was also made specifically for the AS Magadan panniers. So the fastenings would need to be differently for other panniers. The upper front mounts on the CRF300Ls are also reinforced now. They should be strong enough. However the ones on the CRF250Ls are just a thin metal sheet with a welded-on nut. If you plan to have lots of load, make sure to reinforce these metal sheets (see here https://www.rtwriders.com/2020/07/bike-mods-for-the-big-trip/). The 2 rear mounts on our racks were made with 3mm sheets only. That was also “too weak” – means they broke after ~60k kilometers on both bikes.
I hope, I could give you some more informations. If you should have more questions, feel free to contact us. I could also take some more photos, if you want, as soon as we’re back in Argentina (where the bikes are in the moment).
Cheers Tobi and Miri