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[ST] Hard luggage waterproofing



This post was originally sent to John Petrey off-line, but it seems there
are a few of us that have suffered leaky hard luggage... My dealer told me
that Triumph have experienced a few leaky boxes/panniers and ducked the
issue by claiming that they weren't being sold as waterproof. I personally
think this
is inexcusable since, in comparison, the GIVI luggage on my last bike was
fully watertight.

Eric - worth adding to FAQs?

Firstly a word of caution: I wouldn't do this unless you actually have a
leak. If it ain't broke - don't fix it!.

The first time I tried this, I just did the boots and used *bituminous*
mastic - which was a bad idea. I've now re-done it with *silicone* mastic,
and sealed the bead with mastic too, as detailed below. My *personal*
experience is only with the top box, but the dealer I spoke with spoke about
panniers as well. I would guess that the construction's roughly the same
though...

It's easier to draw than to describe... I've uploaded the associated diagram
separately.

1) Ensure that the gap in the bead is away from the main water ingress. On a
top-box this'd mean the gap is at the back, on a pannier, I would guess half
way up the back edge.

2) Squirt a line of mastic on inside each side of the bead channel near the
top. The main problem areas are the dog-legs in the channel around the
hinges and the catches; the bead doesn't bend quickly enough, and leaves a
gap for water to get in. If you don't want to mastic the whole channel, do
these bits at the very least.

3) Ensure that the hinge screws seal in their holes from the outside. Due to
the design of the boot (which has a cut-away back) it's possible for water
to get in that way too, so as a minimum, a dab of mastic around the bolt
shaft (after you've poked it through the hinge). I prefer to leave no stone
unturned, and will fill the whole boot with mastic.

Cautionary notes:

1) The nuts are 'Nylock' type, which means they don't require a lot of
torque to keep them in place. If you tighten them too much you'll end up
distorting the boots and rendering them ugly/ineffective (been there, done
that).

2) Replacement parts are unobtainable through Triumph (or anywhere else that
I'm aware of). Tread carefully!

Regards,
- --
BRG
email: keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
'00 Sprint ST BRG 'Wolfram'


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