Mike's Tenere & Motorcycle Blog

Total width at the front of bags (widest point) was reduced from 96.5 cm (38") to 91.5 cm (36") while positioning the bags more parallel to the bike & perpendicular to the ground via a combination of using narrower spacers on the upper 2 mounts (shared with the oem passenger grab rails) + 3.0 cm (1.2") spacers on the left footpeg mount & 2.5 cm (1") spacers on the right footpeg mount.  Left bag is now 47 cm (18.5") off centre, right bag is 42.5 cm (16.75") off centre at back or 89.5 cm (35.25") across. Before & After   Left side   The upper front mounts required a 5/8" hole drilled in the plastic passenger seat base pan to allow space for the protruding quick release lock bolt.  A button head bolt on the upper left footpeg mount provides 0.6 cm (1/4)" clearance to the oem muffler...will monitor if any contact.     Right side   The last pic shows how canted out the bags were at the front before the relocation.

This modification adds stiffness/strength to rack & distributes loading to additional frame mounts.  The oem forward located mounting points create a pendulum effect that create torsional loading to the structure under heavy loads or suspension impacts. See comments in pictures for details. After Before Reinforcement plate & straps To get the twist, clamp 1 end into a vice & tighten a crescent wrench on the other end...twist counter-clockwise for left support & clockwise for right support.