accessories » BMW Side Cases Hinged Lids Swapped

I would like to enter myself in the bonehead of the year sweepstakes for what I did a couple of weeks ago. I was leaving work, so put my small work bag in my left side case and closed it up, and took my Nav VI our of my right side case and secured it in its mount. Then I fired the bike up and headed for home. The route home for me has some enticing bends and clover leaf ramps, so I tend to get a little spirited in my riding.

I came to a stop on the exit ramp to my neighborhood, and the driver in the car next to me waved to get my attention and motioned toward the rear of my bike. I looked back and saw to my dismay that my right side case wad hanging open. Good grief! I had been riding for about 15 miles at that point. I reached back to close it, and sure enough I saw two grounded down patches where the lid had dragged on the road surface. I snapped it closed and continued home with a sour taste in my mouth. When I got home I looked closer and saw the greater damage. While the lid hasn't contacted the exhaust directly, it had been in a position where the exhaust gases were pouring directly onto it. The heat had severely melted a larger portion of the lid,as well as the reflector which was mounted on its lower edge.

I wrote the lid of as a loss, and decided I would order and install a new one. Then I realized that I could use this moment of stupidity to carry out a plan I had considered back when I had originally ordered my cases. I think we pretty much all know by now that the BMW cases come in four colors for our bikes, they being gloss white,gloss black, granite gray, and asphalt gray. I had ordered the asphalt gray for my light gray and red framed RS, and was very pleased with the look. I had wondered back then, though, how it would look with the racing red lids that were available for the S1000XR. The lids are interchangeable between the cases, so wondered how well the red cases would look with the red bike frame. It had been a passing consideration until I was suddenly faced with a need to order a new lid. So I figured if I was going to order one new lid, I may as well order two, and give the racing red a shot.

What follows are some shots of the damage, some shots I took while swapping the lids, and the final look on the bike. I should point out that I did not remove just the painted portion of the lid, which is more labor intensive, but rather the whole hinge/shelf/lid assembly. The process was rather easy. Just as tips to anyone who may need to do something similar, I would suggest pulling the weather stripping out as shown in the picture before attempting to remove the perimeter screws (it makes it much easier), and also to remember to install the elastic strap into the back of the new hinge frame before screwing it onto the shell half. The rest of the process is very elementary, and just a matter of reversing the disassembly steps.

The red case looks nice with the red frame. I suppose that's the silver lining to your little mishap.

I did have one question for the forum at large. I noticed the reflector on your bag before the damage was below the bag and not on the face of it like mine is. Is there somewhere you can buy that style of reflector for the bag? I think it looks a lot cleaner than what I got from the factory.

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I believe it was about 2 years ago that they switched the reflector styles. It was a requirement from a recall they had done, I believe. I think now if you order from any of the sites that have a microfiche, you will get the newer reflector. I still don't know how it is attached, however, because I inspected mind and did not see anything from the inside. It must simply be bonded.

I looked but didn't see anything about a reflector. It's nice to know you can buy some of the piece parts anyway. Case drawing.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

The attached microfiche pic is from Bob's BMW website. Number 12 in it is the reflector, but I'm not sure if that is the new style or old style.Screenshot_2021-06-08-22-54-43.png - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)Screenshot_2021-06-08-22-55-07.png - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

While we're sharing bonehead stories, I once failed to properly lock the top case properly into the mount, even though the handle went fully down. I then got smacked in the back of the head by it on a sudden stop at the lights, to be followed by watching the case bounce through the intersection. Only cosmetic damage, so I couldn't justify buying a new one.

Well Bob's is right down the road from where I work so I'll have to touch bases with them. I'll let everyone know what they say.

I just got off the phone with the parts people at Bob's BMW. Very nice, as usual. They ordered me a pair of the under bag reflectors. They aren't cheap at almost $32 each but I think they will be a much cleaner look. I should have them in about a week. Hopefully the old ones haven't been on long enough to cause significant fading everywhere they aren't. I guess we'll see this weekend when I warm them up with a hair dryer to take them off.

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32 dollars each. Yikes! BMW are really taking the piss. Lots available on ebay, etc. One example ...

Werbung: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293251816146?...xIAAOSwVb5djzqH

True, but that doesn't include the bracket. My understanding is the RS was imported to the US for a couple years when the US DOT said, "you need reflectors on the bags. The bags block the back reflectors." The German engineers said, "bull hockey". When the standoff settled they stuck the afterthoughts on that I have on my bags. That's why you see no reflectors at all on the early bikes bags. It does seem like a lot of money, I'll grant you. Hopefully I'll be as happy with the end results as I think I will.

Zitat von BusBoy11 im Beitrag #1

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How do you expect for me to KNOW my limitations when I haven't even MET them yet?!

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I picked up the reflectors from Bob's today, part number 63 14 9899377. Shame on me, I was in a hurry, threw them in my bag and headed for home. I thought they would be a stick on affair. Nope. They mount with two screws. Screws not included. No mounting template either. I'm coming to understand this is typical BMW. With Honda accessories like this they came with everything, including idiot proof instructions. I'll be on the phone to Bob's tomorrow to see if they can get the fasteners and are willing to part with the service bulletin to tell me how to put them on in the correct place. There are two protrusions that would accept the fasteners from inside the case lid. They make the reflector sit proud. I get the feeling you need to drill a large enough hole that the protrusions go into the holes and a rather large headed screw holds them in place. Why couldn't I just be satisfied with what was on there or peel them off and throw them away?

Zitat von Davidnapo im Beitrag #11

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I picked up the reflectors from Bob's today, part number 63 14 9899377. Shame on me, I was in a hurry, threw them in my bag and headed for home. I thought they would be a stick on affair. Nope. They mount with two screws. Screws not included. No mounting template either. I'm coming to understand this is typical BMW. With Honda accessories like this they came with everything, including idiot proof instructions. I'll be on the phone to Bob's tomorrow to see if they can get the fasteners and are willing to part with the service bulletin to tell me how to put them on in the correct place. There are two protrusions that would accept the fasteners from inside the case lid. They make the reflector sit proud. I get the feeling you need to drill a large enough hole that the protrusions go into the holes and a rather large headed screw holds them in place. Why couldn't I just be satisfied with what was on there or peel them off and throw them away?

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I also assumed they'd be attached with double sided tape. The ones the dealer put on my bike are attached with double sided tape. The one on the right side of the bike, the tape is failing already. That's part of my interest in the ones I bought. I called the parts department at Bob's and spoke to the guy who ordered the reflectors for me. He apologized saying he should have caught it. He's going to track down the fasteners for me and talk to the service department to see if there's a drill template available.

bag1.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)bag2.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)I thought I'd post a follow up. I got the new reflector assemblies a couple weeks ago and finally got around to doing something tonight. You have to take the lid off the bag to install these. I was told there were dimples in the bag that marked where to drill. Perhaps on newer bags there are, but not on mine. I had to drill two holes in each bag, install the reflectors and reassemble the bags. It took me longer to get the adhesive off the bags from the old reflectors. In the end, I think it really cleans up the lines of the bags. I could have just taken the old, ugly, after thought warts off, but I'll take all the help being seen I can get. My dealer was kind enough to give me the instructions from BMW. They were useful for disassembling the bags and reassembling them but worthless for actually installing the reflectors. That's just measuring tape, guessing and a little engineering judgement.

Zitat von Davidnapo im Beitrag #14

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I thought I'd post a follow up. I got the new reflector assemblies a couple weeks ago and finally got around to doing something tonight. You have to take the lid off the bag to install these. .

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