The Bonneville has no official plate, and the Givi rack I bought doesn't include any fixings. After a whole lot of research, I set my heart on a Givi E45 top box (and E250 universal mounting plate). The plate was easy to buy all over the place and about £30 (overpriced for a hunk of plastic and some screws IMO). The box was about £120 new including postage and looked easy to get hold of. Well, in theory.
The reasons for wanting the E45 were basically:
I tried an couple of ebay listings without success and eventually settled for a new one from motorcycleplanet.co.uk along with the fixing plate. Then a day later they phoned to explain that they had the box on order from Givi in Italy, but they'd had loads on order and none being sent. Props to Motorcycle Planet - the lady who phoned was very up front and said she though Givi were discontinuing them but not telling anybody, and I could cancel or join a waiting list. She sent the rest of my order onfree shipping which was only meant to apply if I spent >£150. Meanwhile I found a few more places selling E45s... and chasing up with each of them they eventually conceded that they also had no stock.
I did a bit more ebay chasing but various listings slipped past me. Eventually I found a guy selling a pair (since they also work as panniers) for £130 and decided I'd take it and sell one on. The same day the MP lady phoned to confirm they'd been discontinued. A real shame as it's obviously popular and Givi aren't replacing it with anything similar.
I strapped one box in the other and couriered them from way out west London back to south east London. Not sure I would not recommend doing this again... the open double box setup resulted in some wobbly handlebars and general feeling of not being very stable.
The box is absolutely perfect though. Looks way better than expected, takes both my helmets and almost even looks appropriate on the Bonnie! I'd totally recommend them, if you can find one!
The reasons for wanting the E45 were basically:
- It's about the right size - Will hold two helmets and 50+ litres may be a bit large for the bike.
- It's cheap for what it is - The newer Givi models go for £50-100 more.
- It looks better than those anyway! The angular, simple, clean design vs the curved, over styled, scooter-friendly look of most Givis is way better suited to the Bonneville.
I tried an couple of ebay listings without success and eventually settled for a new one from motorcycleplanet.co.uk along with the fixing plate. Then a day later they phoned to explain that they had the box on order from Givi in Italy, but they'd had loads on order and none being sent. Props to Motorcycle Planet - the lady who phoned was very up front and said she though Givi were discontinuing them but not telling anybody, and I could cancel or join a waiting list. She sent the rest of my order onfree shipping which was only meant to apply if I spent >£150. Meanwhile I found a few more places selling E45s... and chasing up with each of them they eventually conceded that they also had no stock.
I did a bit more ebay chasing but various listings slipped past me. Eventually I found a guy selling a pair (since they also work as panniers) for £130 and decided I'd take it and sell one on. The same day the MP lady phoned to confirm they'd been discontinued. A real shame as it's obviously popular and Givi aren't replacing it with anything similar.
I strapped one box in the other and couriered them from way out west London back to south east London. Not sure I would not recommend doing this again... the open double box setup resulted in some wobbly handlebars and general feeling of not being very stable.
The box is absolutely perfect though. Looks way better than expected, takes both my helmets and almost even looks appropriate on the Bonnie! I'd totally recommend them, if you can find one!
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