by Michael Ready, October 2005

I was led to creating my own carrier because Honda has backordered mine through the local dealer for a month, and I got tired of holding my briefcase between my legs on the floor. I searched the web for rear carrier designs, and stumbled on to urbanscootin.com.

Motivated by Mick’s carrier design, I came up with alternative design that I think matches the Metro chrome styling.


The carrier is built from (mostly) 1/2″ copper plumbing fittings. I painted the copper with Rust-oleom Metallic Chrome paint. While it looked good in all copper, it just didn’t fit with the rest of the Metro color scheme. The chrome paint actually looks like satin silver. It doesn’t really match the chrome but is close.

The carrier is attached to the existing seat rack with four 1″ stainless steel hose clamps and the rear fender reflector post with a 3/4″ 10-24 stainless steel bolt, washer and ‘nyloc’ nut. (Nyloc nuts have a piece of nylon in them that provides a friction-based locking action on the nut so even if it loosens with vibration; it is unlikely to come off the bolt before you discover it. They work better than a lock washer and are readily available at all hardware stores.)

To fit the rack to the existing carrier tube, I used a 3/4″ x 3/4″ x 1/2″ copper T. I
cut it in half with a hack saw along the 3/4″ length and fit it onto the carrier and clamped it with two hose clamps on each end of the T. I bent the ends of the T with long-nose pliers to better match it to the existing carrier tubing shape.

Total cost for the carrier was $20 with the paint and I already had a pipe cutter so I didn’t need to buy that. Total time took about 4 hours working out all the details, cutting the pipe, painting, and mounting. Below I provide a parts list, fabrication directions, and assembly instructions so hopefully it will not take you as long if you decide to build this.

I used epoxy rather than soldering the pipe for several reasons: 1) epoxy let me fit the pipe together and adjust the angles as I built it — can’t do that with solder; 2) I was afraid of melting the Metro’s plastic parts (seat and fender) with the torch or dripping solder; and 3) I could get a smoother finish at the joints with epoxy than I felt I could with solder. I used 1 hour epoxy so that I had time to fit it all together and adjust angles before it set up.

It’s pretty sturdy. I can pick up the scooter by the carrier without it bending. I don’t know about the durability of the epoxy over time but will post notes about any breakage I experience in the future.

In retrospect, the only design change I’d make is to replace the hose clamps. I just couldn’t think of any alternative. Any ideas?

Parts list

• six 1/2-inch 90 degree copper elbows

• six 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/2″ copper T

• two 3/4″ x 3/4″x 1/2″ copper T

• one 3/4″ copper pipe clamp

• 5′ L-type rigid copper pipe (L-type is stronger and more rigid than M-type)

• 3/4″ stainless steel 10-24 bolt, flat washer, and nyloc nut.

• six 1″ hose clamps

Fabrication

Make all the parts before putting it all together. The picture below shows the parts and pipe lengths. Use a pipe cutter rather than a hack saw so that the pipe slips into the fitting easily. Hack saws leave a burr on the cut edge.

I only labeled parts on one side of the drawing because the two sides are symmetric. During assembly, you’ll need to assemble both sides.

A. 3/4″ x 3/4″ x 1/2″ copper T

B. 1/2″ x 1″ pipe (joins parts A and C)

C. 1/2″ copper 90 degree elbow (A street elbow could be used here but I don’t think it will allow part E to clear the seat properly to allow it to open)

D. 1/2″ x 1″ pipe (joins parts C and E)

E. 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/2″ copper T

F. 1/2″ x 9-5/8″ pipe

G. 1/2″ x 9-1/8″ pipe

H. 1/2″ copper 90 degree elbow

I. 1/2″ x 3-1/2″ pipe

J. 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 1/2″ copper T

K. 1/2″ x 1″ pipe (joins the two Ts — Part J)

L. 1/2″ x 7-1/8″ pipe

M. 1/2″ copper 90 degree elbow

N. 1/2″ copper 90 degree street elbow (Street elbow has one end that fits into a fitting — ask at the hardware store if you don’t know what it is. It will be obvious when you see it.)


Before cutting the pipe, clean it up with 100 grit sandpaper till it is shiny. It’s easier if you purchase a shiny piece of pipe rather than one that tarnished. You’ll also need to clean the inside of the 1″ fittings with a wire brush designed for this operation. You can buy one at the hardware store.

Assembly

IMPORTANT: Please read the assembly instructions twice and do a dry fit before final assembly to avoid disasters. The epoxy won’t wait for you to figure something out.

1. Attach the 3/4” x 3/4″ x 1/2″ copper T to the existing rear rack. I used pliers to fit the corners of the fitting to the round tubing of the existing rack.

2. Remove the reflector from the post on the rear fender. You will be bolting the carrier in the hole that holds the reflector and you won’t be using the reflector any more unless you attach it to the rack or trunk or basket that you attach to the carrier.

3. Do a dry fit of all the parts to make sure it all fits together and you cut everything to the right lengths. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I started assembling projects without dry fitting only to discover during glue up that some part was not the right size. There’s an axiom to avoid here: there’s always enough time to do it twice but never enough time to do it right.

4. Mix the epoxy. Try not to get this on you or the bike during assembly. If you do, wipe it off right away. I use 2-part 1 hour epoxy. It allows about 1-2 hour of open time. If it starts to get hard during glue up, toss it and make another batch. Don’t make too much at once. Sunlight and heat make it set faster so do the assembly in the shade and then move the bike into the sun after completing assembly for faster setting if you want.

5. Put epoxy only on the last 1/4″ of the pipe, it will spread out as you insert the pipe into the fitting. It isn’t necessary to put epoxy on the inside of the fittings. Wiped off the excess epoxy as you put the carrier together. When possible, rotate the pipe in the fitting to spread the epoxy on the pipe and fitting surfaces.

6. Assemble part A through F on the bike to get the angles of the parts correct.

7. Assemble parts I through N on a flat surface. You could wait for these 2 assemblies to set before continuing if you wanted.

8. Attach parts G and H to this last assembly (from step 7) and then slide this entire assembly onto the assembly already attached to the bike (in step 6).

9. Wrap the 3/4” copper pipe clamp around parts M&N, adjust the angle so that M&N are even with the reflector bolt hole and bolt through the reflector hole with the 3/4″ 10-24 bolt, with the washer and nyloc nut on the back. Put the bolt under the assembly, through the clamp and then the reflector hole rather than on top of the assembly. It will look cleaner.

10. View from the top, side and back and adjust the rack to that it is square and symmetric on the bike before the epoxy sets up. I used a bungee cord and wrapped it around the taillight assembly to pull the carrier more parallel with the ground. The bungee cord also held it all in place while the epoxy dried.

11. I let it all dry and harden for 24 hours before doing anything else to it.

12. Paint it. I used chrome, but you could use any color you want.

Some more pix:



Best of luck — Work diligently and deliberately.