JamesK
Got to ride
City Side Cases Project
Like many FJR owners I’ve never liked the “fat-ass” look Yamaha gave the FJR in some misguided and failed marketing gimmick. The bulging side case lids don’t even match the flat side lines of Yamaha’s own top case. Unfortunately, unlike the BMW replacement lids, Yamaha tries to get us to buy two complete saddle bags at ridiculously high prices and only makes these “City Side Cases” available in the UK, thus adding exchange rate and shipping premiums on top of the already outrageous prices, for what should be a simple and inexpensive pair of ABS plastic lids, ala BMW.
I happened to have a spare set of bags from an '06 FJR I had in Japan, where lane splitting/sharing is not only accepted/allowed, but is a way of life (so cool). I was never able to really use my side cases in Japan because of the “fat” lids but got used to having the extra space and carrying capacity offered by the saddle bags while here in the US. Given the prohibitive cost of buying the Yamaha City Side Cases, coupled with the futility of having to buy complete saddle bags just to get a flatter lid I hunted around to try to find someone who could convert my spare bags into City Side Cases. After contacting numerous people/companies and getting responses ranging from “we can’t do this”, “this won’t work” or being quoted ridiculous prices by people who did not inspire a great deal of confidence in their ability to do the job in the first place I finally stumbled onto a talented kit car builder, Mike Vetter, owner of The Car Factory based in Micco, FL who agreed to do the job for $350. Mike is a really great guy who’s not afraid (actually likes) a challenge as you can see by many of the kit car projects he works on.
Mike completed this project in only a few days and the price includes a tough, chip resistant black textured finish used by car makers for car grills and other exposed surfaces. This finish was my preference (since it matches my Givi box) vs. spending additional money on color matching the pain to my 2007A. IMHO this is the kind of finish Yamaha should have used for the saddle bags to begin with. So now no more worrying about scuffs/chips/scratches on the lids which as we all know are ever so vulnerable.
However, if you prefer painted, Mike can “fix” your “fat” side cases and leave them in primer, ready to paint in whatever color you require.
The side case lids are made out of ABS plastic, which typically does not “play” well with most materials, so Mike not only inserted a flat fiberglass section in the cut out part of the lid he also ran the fiberglass all the way to the edge of the lids, thus ensuring that the newly built lids are tough, rigid and have nice smooth rounded lines.
Also worth noting, if anyone desires to engage Mike’s services to convert their “fat” saddle bags to City Side Cases, he would only need you to ship him the lids, since he has already worked on my side cases and knows what’s involved. The lids are easily removed by drilling out 4 pop-rivets securing the lids to the hinges. This would save you a lot of money on the shipping costs.
Below are some pictures to show you what I’ve been yapping about and more are at this link
I am not affiliated with the company, just a very satisfied customer.
Side-by-side of the FJR rear
Like many FJR owners I’ve never liked the “fat-ass” look Yamaha gave the FJR in some misguided and failed marketing gimmick. The bulging side case lids don’t even match the flat side lines of Yamaha’s own top case. Unfortunately, unlike the BMW replacement lids, Yamaha tries to get us to buy two complete saddle bags at ridiculously high prices and only makes these “City Side Cases” available in the UK, thus adding exchange rate and shipping premiums on top of the already outrageous prices, for what should be a simple and inexpensive pair of ABS plastic lids, ala BMW.
I happened to have a spare set of bags from an '06 FJR I had in Japan, where lane splitting/sharing is not only accepted/allowed, but is a way of life (so cool). I was never able to really use my side cases in Japan because of the “fat” lids but got used to having the extra space and carrying capacity offered by the saddle bags while here in the US. Given the prohibitive cost of buying the Yamaha City Side Cases, coupled with the futility of having to buy complete saddle bags just to get a flatter lid I hunted around to try to find someone who could convert my spare bags into City Side Cases. After contacting numerous people/companies and getting responses ranging from “we can’t do this”, “this won’t work” or being quoted ridiculous prices by people who did not inspire a great deal of confidence in their ability to do the job in the first place I finally stumbled onto a talented kit car builder, Mike Vetter, owner of The Car Factory based in Micco, FL who agreed to do the job for $350. Mike is a really great guy who’s not afraid (actually likes) a challenge as you can see by many of the kit car projects he works on.
Mike completed this project in only a few days and the price includes a tough, chip resistant black textured finish used by car makers for car grills and other exposed surfaces. This finish was my preference (since it matches my Givi box) vs. spending additional money on color matching the pain to my 2007A. IMHO this is the kind of finish Yamaha should have used for the saddle bags to begin with. So now no more worrying about scuffs/chips/scratches on the lids which as we all know are ever so vulnerable.
However, if you prefer painted, Mike can “fix” your “fat” side cases and leave them in primer, ready to paint in whatever color you require.
The side case lids are made out of ABS plastic, which typically does not “play” well with most materials, so Mike not only inserted a flat fiberglass section in the cut out part of the lid he also ran the fiberglass all the way to the edge of the lids, thus ensuring that the newly built lids are tough, rigid and have nice smooth rounded lines.
Also worth noting, if anyone desires to engage Mike’s services to convert their “fat” saddle bags to City Side Cases, he would only need you to ship him the lids, since he has already worked on my side cases and knows what’s involved. The lids are easily removed by drilling out 4 pop-rivets securing the lids to the hinges. This would save you a lot of money on the shipping costs.
Below are some pictures to show you what I’ve been yapping about and more are at this link
I am not affiliated with the company, just a very satisfied customer.
Side-by-side of the FJR rear
