Modified a Yamaha V-Star XVS650 sissy bar / lugguage rack to fit a Kawasaki VN250 Eliminator cruiser

Kawasaki have discontinued the VN250 (a.k.a. 250V) Eliminator in 2007. Additionally to this, the bike was made for the Japanese market so you don't get much info or accessories for it in Australia. Having sold my Kymco People S 200, I'm left with no storage space and was desperately in need for a top box.

After looking around for a while, I decided to buy an old rusty sissy bar / luggage rack set designed for a Yamaha V-Star XVS650 which has a narrower fender area than my VN250 Eliminator.

I chose this one because from the photo taken by the seller, I could see some bolts and nuts which meant I could separate the luggage rack and back rest from the two side brackets and do something to fit my bike.

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My new Instagram account

By the way, I have a new Instagram account called The Riding Roo, I'd be posting bike stuffs on it, if you like it, please follow me.

Here is a little reel I shot with a Insta360 X3 camera:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CpChEKOPUPH/

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I first drilled an additional hole so that the two brackets could be bolted to the side of my bike. Being a wider bike, the back rest now does not fit between the two brackets anymore that are now 2cm wider. To fix this, I welded two sections of 10mm round bar to the legs of the back rest.

Two of the four screw holes were still un-obstructed after the mod so could temporarily bolt the luggage rack back in place to test with the top box and it fitted nicely. I just needed to fix the top box a bit further back to allow the lid to open fully. I need a strong weld between the rack and the back rest leg to make sure the top box would not give too much pressure on it and brake it.

All tests were OK so I continued with the complete welding and proceeded with two coats of steel primer.

Since I don't have the equipment for chrome plating or liquid chrome I decided to paint my new sissy bar with some chrome effect paint. The finished pain is not as reflective and shiny as real chrome but that's much better than how it was before.

The end result is very satisfactory and I now have plenty of space for carrying my son's helmet and jacket when taking him to / from school and I can also do shopping for my wife and carry the groceries back home.