As I installed mine I noted that the bolts did not appear to be Stainless Steel, with something special like this I am not trying to save $5 and receive cheaper bolts. After I installed it I felt around the holes and where the straps may go through, I noted that the entire bottom edge was sharp and that as a machinist, this is a job for the machine operator to use a deburring tool by hand while he sits on his backside waiting for the next part to finish in the machine. I wanted to be sure the straps could never be frayed by these edges as I plan a permanent tail bag done up tight and so I decided to remove the rack after only one hour of putting it on. When I tried to undo the bolts holding the side brackets to the bike I noticed they only felt one third as tight as I had done them up and yes I had also retained the original bikes steel cup washers under the products stand offs. I thought it felt funny tightening them that I could not really make them tight and nowhere near that "metal stop" bind up feeling. The reason for this is due to the product not utilizing steel sleeves or ferrules inside the bracket holes like they do on many automotive plastic parts and so I did not have any blue Loctite to use on the bolts, I had to use some other gunk to temporarily act as a vibration and rotate out prevention. The plastic gets crushed and has no return memory to maintain the bolt up pressure so without hard ferrules/sleeves to take the bolt force and a permanent torque setting or lack of some correct thread gunk at the very least, I would need to keep an eye on what the bolts are doing. I sent a complaint about this to AXP which I think is a bit backyardish engineering oversight. So yes I plan to make some sleeves from 8mm ID tube with at least a 2mm wall thickness as I need more assurance the bolts arent trying to disappear while I'm rattling down some trail. Or course it requires the bracket holes to be drilled out to the OD of the tube and the faces of these sleeve items need to be square-ish as if they were faced off in a lathe otherwise they may not tighten as expected. A little disappointing but the rack has to come back off for other things to be done to the bike anyway. The remaining thing is that while the rack appears to have really useful grab handles Id not use them for too much heaving due the the wall thickness of the holes in the two lower brackets, only as strong as the weakest area unfortunately.
I just checked it out, and the under edges of mine are pretty sharp too. I think I’ll do a bit of sanding as well. Thanks for the tip. I think I’ll throw some loctite on those bolts too. On the plus side, I’ve laid it down a few times. The rack has held up great, and the handles are super nice for standing the bike back up.
TY -- found this when I was confused why it didn't line up and wanted to find a video before trying with the stock cup washers ... almost had me stopping and restarting a few times since you went back and forth but that was on me since I didn't watch the whole thing through first!
Glad it ended up being helpful, and sorry for the back and forth bit. I really should have just edited this better and only shown the right way. All my trial and error was kind of pointless to share 😂
Thanks for the video. It helped me. Although I think it was easier to put the rack together and THEN bolt it to the bike. That nut in the rack above the exhaust sucked.
On my bike i drilles two holes innthe rear fender align with the bolts that attach the seat pan to the metal bracket which the frint inserts and front bolts go through. Now to remove the seat, i simply unscrew the two bolts from the seat. Rack stays in place, litte tape seals the two holes when done.
@@HighDesertHills You can also buy about 40 mm long bolt (can be a wing bolt for no tools req seat removal) and use two jam nuts and a washer up top. This way the bolt is much easier to install.
I wanna know if the AXP Skid plate will fit the crf 300 Rally , I’ve been told yes and No. I just installed the rack and your video helped. Love the Rack !
When I tie down my bike, I put most of the tension on the front end, and only use straps on the back to keep it from walking around. This rack is fine for that. I don't know how it would hold up to being seriously cranked down.
@@HighDesertHills Thanks! I don't see many options for front tie downs either without scratching plastic. Time for a new video? How to tie down your CFR. Ride safe!
FITS perfect on RALLY model , I see....very good , THANK YOU ! /// Can you tell me (please) how much weight ????? THX !!!! Luca (Milan-Italy) is there a danger that it will touch - left side -and be damaged... if you fall in off-road ? (sorry for my english )
The rack looks really good! What was the total cost with shipping? You can remove that strap that goes across the seat. Your ass will thank you for it.
I’ve thought about removing the strap. I don’t really notice it, but I probably will take it off at some point. The rack was €145 shipped to Utah, which at the moment is about $164 USD.
