My touring buddy (Shane the Lurker) and I found a deal at the IMS and each bought a V46 and E360s with a Wingrack. I also sprung for a backrest for the V46 to give Jolene some security. The bags are really nice. This year's trip should be a step up from soft bags and a giant duffel.
Installation went fairly well. We recieved the replacement signals and promptly found that there was absolutely no instruction included. Being the resourceful types that we are, we cut out the stock signal connectors entirely and swapped to a bullet connector setup. This way we can replace the stock signals when the bags aren't installed. We set everything up so we can make the connections by simply pulling the seat. Again, there were no instructions for wiring.
The signals themselves look decent on the outside, but they're of rock-bottom, made-in-the-farrest-reaches-of-Taiwan quality. The insides look really flimsy. The supplied bulbs wouldn't even go in all the way. We couldn't get them to turn into the slots. I was dissapointed for what they cost.
The Wingrack mounting hardware is quite sturdy. It only attaches to the bike at four points, so I think removal after a trip will be fairly easy. While Shane plans on using his V46 for riding to work, I'll probably pull my bags after each trip. We ran into two issues with the Wingrack and its attachment brackets. First, there is interference with my Holeshot exhaust mount. I had to fabricate a lowering link for that. No big deal, but it'll probably rust before long. I'll have to find something better. Shane's stock exhaust was tight, too, so we had to pull the hanger bolt and flex the pipe down to make the connections.
Secondly, almost every bolt in the kit is at bare-minimum length. In fact, one of the top plate bolts is the wrong size and will have to be replaced before a trip. The rear footpeg bolts are too short, also. We had to eliminat one of the suggested washers to make them reach. They're mostly nylon stopnuts, and in many cases the nylon insert is just clinging to a hold on the threads. Five more millimeters would've prevented a lot of worry over lost nuts on the road.
We bought the optional brakelight kits for the V46s. Mine went in fairly well, but I'm not getting continuity between the upper (door) contacts and the lower (bag to Wingrack), so I have some troubleshooting to do. Still, it's a neat, no-hassle setup once it's done.
Back to the instructions. As you know from the product literature, Givi caters to most of the civilized world. All paperwork is done in fiftycate, and finding the English lines is a struggle. The other thing is, there's almost no text for the entire Wingrack and bike-specific hardware installation. All you get is low-contrast, dot-matrix black and white photos with part numbers and exploded hardware drawings. It's a real challenge do decide which washers and nuts to use where and in what order to assemble parts. Again, a dissapointment for what it all cost.
Since Shane and I are good with tools and fairly experienced with this type of thing, we'll get it all resolved. For those new to wrenching, though...
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We had a great Givi rep help us out. He sent free like-keying kits for the three bags when we found out that the E360s were backordered (we don't have the bags yet, we do have the lock cylinders and keys). I'm confident that a call to him will get us the bolts we need and our concerns addressed. I'll know Monday.
I'll get the camera to the shop and shoot a few. Stand by.