With many thanks to Wally Colly, I ordered and installed some Givi hard luggage on my VN750. I got the E21 Monokey side cases and the E370 Monolock top case with the brake light kit. I'm very pleased with the results. I leaned heavily on Wally's experience and advice since he had already installed the side cases on his bike. That made it much easier. The Givi Wingracks are mounted to the Kaw saddlebag supports. Since I have Knifemaker's turn signal relocation bar, the T/S were already out of the way. The saddlebags even blend well with the dresser bars, IMHO. I was a little worried about how that would look.

The Givi bags are very nice. You can pop them off in seconds and carry them into your hotel room, and they snap firmly into place on the mounts. Very good quality, solid construction. And with Wally's help, the installation was relatively easy. I did have to remove the extended passenger backrest in order for the trunk to open. It still hits the seat back and won't open all the way, so I am working on a spacer to raise the mounting plate just a little and provide more room for the lid to open. I got the optional brake light kit for the top case -- $50 extra and sort of a pain to install it, but it works pretty well. I can only assume that the Italian section of the instructions is much clearer than the English section! It's kinda neat how it attaches and makes the connection for the brake light wiring, though (you can see this in the pics), but it did require drilling a couple of holes in my brand new case, which I was a little hesitant to do. But it worked out OK in the end.

Here are the pics:
http://tinyurl.com/jnvht

So now I am ready to travel. Hmmmmmmm........ I wonder where I should go? If only I had some more vacation time...........

Hi
Where did you get these bags at? Any problems you had in mounting I would like to hear about also. Thanks
Ernest

I got the stuff at Freeport Honda-Kawasaki (about 40 miles from me) because they matched the best price I could get online. I just used internet searches to find the nearest Givi distributors. Unfortunately, they tend to not have any in stock, so you have to guess at what will work. I got lucky.

If you check out Wally's earlier thread you can see where he got his -- twistedthrottle.com and cyclestuffusa.com. The mounting of the saddlebags was a snap, thanks to Wally who did it before me. The trunk was easy to install also. You do need to have a luggage rack to mount the trunk and the Kaw saddlebag supports in order to mount the Wingracks for side bags.

WOW! That top case is huge !!
Looks good Pick.
If ya want, I'll write a letter to your boss explaining that you need some time off, atleast a week, w/pay.
I'm sure he'll understand. LOL

this is very nice solution. there is plenty of room in the topcase but be very carefull not overloading it. as far as i remember (read somwhere, more likley here) you can't have more than 10Lbs of weight on the rear rack.

how does this affects handling? i would think adding weight so far past rear wheel going to seriously impact it

Hey, thats funny. I have a brother in law named Jim Foster !

Well I haven't had a chance to ride with it yet, but I didn't have any problemse with my last trunk, although it was smaller. Of course the luggage rack says 5 lbs. max, but we all know it will hold FAR more than that.

The cases themselves are not heavy, so unless you put heavy stuff in them, they shouldn't affect handling very much.

Hey, thats funny. I have a brother in law named Jim Foster !
Small world, eh? Is he strikingly good-looking also? <g>

Is he strikingly good-looking also? <g>
Ya mean more like me ?? LOL
http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/person/austin_powers.gif

That look's great Jim! The photos tell it all. You have a very nice arrangement there. It's good to see how things worked out with the top case. I may do something similar in the future with mine.

Maybe we should send photos of our bikes to Givi USA to show them that their products mount very nicely on the VN750, even though they tell everyone Givi cases won't work on the VN750 (at least they told me and a dealer that).

Hi Jim
I already have the OEM Saddlebag supports. Did I get the luggage rack mount via Givi or Via Kawi? And what were the part numbers you ordered for the luggage and wingracks? I contacted Givi and they told me they don't make luggage for the VN750.

Ernest,
You might want to read all the posts in this thread: http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=988
All the part numbers and some places to buy the side cases and mounts are listed there. Jim mounted his a little different from me as he already had the turn signal relocation part that Knifemaker makes and sells. That means he used the Givi N-151 wingrack (without turn indicators) instead of the Givi N-150 (with turn indicators) that I used.

Jim should respond about the topcase mounting, as I haven't added that to my bike yet.

Don't waste your time contacting Givi USA. Those people don't have a clue and are not interested in figuring out how to mount their stuff on a VN750.

Hi Jim
I already have the OEM Saddlebag supports. Did I get the luggage rack mount via Givi or Via Kawi? And what were the part numbers you ordered for the luggage and wingracks? I contacted Givi and they told me they don't make luggage for the VN750.
Check Wally's previous post for part numbers on the Wingracks. The Monolock Topcase came with a universal mounting plate that mounts to any tubular luggage rack. So you have to install a luggage rack before you can use the Monolock case. It was a piece of cake to install the top case on the Kaw luggage rack, except that the lid does hit the sissybar "ducktail" when opening, so I am fashioning a 1/2" spacer plate to raise the mounting plate and give the lid more clearance. Also, the optional brake light kit adds a little complexity since you have to run some wires and splice in to the brake lights.

I believe the Monokey top cases have a different mount which must be purchased separately.

Of COURSE Givi doesn't make luggage for the VN750. Nobody hardly makes ANYTHING for the VN750. But somehow we seem to make things fit....

Like your rear case.
Your seat looks more substantial than the stock seat, what kind of seat is it?
and where did you purchase it from?

Believe Pick has the Mustang seat on his bike.

Then I suppose that the Mustang seat is the widest and most substantial
seat for the vn750?

Believe Pick has the Mustang seat on his bike.

Surprise, surprise! The Goddess is correct -- it is a Mustang Wide Regal. I'd say it is smilar to the Saddleman; both are "more substantial" than the stock seat. The Corbin is lower and flatter.

Where can I buy a Mustang Wide Regal? I'm not looking for additional comfort, but would like a wider and more substantial passenger seat.

Where can I buy a Mustang Wide Regal?

I got mine on ebay. I'm not sure where you can buy them online now (Sherm's Cycle Products used to have them, but they went out of business). You could call Mustang and ask them for a nearby dealer. Here's a link to Mustang's Kawasaki seats: http://tinyurl.com/3tp6m Looks like the current list price is $419 (Plain) and $439 (Studded). Here it is at J&P for slightly less: http://tinyurl.com/vhnmj
And here for $368+: http://tinyurl.com/yckoj4

Just google it and see what you can find.