52 Liter Top Box Install

After seeing how much the total cost of a Givi or OEM top box, I went with an alternative, that means alot less money and not too shabby.
 
Surfing the web for a box to strap to the ST wasn't difficult. I had previously installed a 46liter box on my CTX700 and thought bigger would be better. I decided to go for 52 liters. That somewhat limited the choices. Amazon was selling a ADLO 8601 box that was marketed under a few labels. The company ADLO is a Chinese (no surprise) manufacturer of almost anything you could think. Amazon was an easy choice, if the box turned out to be a POS, I could pitch a fit and send it back. All I can tell you is that I didn't send it back and it's working nicely after a few mechanical tweaks.
One thing about THIS box is that the version with LED's is a waste of your money. After looking behind the lens and finding one lousy strip of LED tape I knew I could do better. I just wish I hadn't have spent the extra dollars. SO If you find an ADLO 8601 without LEDs, buy it! Red LED tape is dirt cheap and an easy install. I installed three strips of red LEDs and they worked out well. I used clear silicon to hold them in place.
The LED strips are wired to a four pin TA4F mini XLR connector in the left rear bottom corner of the box. A mating connector is routed from under the passenger seat. One click and the box is disconnected and ready for removal.
 
 
 
In order to use the four OEM mounting holes a "go between" plate needs to be fabricated. It's not rocket surgery but it has to be right to make it all work. A hunk of 1/2" aluminum plate 6" x 8" did the trick. I'd love to say that I made a mechanical drawing of the plate but I did it all on the fly. I started with a 3/4" plywood mockup and transferred the locations from there.
There are eight holes in the "go between" plate. Four are threaded 1/4"-20 (the black circles in the picture) and four are 3/8" unthreaded. The unthreaded holes align with the factory hard points on the shelf. The other four align with the mating plate for the top box.
As an added measure three 5/16 washers were placed in each of the four OEM locations to raise the inner collar up to the height of the top of the shelf. The idea was that when the go between plate was tighted down, there would be no gaps.
When looking at the installed top box mounting plate, six bolts are shown. Four are 1/4-20" x 1/2" that thread into the plate alone. The two in the "middle" sandwich the mounting plate, go between plate, factory plastic shelf and the antenna bracket together.
   
   
 
 
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