Z50 soft tail luggage rack

kirrbby

Well-Known Member
Has anyone ever seen a old school...Triple-A type...luggage rack on a early softail Z50?? Seen a picture of one? I'd even be interested in a memory of one.

A while back, there was one listed on eBay...advertised as a "Honda 72 Z50 K1 luggage rack". The seller is known to sell a lot of NOS parts.
A "72" z50 is a K3 z50...not a K1. The rack LOOKED like it COULD maybe fit a softail...AND the rack was/is stamped. Triple-A style, "HONDA 72 Z50 K1"

I of course bought it...took a gamble. Now I have it, and I'm trying to figure out how to use it.
I think it SHOULD have long braces, like the hardtail racks, that go down to the buddy peg mounts...but it didn't come with them. Or, maybe it should have a brace that goes down to the rear fender..? More like the CT70?

I put the braces from a hardtail rack, on THIS rack...just to see... They look like they COULD be what this softail rack needs...to work.

I asked Gary Lewis if he had ever seen one, and he said that he HAD seen one before. But we didn't talk for long, and I didn't ask him to elaborate.
If anyone has any info, I'd like to hear it.

Pics on the way.
 

kirrbby

Well-Known Member
IMG_20220129_205021123.jpgIMG_20220129_205036809.jpgIMG_20220129_210705268.jpgIMG_20220131_171806565.jpgIMG_20220131_171841522.jpgIMG_20220131_171914697.jpg

s-l400 (19).jpg
 

Chrisj796

Member
This was in box of parts I got with my 69, it looked highly modified or home made though
 

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b52bombardier1

Well-Known Member
Kirrby,

Your rack picture above in post #2 appears to be missing its support braces. What is in the picture does look like a very good copy of a Triple-A ST90, CL100 or CB100 rack - but probably smaller for the Z50 bike. These missing braces should be easy to fabricate - please see the ST90 rack pictures that I just sent to "Tripod" here the other day.

Rick
 

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kirrbby

Well-Known Member
I finally looked a little closer at the rack that I bought. It does seem to mount up and look right on a Softail. I have to spread the ends of the rack just a bit to get it onto the shock bolt...and with NO washers installed, there is just enough thread left showing on the bolt to be...adequate.
Again, this rack is stamped...72 Z50 K1. It does seem to me that it was probably made for a 72 Z50 K3.
I imagine it came with some support brackets that would have mounted...to...something. But I don't know what. I figure that I can make some that will mount to the useless hole at the tail end of the rear fender. That hole was NOT there on the early softails tho. So this rack...made for a K3...must have had brackets that mounted somewhere else...or this rack was made sometime AFTER Honda changed to the newer rear fender, that has the useless hole.
It's pretty cool to know there is a luggage rack for softails...but good luck finding one...lol.
The CT70 rack isn't that far off. A determined handy guy could alter a CT70 luggage rack to work on a Softail.

Anyway, I tinkered with a pattern for the extra bracket(s). When I make the final part, I hope to get the bends right to make it from a single piece of steel, although, 2 separate pieces would work fine I think...and be easy.
 

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b52bombardier1

Well-Known Member
I'd make the long straight portion of the bracket as one piece, then fab in the piece that goes under the rear brake light (at least, on an ST90) adjusting it a little at a time to get it right and then weld those two pieces together.

Rick
 
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