Don’t you hate it when you’re opening your side bags and your stuff falls out and all over the road? It’s annoying and I’ve been trying to figure out a better way.

I was looking online and found a couple different versions of this design. Prices range from 40 bucks to 80 bucks and it looked like such a simple design I thought I’d do it myself and save some money.

These work great and it didn’t cost more than 10 bucks. I just went down to the local plastic shop right across the alley from where I work and bought a sheet of clear polycarbonate about 1/8th thick. The plastic I got didn’t cut super great. It shatters fairly easily when using a reciprocating saw with a dull blade. If I did this again I would use tape or even purchase a special blade for cutting plastic. The plastic itself is extremely strong and very flexible, it just doesn’t like to be cut with dull blades.

First thing I did was to make a template out of paper and this way I could place the template inside the case and make adjustments. I made them so that they reach about half the height of the luggage… about 8 inches.

Once I got the shape down the way I liked, I placed the paper on the plastic sheet and traced clean lines around the template.  Note – I made use of the very straight edge of the cut plastic. One less cut with the jiggle saw.

I was lucky to have my old man helping me out for the afternoon. He was a good “template placer” and “plastic sheet holder”. I would recommend having someone there to hold the plastic while you cut.

Here is the cut plastic in rough form. Like I said, this plastic seemed to shatter pretty easily with the tools I was using. My saw is ancient and so are my drill bits. In fact, you should probably use a special drill for this type of plastic. A drill bit for metal is not the right tool. I made it work with very very slow drilling and being careful not to put too much pressure.

So far so good. Seems to fit nicely and I can see where I need to fine tune. The jiggle saw worked great and it helps to keep the sheet of plastic from flopping around. Once you get into a rhythm the cutting goes quickly.

For the slots, I used a drill and made three holes very near each other. This part was tedious since I didn’t have the right type of drill bit. But it worked nonetheless. I just had to work really slow.  After I drilled the holes, I used a knife and cleaned them up a bit. I looked for rubber grommets but didn’t find any, so I’m using duct tape temporarily to add some protection for the straps. To finish off the edges, I used a series of files that worked well. You want to make sure to get those sharp edges off to avoid cutting or shredding any of your gear. Here is the finished product. You simply loop the straps through the slots and you’re ready to start packing. Also, notice the notch I ended up putting in on the far end to accommodate the lid strap.

Now your small stuff won’t fall out and spill all over the road when you open your luggage. You could use colored plastic as well. I was even thinking of making pockets to hold small stuff and then attaching them to the dividers.

Tags: BMW, BMW R1100s, dividers, drill bit, dull blades, luggage, old man, plastic shop, polycarbonate, side bags

I was browsing around the biker forums today and came across these vintage BMW motorcycle safety videos from 1975. I thought they were really well done and they show an interesting progression of how far safety has come. On the other hand I was surprised by how advanced they were for 1975. They mention guarding the brake with two fingers and I thought that was a relatively new idea. Learn something new everyday. The one major thing that stands out is that they were recommending lane sharing on the left side of the traffic. Does anyone know when that changed? Also, notice the Rockford Files theme music in the begining.

UPDATE: The videos below have been removed by the user. I hate when that happens! Sorry.

Tags: BMW, bmw motorcycle, motorcycle safety, rockford files, traffic, two fingers, vintage bmw, vintage motorcycle