Increased the stiffness in the rear saddlebag mounts

One of the characteristics which I noted about the BMW K11’s is that the panniers tended to wiggle about a great deal. This movement occurred whether the panniers were loaded or full, but was most noticeable when they were loaded. I determined that the majority of the movement was being caused by the rear of the footpeg mounting bracket bending back and forth under load. Since the front of the pannier mounting bracket is anchored onto the footpeg mounting bracket, excessive movement of the footpeg bracket was allowing the panniers to flop around.

The footpeg mounting brackets are held in place by two large bolts at their front (directly above the rider’s footpeg) but are loosely pinned at the rear against a large rubber doughnut. I experimented with a solid mount in place of the rubber doughnut, but the resultant vibration in the left footpeg 9from the exhaust mount) was uncomfortable. Yet the stock rubber doughnut was quite soft, and I was concerned that the excessive saddlebag movement would eventually weaken the pannier mounts, leading to a failure.

To firm up the rear of the footpeg mounting bracket (and as a result the pannier mounting), I took a hard rubber upper shock bushing (designed for an American full-size car’s front a-arm suspension shock mounting), and milled out the ID such that I could use it as a replacement rubber isolator. After bolting everything back together, the firmer rubber bushing allows much less side-to-side movement of the back of the footpeg bracket (thereby decreasing the wobble of the panniers) without causing an increase in the vibration of the footpegs.