Small hard tool box to fit the Honda toolkit that comes with the bike?

The problem: The toolkit comes in a soft pouch that is stored securely under the seat--removing the seat first requires removing the tail cover, which requires tools.

Proposed solution: find a compact hard tool case that neatly fits all of the tools in the kit (bonus points if it can keep them organized), durable enough to handle being on the road, and small enough to strap into an empty side case bracket with velcro, or fit in a tank bag or side case.

Has anyone attempted doing this, or found a case that works well for the task?

 

Try Pelican Cases. They do a great range that are just about nuclear blast proof.

Carpy

 

Removing the seat requires removing the tail cover? When you turn the key and apply a little force back and up to the seat pan, the seat should pop right up.

 

Maybe this depends on which gen VFR you have. My mistake if it does. What tool do you need to remove the cover? Maybe just put that tool somewhere convenient rather than the entire toolkit?

 

I made me a tool box out of windshield wipers cases, the ones that come in hard plastic sleeves. I cut them to my desired length, punched a couple of holes at the top to match the cap and be able to close them. Is not sturdy plastic, it's brittle if mishandled, but been using it for a long time now. Made me one for the bike's tools and one for a set of allen wrenches, I also store zip ties, case of spare fuses and spare screws and bolts.
Not a great invention, mind you, but works just fine for my needs.

 

The 5th gen tail cover bolts on with the passenger handles (I presume) over the end of the seat. My bike has a luggage bracket bolted on there instead which I need to remove to take off the tail cover, and thanks to some missing/mismatched hardware I need a ratchet with an extension, 10mm socket and a 5.5mm allen driver to remove it (and it would take half a bloody hour to remove it with a box end wrench and allen key due to the placement and long threading), which brings the size of my tailcover-removing-to-reach-the-main-toolkit-toolkit to almost the size of the toolkit itself.

 

Oh, i see. That's pretty inconvenient.

 

Hmm - Are you talking about needing tools to remove the fairing panel which wraps around the rear of the bike? Or when you say "tail cover" do you really mean the pillion seat cowl? I can understand the need for tools to take the fairing panel off - but you should be able to remove an OEM Honda 5th Gen VFR pillion seat cowl without any tools - as they look like this .. and as you can see are not attached to the passenger handles.



The OEM pillion seat cowl on 5th gen bikes looks very similar if not identical to the 6th Gen model where the seat and cowl are removed as a pair and should not require any tools - just turn the seat lock key and pull the far end of the seat and cowl back and up. Even on a bike like mine which is also fitted with an OEM Honda luggage carrier and full set of factory panniers and top box in place, it is still just possible to remove the seat and pillion cowl without any tools provided you just follow that process. - Yes it gets very close to fouling on the carrier rack, but on my 6th gen it is clearly designed to have just enough clearance and I think that applies to 5th gen models also.

Perhaps it would help if you post up some photos of the set-up on your bike?


SkiMad

 

Must be the luggage rack brackets that he mentioned that are the pain in his arse.
John

 

Your picture cuts off the very edges of that cowl where it has tabs going down with holes in them, which are bolted in behind the fairing with, as I can see in the other picture, silver bolts of some kind. I always assumed that stock there were handles mounted there. The piece they bolt into is a cross beam beneath the seat. The cowl therefore holds the seat down in place until it is removed.



Either way, something has to be unbolted to remove that tail cover. My luggage rack just means the particular bolts used are a bit more inconvenient than stock.

 

Thanks - the picture confirms that Honda redesigned the seat cowl fitted to the 6th Gens as they do not have those bolt hole lugs. Instead they have three tabs which clamp around and locate under the seat, which means it is a simple no tools task to fit/remove.

I guess if you do want to be able to remove the seat without a heap of tools, then one option would be to get the tools out once and permanently remove that cowl from the pillion seat and then bolt everything back up. Alternatively you might be able to keep the solo seat aesthetics by simply replacing the bolts which pass through it with a suitable sized gooseneck handle screw - something like this..



It will take some dismantling to identify the correct thread size and track down a suitable handle, but once fitted they should allow you to remove the seat and access the under-seat storage area, without having to carry any tools.




SkiMad

 

Look around, white house press might still carry them, for a small locking box that mounts between the license plate bracket and the license plate. It is large enough for tools and registration papers and such. The last time I saw it in a white house press it was shown mounted to a 5th gen VFR in their catalog.

http://www.whitehorsegear.com/luggage/storage-and-organization

License plat storage box

 

That's a good idea. I might look into especially the type of fastener that has a fold-out handle that lays flush when not in use. Only potential problem is that with the way the luggage bracket is angled in toward the bolt hole, any fastener with a sufficiently wide head for gripping might interfere and have not enough space to turn.

This made me think of another idea, though.... does anyone know if the 6th gen seat cover would fit (or could be made to fit) on the 5th gen VFR? If I could grab one of those and make it fit on my bike, it would save a lot of hassle.

That's bloody brilliant, unfortunately it wouldn't allow me to use my license plate bolt lights, and is too small to carry the full toolkit... could still be very useful for so many other things.