Givi E450 Simply II Top-Box

[The Seeker]

I mentioned in another thread in product reviews that I was bidding on something on eBay and had to wait and see if I'd owe someone money for an item.

Well, I won the auction and am now the proud owner of a Givi E450 top box for my Trophy.

When I bought my Trophy, I was appalled by the price that Triumph wanted for a matching top box and refused to pay it. Later I was glad because many people who owned them found that they developed cracks if you slightly overloaded them or hit a really big bump.

I already have the factory luggage rack, but I always wanted to buy a top-box so I finally sprung for one at a price that was too good to pass up.

The guy I got this from crashed his Aprilla with this model top-box on it. Insurance replaced his bike AND the top-box, although the old one wasn't damaged at all. So he had one brand new top box he decided to sell online. In addition to it being brand new, it already had the optional extra brake light (a extra $52.00 accessory) AND the optional backrest ($49.00 extra) for less than I could buy the top box alone anywhere else.

The one I'm getting is all matte black...perfect for me since my bike is burgundy & charcoal gray. And I like the idea of having another, higher mounted brake lamp for safety.

 

[CarlS]

A very good score, AJ.

 

[The Seeker]

Oh...it's a 45 Litre version...plenty of room for two full-face helmets PLUS other stuff.

I won't be stuffing two helmets in there anyhow, so it's all just space for my junk. I have a bar-end style helmet lock and there are two helmet-lock hooks under the seat of all Trophys anyhow.

The only color options are the silver (above), matte black, or gloss black. So the matte black is perfect for me.

Givi also sells a luggage rack that can be mounted on top of this, but I think the bike would be too top-heavy if you piled stuff up there.

 

[DaveM]

It looks very nice and I am surprised at the size of it, that should give you loads of room for your everyday stuff to be stored.

 

[CarlS]

Those top boxes are definitely convenient. If I had a touring bike, I would certainly have one. It beats this method, although the dry bags worked very well. And I did have a back rest - which was very nice for the long trip.

 

[The Seeker]

Yes, I saw that photo in your ride report.

I noticed that it would create a backrest and that combining that with your forward pegs would make things nice for a long trip.

 

[CarlS]

That backrest effect and the highway bar plus the windscreen definitely were major factors in enabling me to ride straight though on the way up.

 

[Rocky]

Good for you! Nice find

 

[The Seeker]

The guy I bought it from seems like a REALLY nice guy as well.

He's emailed me several times now and told me to let him know if there's anything he can help with once I get it. He said the manual will be inside the box and that the directions are confusing, so I shouldn't hesitate to ask questions if I have any trouble figuring it out.

He said he was confused when he first mounted his on how it locks down to the rack. Then he said that if I figure it out immediately...just don't tell him...LOL!!

 

[CarlS]

I have noticed that a lot of accessory instructions are less than clear.

 

[The Seeker]

I'm a bit pissed at the US Postal Service now....

This GIVI box was supposed to arrive today, but didn't even though the tracking number says it would be!

Now they'll probably try to deliver it Monday and I have to be away most of the day Monday. You just KNOW there will be a note on my door that they tried to deliver it when I'm away.

 

[CarlS]

That sounds just about on target.

 

[keystiger]

That sucks, you would think with all the competition (fedex ups etc.) they would do a better job in shipping on time.........but no.

Carl that is quite the load you have on the Bonnie. Good on Ya

Got one of these myself a few years back.....
http://www.jcwhitney.com/motorcycle-travel-trunks/p2010969.jcwx

added the light myself (small strip of LED from ebay) in the "grip area" behind the red plastic wired into the taillight. Use it all the time can't believe the years I went without one. ANd like you was looking for an alternative to the stocker which is overpriced and gets bad reviews.

 

[The Seeker]

Wow...I couldn't have bought two of those for the price of one GIVI trunk!

I remember you posting the thread about mounting the lights.

 

[CarlS]

Carl that is quite the load you have on the Bonnie. Good on Ya

Yes it was and certainly lowered my mpg from the wind resistance. However, it made a great backrest in conjunction with the highway bars. I was able able to completely change positions.

 

[keystiger]

I am a CHEAP bastard......uhm well "frugal" .........shoot me a p.m. if you are looking to get ....uhm well anything really, if I can't find you deal there most likely isn't one to be had......anyone remember Klinger from M*A*S*H??????? I am kinda like that......without the dress, I don't have the legs for it.

 

[The Seeker]

I'll definitely keep you in mind, but for now, I've spent my limit for a while.

I wasn't really planning on buying a new wheel for my Trophy, but I knew I would have a hell of a time finding another one, plus the price was extremely cheap.

BTW, the top box came today and is quite nice. Of course, I couldn't resist mounting it on the Trophy. I had to do some creative engineering since the "universal mounting plate" isn't truly all that universal. But it's on now and is probably more secure than the GIVI brackets would have been.

Heck, this might even shame me into washing the Trophy!!

 

[DaveM]

Come on give it a wash and post some photos

 

[CarlS]

Break down and wash it and post some pics! Glad the box came in and you got it mounted.

 

[The Seeker]

Since the box was brand new, the guy never installed the brake light kit (it has parts to mount onto the bike you're going to use it on). The brake light kit was in it's unopened box inside the top box when it arrived.

So yesterday afternoon, I decided to mount it.

And I thought IKEA directions were nearly impossible to follow!!! Well, GIVI makes IKEA look easy!

First of all, they seem to be in every language except English. Not that it would have mattered much because there were very few written instructions and the drawings were nearly worthless. Plus the directions were just pages of papers stapled together with no rhyme or reason. It's not like it started out with step one and progressed on form there.

There were parts in the box that didn't appear at all in the "directions". And since this kit fits various boxes, it had directions for all of them there without any labels so you didn't know if certain parts were only used with certain top boxes. .

In all it took me around 4 hours because I didn't want to mess anything up. Today my back hurts from standing hunched over this stupid thing for so long!