@@HighDesertHills that's very helpful! Thanks! Happen to figure out a recommendation to help with that besides those $350 to $400 setups with side luggage stuff etc that would go along with this rack? I really don't need side luggage on the bike. Just looking to protect the lights during mild tips
@@HighDesertHills have you researched into it already? Do these already have LED in the back so if you get new LED do they need to have the chips included that keep them from flashing? Have you happened to find any good options yet? Thanks
@jackle842000 It depends on where you are. The US bikes (mine) don't have factory LED turn signals, but other markets do (Australia for sure). I like the look of those ones, but they may stick out just as far as the halogens. In any case, I do believe I'll need to get a flasher module when I go LED - or get signals that have an integrated module.
While using AXP website - trying to purchase items - when prompted for country to ship to - USA is not a choice. Any advice please? I like the chain guard for my 300 Rally Thanks!
I don’t believe so. I’ve read that some people install after market pre-filters, but I’m pretty sure the only thing that comes stock is the main filter down at the air box.
@@HighDesertHills Well, let's learn to not make instructional videos cluttering UA-cam when you're lucky to get your shoes tied in the morning. It's hard enough to find worth while how to's as it is on here. This was painful to watch and 10 minutes too long.
As I installed mine I noted that the bolts did not appear to be Stainless Steel, with something special like this I am not trying to save $5 and receive cheaper bolts.
After I installed it I felt around the holes and where the straps may go through, I noted that the entire bottom edge was sharp and that as a machinist, this is a job for the machine operator to use a deburring tool by hand while he sits on his backside waiting for the next part to finish in the machine. I wanted to be sure the straps could never be frayed by these edges as I plan a permanent tail bag done up tight and so I decided to remove the rack after only one hour of putting it on.
When I tried to undo the bolts holding the side brackets to the bike I noticed they only felt one third as tight as I had done them up and yes I had also retained the original bikes steel cup washers under the products stand offs. I thought it felt funny tightening them that I could not really make them tight and nowhere near that "metal stop" bind up feeling.
The reason for this is due to the product not utilizing steel sleeves or ferrules inside the bracket holes like they do on many automotive plastic parts and so I did not have any blue Loctite to use on the bolts, I had to use some other gunk to temporarily act as a vibration and rotate out prevention.
The plastic gets crushed and has no return memory to maintain the bolt up pressure so without hard ferrules/sleeves to take the bolt force and a permanent torque setting or lack of some correct thread gunk at the very least, I would need to keep an eye on what the bolts are doing.
I sent a complaint about this to AXP which I think is a bit backyardish engineering oversight.
So yes I plan to make some sleeves from 8mm ID tube with at least a 2mm wall thickness as I need more assurance the bolts arent trying to disappear while I'm rattling down some trail. Or course it requires the bracket holes to be drilled out to the OD of the tube and the faces of these sleeve items need to be square-ish as if they were faced off in a lathe otherwise they may not tighten as expected. A little disappointing but the rack has to come back off for other things to be done to the bike anyway.
The remaining thing is that while the rack appears to have really useful grab handles Id not use them for too much heaving due the the wall thickness of the holes in the two lower brackets, only as strong as the weakest area unfortunately.
I just checked it out, and the under edges of mine are pretty sharp too. I think I’ll do a bit of sanding as well. Thanks for the tip. I think I’ll throw some loctite on those bolts too.
On the plus side, I’ve laid it down a few times. The rack has held up great, and the handles are super nice for standing the bike back up.
Quality is extremely lacking for the asked price, it would be acceptable if it was 1/4 of what they're asking.
TY -- found this when I was confused why it didn't line up and wanted to find a video before trying with the stock cup washers ... almost had me stopping and restarting a few times since you went back and forth but that was on me since I didn't watch the whole thing through first!
Glad it ended up being helpful, and sorry for the back and forth bit. I really should have just edited this better and only shown the right way. All my trial and error was kind of pointless to share 😂
Thanks for the video. It helped me. Although I think it was easier to put the rack together and THEN bolt it to the bike. That nut in the rack above the exhaust sucked.
I’m glad it was helpful. And sorry about the shoddy camera work - I’ve since embraced the magic of a tripod 😂
To avoid stripping. You should have just used regular allens before using impact. I have the same setup. I love the APX rack and skid plate.
Good tip. Thanks!
