Originally Posted by
mthayer
So, I ended part of my dilemma of which rack to buy. I ended up building a rear rack this evening after work. I decided to go get some different steel rod, ended up getting a 5/16" mild steel. The cost was $7.85 for a 20 foot stick. Used 4, 1/4" grade 8 nuts for the to attach the rack to the braze ons. Total cost of materials, $8.00. Took 3 hours to completely fabricate the rack. The rack is 6 1/2" wide and 17" long.
Is there anything that yall can suggest to make it better.
Damn, that's a nice job. It looks loads better than my DIY Racks. BTW, thanks KLW2, I always get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see someone post that. Can you post a close up of the mounting points, fitting it to my bike is where my racks always have trouble.
If I had to add something, I would weld on another rod, like this rack
It would lower your centre of gravity, and stop the pannier from hitting the spokes. Oh, and it looks cool.
Just make sure you give it some nice coating, otherwise it'll rust up quickly.