Based on the feedback of the strength of the top box base plate and a bunch of feedback from other friends I have who have put bike racks on their moto's and highly suggest getting the center of gravity lower by removing the front wheel which also gets the bike into the slipstream better I've built a new prototype base plate that not only bolts to the existing base plate but almost completely covers the pillion and has legs that go down to the upper crash guard bolts. I like this idea for a few reasons as I could now bolt on something like a toolbox with a lock in front of the bike on this base plate and it would also be secure and would compensate for some lost truck space when the top box is removed.
Here are some pictures of this design. I have a friend who does welding coming by on Monday to look it over and quote me to build it:
http://s1042.photobucket.com/user/jo...?sort=2&page=1
I'm also working on getting a hold of 2x2 Cycles (
http://2x2cycles.com) to utilize their rack system on this base plate since it gets the bike nice and low. I'll let you all know how it goes since their surely must be a few on this list that ride non-motorized 2 wheelers also :-)