Help contacting Dianne Park - MSTA PR Director!

[just_luc]

Hello all!

I'm a rider who loves to do some sport touring, a recent convert to a Ninja 1000 abs and i've been having a heck of a time finding an attractive and secure solution to mount a top case in conjunction with the factory side bags on this  bike.

I did manage to find one solution on another forum, bought it, installed it, hate it! haha.. it sits too high, too far back and it looks terrible! I was then considering having something custom fabricated and was looking around the internet when I just happened across this photo in a google image search which led me back to this site:



From the article is attached to I have gleaned that this bike belongs to Dianne Park who is an employee of MSTA and the rack she has on the back of that bike looks great! It sits right where it should, nice and level with the tail.. I must know where she got it! Is it actually for sale somewhere? Has is been re-purposed from another bike and modified? Did she actually go through having it custom fabricated? (if the latter maybe she can share some sketches or specs she used) Either way I would love to get in touch with her and ask these questions!

Can anyone help me with this?

[stevegrab]

Just an FYI

MSTA is volunteer organization of motorcycle riders, not a business. Dianne is not an employee, just another volunteer.

I'm not sure if Dianne is a member of the forum or not. But I would not expect anybody to provide you with her contact information directly (nor should they). Somebody may send you a message, or see if they can put her in contact with you.

Hope somebody is able to help you.

[RIDEMYST]

Hi Just Luc - I'm Dianne's husband and had the rack modified.
Strange thing about this bike is you can either have the side bags OR the top box NOT both.
Which I'm sure you have discovered.
What I did was purchase a SW-MoTech top box bracket from Twisted Throttle:
[size=78%]http://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-alu-rack-toprack-kawasaki-ninja-1000-11-for-trax-alu-box-pelican-shad-givi-kappa-coocase-soft-luggage[/size]


However, the bracket will need to be modified so you can reattach the side bags. I had a shop do this by extending the arms that attach under the fender to further back on the frame. The rear portion of the bracket attached fine as designed and gives you the low profile you are looking for.
She uses the Givi 37 liter top box which seems to be proportionate to the bike.
She only uses this when we travel.
http://www.giviusa.com/givi-products/cases/monolock-cases/b37na-37ltr-matte-black-detail


If you need more info PM me.
Hope this helps. -JEP-

[just_luc]

Just an FYI

MSTA is volunteer organization of motorcycle riders, not a business. Dianne is not an employee, just another volunteer.

I'm not sure if Dianne is a member of the forum or not. But I would not expect anybody to provide you with her contact information directly (nor should they). Somebody may send you a message, or see if they can put her in contact with you.

Hope somebody is able to help you.

LOL! I wasn't expecting anyone to give me her home phone number, I just thought she might have an MSTA email address or someone might point her to this thread and let her know I was looking to chat with her... and it looks like it worked!

[just_luc]

Hi Just Luc - I'm Dianne's husband and had the rack modified.
Strange thing about this bike is you can either have the side bags OR the top box NOT both.
Which I'm sure you have discovered.
What I did was purchase a SW-MoTech top box bracket from Twisted Throttle:
[size=78%]http://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-alu-rack-toprack-kawasaki-ninja-1000-11-for-trax-alu-box-pelican-shad-givi-kappa-coocase-soft-luggage[/size]


However, the bracket will need to be modified so you can reattach the side bags. I had a shop do this by extending the arms that attach under the fender to further back on the frame. The rear portion of the bracket attached fine as designed and gives you the low profile you are looking for.
She uses the Givi 37 liter top box which seems to be proportionate to the bike.
She only uses this when we travel.
http://www.giviusa.com/givi-products/cases/monolock-cases/b37na-37ltr-matte-black-detail


If you need more info PM me.
Hope this helps. -JEP-

Thank you very much Jep!

You are correct. That seems to be the constant struggle with this bike, top case or side case, never both.. at least not according to kawasaki.

I did manage to find one manufacturer who makes a top box rack that fits with the side bags, but man is it ugly.. I knew it was gong to be ugly, but I thought I could live with it so I bought it anyway..



I was mistaken.. it's too ugly to handle! The main issue is because it's two pieces that fit inside each other there's just no way to make it any shorter.

So now i'm on the hunt for a better solution. When I saw that photo I just had to ask.. I thought maybe somebody sold something pre-made that I hadn't looked at. (I guess that just goes to show what an excellent job you did, it looks professional!)

That said, now knowing that you had to buy a rack and modify it I think I'll be better off cost wise just having one made from scratch..

I already have an M5 top plate:



So I should just be able to get a machine shop to make me brackets that will line up with it's mounting holes and then connect to the bike in the same fashion as the ugly rack (undertail and passenger peg hangers). With a custom made piece they should be able to measure up and make it so the height will be just where it needs to be!


Thank you very much for getting back to me, even if it wasn't the answer I was looking for At least i'm not the only one who had to contact a machine shop to properly fit a top case to this bike!

[Patmo]

Well Luc, since you are here, why look around at the site...especially the front page and the STAReviews...and see if you find something you like? 

We are a group of very dedicated sport-touring enthusiasts that have been a formal club for over 25 years.  Unlike some of the Internet sites that basically just provide a discussion forum for the sport touring community, WE also organize and promote several regional and one national event every year. In addition we have many many local/state rides, meet and eats, and group trips all around the country.

You also have good taste in your bikes! Love that Ninja 1000.

[just_luc]

Well Luc, since you are here, why look around at the site...especially the front page and the STAReviews...and see if you find something you like? 

We are a group of very dedicated sport-touring enthusiasts that have been a formal club for over 25 years.  Unlike some of the Internet sites that basically just provide a discussion forum for the sport touring community, WE also organize and promote several regional and one national event every year. In addition we have many many local/state rides, meet and eats, and group trips all around the country.

You also have good taste in your bikes! Love that Ninja 1000.

Thanks Pat, I definitely will wander around and have a read! As for joining the club though, while I appreciate that you have national rides, I think i'm in a different nation! You'll have to let me know when you expand to a Canadian Chapter! That said we are headed down to the good o'l US of A next week for a 5 day tour down through New York, Pennsylvanian, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee!  We've got nearly 5,000km planned for the 5 and a half day stint. Not sure what that converts to in miles

P.S. Thanks, I just got her.. been drooling over her for a while!

[Patmo]

We do have a few Canadian members, and always ready for more.....

Enjoy your trip!  Sounds like a great one.

[Phil Bolichowski]

Yes, we do have quite a few Canadian members Eh? I live in Windsor Ontario and joined the Michigan chapter a few years back. We have a great group of very accomplished riders. Our chapter has about 8 major riders per season and we get constant updates about local events as they pop-up on the radar. We have about 240 members in the chapter and normally see about 100 member show up for a monthly breakfast meeting. Its a great group to ride with and meet like minded people who love to ride.

[stevegrab]

Canada is a different country, no way

As you've heard we do have some members in Canada, Windsor is the hotbead now I think. Recall a Toronto member coming to the bike show in Cleveland a few years ago.

One more heads up, Phil mentions the 100 members showing up to breakfast, I can attest to that. But don't worry, we don't do parade style riding with massive groups. Local rides or riding at events are generally much smaller groups, 3-5 or so. There may be larger ones but they're less common. There isn't a lot of formal structure, we just provide routes and people gather up in groups to go riding.