Givi Top Case Question

I have recently purchased a top case rack for my 2000 VFR and I was wondering if I could get some opinions from people who own, or have owned, a bike with a Givi top case installed. My main purpose for the rack is carrying my son's (he will be 6 this year) helmet, back pack and jacket for when I give him a ride to school, or for when we go on small day trips. My thoughts were to get a Givi E52 top case so it would be able to hold both helmets when we stop and so I can carry his jacket and helmet with me to work after I drop him off at school.

Does anyone on the forum have an E52 top case and how much stuff are you able to put inside. My helmet is a Shoei RF1000 "M" sized and my sons is an HJC "Youth S". None of the motorcycle dealers near me carry the cases in stock so I am unable to see how much stuff can actually be packed inside one. I have talked with one of the Reps at Givi USA but as he put it, without seeing the size of the stuff I want to put in the case, it is hard to say how much will fit. As an example, could I fit the two helmets inside and then my sons Tourmaster jacket on top and still be able to close the case properly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I have a V46 top-case on my 2003 VFR and can fit quite a few things. I commute daily to work and can fit a work bag, lunch sack, and blazer in the case with some room to spare for gloves, scarf and hat for winter. Also, I've been able to store my Large Shoei RF1100 helmet next to a smaller one on its side, but that is it. The E52 is larger, so you should expect plenty of room for you needs.

 

Thanks proverbio

Would you perchance have a picture of your bike with the topcase on it from the side and maybe the back, just so I might see what the width and depth of the case looks like overall when its on the bike.

 

Better to have the pictures. Withe all the stuff inside :wink:

 

Here are some of the pix.













One correction.

I stated in my previous post that I could fit my RF1100 helmet next to a smaller one, but that is NOT possible - I tried. I did have an older generation Shoei RF1000, and that one was small enough to allow for a smaller helmet next to it. Sorry for the misinformation, hope this helps.

 

Have a v46 myself, never thought I would be a top case lover but it grows on you fast. Tough to do withoot it now and wont run around with side bags like Long does while splitting lanes. :fear: scary to watch.

 

Cool. Thanks for the photos proverbio. My current helmet is a Shoei RF1000 and my son's is really small so I think I will be ok as far as room goes inside the case. Main concern was so that I could put his small helmet and jacket inside the top case while I continued to work after dropping him off at school. The photos really help me with how the case will look on the back of the bike. It would appear from your photos that the case is not all that big (especially width wise) so even the E52 likely won't look like a beluga whale on the back of the bike. As my wife just said, it's OK to HAVE some junk in the trunk, so long as it does not LOOK like you have junk in the trunk. We may have to be a bit more anal about the decision though and have the lid painted to match the bike. The color match scheme on your bike sure makes it looks like it fits really well with the color scheme on the bike.

 

Looks like it's OK to haul the kiddos around on a bike in BC if they can reach the pegs. Other places have different regs.

Hopefully no one who is affected by local regs will stuff the tykes or various pets especially fish, into bike luggage.

 

I had the case on a Burgman many years ago and loved it. It has followed me since. Toe Cutter is right, "it grows on you fast."

I aslo have a pair of Givi side cases that I use for overnight trips. If you need more room, they are a great solution.

 

Yes, accoriding to the regs which took affect in BC last year, the passenger must be able to sit on the passenger portion of the seat and be able to reach the foot pegs. Currently my son is able to stand on the pegs and clear the seat by about an inch. My wife and I have purchased full gear for him and we both enjoy short rides around the area we live in, such as back and forth to school and City Park. Generally we don't go too far from home and rarely exceed 60 km/h. He is a great passenger and both of us enjoy the father and son time he gets when we get to go for a ride. Oddly enough, he has asked if we could take his guinea pigs along with us on the rides. My son says "They will fit perfectly in the topcase and to keep them safe they could sit in mommies upside down helmet." Well, at least he was thinking about their safety, but my wife and I did explain to him that it was not safe for the guinea pigs. I have seen a guy in town who rides a VStrom 650 with his Shitzu in his top case. He has a hole cut in the lid so the dog can stick its head out, but the hole is not big enough for the dog to squeeze its body out. I pulled up behind him once at a stop light and wondered why the top case had a hole cut in the lid and then POP out came the dogs head. As soon as we took off from the light the dog disappeared back inside the case.