On my bike i drilles two holes innthe rear fender align with the bolts that attach the seat pan to the metal bracket which the frint inserts and front bolts go through. Now to remove the seat, i simply unscrew the two bolts from the seat. Rack stays in place, litte tape seals the two holes when done.
Cool! I’ve been tempted to do something like this as well.
@@HighDesertHills You can also buy about 40 mm long bolt (can be a wing bolt for no tools req seat removal) and use two jam nuts and a washer up top. This way the bolt is much easier to install.
I wanna know if the AXP Skid plate will fit the crf 300 Rally , I’ve been told yes and No. I just installed the rack and your video helped. Love the Rack !
Glad it helped! I wish I could tell you on the skid plate but I don’t know. I went with the Flatland Racing one.
Thanks for sharing.
Really like the one I got from France,
Wondering if this would be strong enough for ratchet straps to hold the bike to a motorcycle carrier or trailer.
When I tie down my bike, I put most of the tension on the front end, and only use straps on the back to keep it from walking around. This rack is fine for that. I don't know how it would hold up to being seriously cranked down.
@@HighDesertHills Thanks! I don't see many options for front tie downs either without scratching plastic. Time for a new video? How to tie down your CFR. Ride safe!
FITS perfect on RALLY model , I see....very good , THANK YOU ! /// Can you tell me (please) how much weight ????? THX !!!!
Luca (Milan-Italy) is there a danger that it will touch - left side -and be damaged... if you fall in off-road ? (sorry for my english )
Hi Luca! It weights 1.3 kg. I haven’t hit it in a crash, but it’s very rugged. I can’t imagine it breaking.
@@HighDesertHills PERFECT! Thank You!!!
The rack looks really good! What was the total cost with shipping? You can remove that strap that goes across the seat. Your ass will thank you for it.
I’ve thought about removing the strap. I don’t really notice it, but I probably will take it off at some point.
The rack was €145 shipped to Utah, which at the moment is about $164 USD.
Is it wide enough to protect the tail lights if it tips over? Don't quite look like it in the video but hard to tell
Yeah, not quite.
@@HighDesertHills that's very helpful! Thanks!
Happen to figure out a recommendation to help with that besides those $350 to $400 setups with side luggage stuff etc that would go along with this rack? I really don't need side luggage on the bike. Just looking to protect the lights during mild tips
@jackle842000 Not exactly. My plan is to replace them with lower profile, LED lights if and when I break them.
@@HighDesertHills have you researched into it already? Do these already have LED in the back so if you get new LED do they need to have the chips included that keep them from flashing? Have you happened to find any good options yet? Thanks
@jackle842000 It depends on where you are. The US bikes (mine) don't have factory LED turn signals, but other markets do (Australia for sure). I like the look of those ones, but they may stick out just as far as the halogens. In any case, I do believe I'll need to get a flasher module when I go LED - or get signals that have an integrated module.
Buy a tripod to stabilize your camera. I feel like you are filming while on a carnival ride.
Will do. Sorry for the nausea 🙂
Price
While using AXP website - trying to purchase items - when prompted for country to ship to - USA is not a choice. Any advice please? I like the chain guard for my 300 Rally Thanks!
Strange - when I look at it I see the US. It’s the very last option.
@@HighDesertHills thanks!
When the mechanically inept work on their own stuff...nice rack, but sorry this was painful to watch.
Fair enough. I definitely made this a lot harder than it should have been.
🤣🤣🤣
Does the air intake have an air filter? Thanks
I don’t believe so. I’ve read that some people install after market pre-filters, but I’m pretty sure the only thing that comes stock is the main filter down at the air box.
Is the rack strong enough to pick up the bike?
It definitely is. It’s a lot stronger than I was expecting.
Only a case of tourette's could have made this more entertaining
😂I’m slowly learning the art of tripods and video editing.
The only problem is goobers using an impact or hammer drill on it.🤦 This is what breaker bars are for folks, don't be this guy.
Haha, live and learn 🙂
@@HighDesertHills Well, let's learn to not make instructional videos cluttering UA-cam when you're lucky to get your shoes tied in the morning. It's hard enough to find worth while how to's as it is on here. This was painful to watch and 10 minutes too long.
well - it's free and not compulsory to watch. how about you fuck off, if you don't like it.@@phantomshtter