Givi Fire Protection

[Zwartie]

So last fall my wife and I (and a few other couples) went to PA (from ON) for a weekend ride. Upon returning I found that the right-side Givi saddlebag had, well, sort of melted.


I have gone on at least a couple 3-4 day rides every year for the past 5 years and never had (or at least noticed) this before. The photo below shows the inside of the bag where a yellow "No Frills" shopping bag had actually melted to the inside of the Givi bag. Also ruined one of my wife's shirts.


So it was time to come up with a solution. I opted for fire-retardant adhesive pipe-wrap insulation


Installation on one bag. I installed it on both as I sometimes switch them between left and right.


A view from the bottom


A view from the back


A view of all three bags


I'll be sure to keep tabs on it to see how it holds up in terms of heat and weather resistance.

[E Double]

Its so weird looking at how close your right case is to your exhaust.  I have a V&H supersport exhaust, and the wingrack (now with the top part for a top case) and my E41 cases sit a lot wider than your cases do.  I have no problems with heat, but I guess if my cases were closer inboard I might.  I had to do a ton of modifications to the Givi fitkit/mount points to stop everything from breaking all of the time.  But none of these mods made the wingracks sit out any farther than the did before the mods.  Here is a picture;

[FJmonkey]

Its so weird looking at how close your right case is to your exhaust.  I have a V&H supersport exhaust, and the wingrack (now with the top part for a top case) and my E41 cases sit a lot wider than your cases do.  I have no problems with heat, but I guess if my cases were closer inboard I might.  I had to do a ton of modifications to the Givi fitkit/mount points to stop everything from breaking all of the time.  But none of these mods made the wingracks sit out any farther than the did before the mods.  Here is a picture;

Location, Location, Location..... or maybe proximity...Air flow helps move the heat away. Sitting in traffic will allow more transfer of heat...

[Zwartie]

Thought I would provide an update to this one...

Recap: After a 4-day ride to PA a couple years ago, we discovered upon returning home that the right-side Givi bag was getting a tad warm due to exhaust fumes.


I installed some heat insulating material (this is how it looks new), but it barely survived the following 4-day ride.


So this evening I got out the tin snips and made up my own "custom" heat shield that should prove to be more robust.


Here it is installed


With the Givi bag in place


A view from underneath. Note how charred the heat insulation looks.


A view from the back


There should be enough of an air gap between the heat shield and the Givi bag to keep it from melting or worse, catching fire. Something I do not need to happen en route to Alaska this summer!

Zwartie

[Grey runner]

 It's just a thought, If you have been using the same system for several years and suddenly have a problem maybe you need to ask why the exhaust is running a lot hotter?

[Zwartie]

Excellent point, and I've thought about that myself. For the first few years with the bags on, no problems at all so the question is, what changed?

• Well, I added the wingrack and top case a couple years ago so perhaps that caused the side bag mounts to shift down a bit, although I don't think so. 
• One other possibility as you suggested would have to do with the exhaust itself - I just had the top end of the engine redone this winter - rings, valves, the works. I'm thinking that maybe with the worn rings and valves over the past two seasons there was a lot more carbon (oil) coming out of the exhaust which then got deposited on the bottom of the side bag. It sure looked like there was a lot of soot underneath. Perhaps the hot carbon/soot deposit is what caused the Givi bag to start melting?
• Of course another option is that the Givi bag was always getting hot from the exhaust fumes and it just took a number of years before the plastic started to give out. I am leaning toward the second option which would mean that maybe the problem no longer exists. I Just don't want to take that risk on long trips.

Thanks,

Zwartie

It's just a thought, If you have been using the same system for several years and suddenly have a problem maybe you need to ask why the exhaust is running a lot hotter?

[andyoutandabout]

Same happens on my bike with the supertrapp and wing rack set up. Think I'll have to do what you did else the highway might get covered in burnt underwear.
Andy