 

Some places use the kiddo's age as a benchmark.. Speaking of dogs... WTF is with the legislators everywhere who seem to think that driving a cage with a dog on one's lap is OK? Little guys have to be in special seats, drivers have to be belted, I see cagers all the time with some really big dogs on their laps. So big it looks like the dog is the driver.. I shit you not..

Bottom line when physics take over in a collision that beloved St.Bernard or Chihuahua becomes a meat missle inside any four wheeler. Also we are dealing with an animal which if injured or hurt thinks of #1 at 100% and will do what it takes to survive.

This includes Fifi the fluffy Poodle who hardly bites anyone.

 

Ten bucks or ten Loonies says if somebody made a topcase like that where the head of a dog or other popped out at stops, you'd see them in Harley stores the next day.

 

Tink, the plate for the top case COULD be modified to receive a child safety seat.



Kidding. Kidding. The main reason I did not buy a motorcycle earlier in life is that you couldn't(shouldn't) put a child safety seat on a motorcycle.
These days, 2 of my four kids love riding with me. The youngest is 12. We take quick rides together any chance we get.

 

I have to look into the laws in Ontario about the age for kids. My 8 year old daughter wants to go riding with me next summer. A back rest on the top case would be a nice option.

 

No minimum age limit in BC as far as kids being passengers goes but there is the limit on being able to touch the foot pegs while sitting on the passenger portion of the seat. I have been followed by a local RCMP police bike before and he pulled me over while my son was on the back of the bike with me. Since I had just pulled around a corner from a stop light and had yet to shift to 2nd gear, I was a little baffled as to why I was being pulled over. The regulations on the passenger pegs had yet to be mandated and my son had just turned 5 years old at the time. The officer came up beside me and asked if I knew why I was being pulled over and I said "No". He asked my son why his daddy had been pulled over and he too said "No sir, daddy wasn't speeding was he?" The officer laughed and said "No, I just wanted to say thank you for riding so circumspectly with your son on the bike." He also had a son who was about the same age and was glad to see he was not the only one to go for rides with his son on the back of the bike. He then asked where we were headed and I told him we were heading to one of the local parks, and he offered to give us an escort. My son asked if he could use the lights and sirens and he said he couldn't do that, but he did turn on the police lights when we entered the park. My son was absolutely beaming with delight when he saw that, and once he got off the bike and out of his riding gear he went over to play at the playground. I sat and talked a while with the officer and we both laughed once we noticed how popular my son had become. Once the officer had left, I went to push my son on the swings and a couple of kids came over to say how cool the bike was and how lucky my son was to get to ride on a motorcycle. The fact that we arrived at the park with a Police officer on a motorcycle with it's lights flashing, well, that was just icing on the cake as far as the kids were concerned.

My wife has asked that we get one of the bump pads for the top case so that she has something to lean against for comfort when we go for rides. After searching the Givi site and looking at both the E52 case and a new case, the V47, we both like the looks of the V47 a bit more. The shape of the V47 seems to better mimic the lines of the bike in my opinion. The overall dimensions are almost identical to the E52 which strikes me as odd, but it is a really nice looking case and should be plenty large enough for our purposes.

 

As in each state here, the law or regulation might be different in the provinces. Best bet is to read the actual law. LEOs and clerks at the various DMV's do not know the vehicle codes by heart and people do tend to make up shit so they can finish their donuts and coffee. Case in point not so much relative riding the kiddos about but in Washington State one can ride without a helmet if the bike is an "antique". Where it gets strange is that the legal discription of "antique" is defined at 100 years old and if memory serves, an "antique" bike is 30 years old according to the book..