Givi installation on Yamaha FZ-1.

Installation of a three case system
on a 2002 Yamaha FZ-1

When I sold my Kawasaki Concours, I gave something up - carrying capacity. Granted, in my new Yamaha FZ-1 I gained power, handling, and just a whole new fun factor. But the Concours came with excellent factory hardbags, plus I installed a Givi E460 top case. I could carry the kitchen sink, plus the bathtub on the Concours. Having had very good luck with Givi products in the past, one of the reasons I bought the FZ-1 was that Givi made hard luggage for it. I loved the Yamaha for the new dimension it gave to me in my riding, but I still wanted a practical side to my bike. In my opinion, hard bags are the way to go. Very durable, waterproof and they will last a lifetime, I feel you can't go wrong with quality hard luggage. And now I can carry all kinds of stuff!

I searching the 'net, I came across AZMOTORSPORTS. As I found out later, they are the largest Givi retailer in the USA. Ordering through their website was very quick and easy. Everything was laid out and identified. You knew exactly what you were buying, and what it was going to cost. It could not have been simpler unless they actually drove to my house and threw the boxes I ordered onto my lawn! I ordered the E52 top case, the E21 side cases and the rack system to mount them. All three were ordered in Silver to match my Yamaha. I also ordered a Throttlemeister and a Givi windscreen. However, I had second thoughts on the windscreen and e-mailed the same evening a note to cancel. The next day, I get a phone call from Ron Willoughby, the webmaster / GM of the firm. He asked to confirm the cancellation of the screen and we talked about his place. Come to find out, AZ Motorsports is a huge dealership which was involved with Harley Davidson but also branched out into sportbikes. They were not just a guy with a website and catalogs as many " on-line warehouses" are. They were enthusiasts and really took customer service seriously. Overall, I was very pleased with the service and products, and would gladly shop there again.

Now, let's get started! The boxes arrived via UPS exactly when Ron said, direct from Givi. They were all packed very well and everything was in perfect condition. Everything was unpacked and I made sure all the parts were there. Everything looked in order, so it was time to begin. Little did I know that trouble was lurking....


The new cases, the bike before I started, and the top box mounting kit.

First off, let me say that if I know now what I later learned, I would NOT have installed the top box first. I have only two complaints about this kit, and the MAJOR one is the poor instructions. Actually, calling the two pieces of paper they gave me instructions is embellishing on my part. For what this system costs, it should have come with a booklet, not a few poor quality photocopies. C'mon Givi! Onto the top box - the box itself was beautiful. Fit and finish was perfect, and the silver paint was an almost perfect match for the Yamaha. Givi doesn't make a specific Yamaha silver, but a generic silver. It still looked great, and the paint work was also excellent. The rack itself was very sturdy and well made. The welds looked good, and the paintwork was also good. Even with rotten directions, I could see how this part would work. Off came the factory grab rails, and the Givi mounts lined up perfect to where the grab rails mounted. Givi also supplied some nice foam pads for the racks so that they would not rub the Fazer's bodywork. Everything lined right up.



The removal of the stock grab rails and installation of the Givi rails, the mounting kit for the top box, and the pivot mount for the top box.

The rack was bolted down, and next up was the mounting plate for the box. This was a neat system as you can adjust the base for several different angles, depending on the bike. A bolt went through the base, through the pivot and bolted into a receiver in the rail itself. A very neat system and also easy to make adjustments with. With the box base bolted on, Givi also supplied plates to cover up the bolts holes, and four nice rubber pads that would keep the box from rubbing the plate itself. Simple things, but they go a long way to making this kit look really nice.



Here are the base pivots - you can adjust for several different angles, the base plate before the install of the small vanity caps, the rack all bolted down, and the end product. That is one big box!

After this was all done, it was time to install the side cases. Again, Givi should be ashamed of themselves. The "directions" were a sheet of paper with a couple of bad photos' on it, and with a few words of text in four different languages. That's it! Granted, the rule of thumb usually is to read the directions ONLY if you get in trouble <grin!>, but this was serious stuff here! So, I'm sitting on my Snap-On roll around going from each side of the bike with the side case mounting rack thinking about how they wanted me to do this. The two mounting holes on the top were the obvious match to fit into the top box rack, and there was a brace that extended down to the passenger peg bracket. But - there were two more braces. One that looked like it wanted to go behind the fender, and one that extended to the rear of the bike. I was baffled, and was not helped by the fact that the left side bracket that mounted to the passenger peg bracket was off an inch. After messing with this for about 45 minutes, I was upset. This should not be this hard.


The side case brackets, stripping the bodywork, and the blinkers must come off!

For laughs, and also out of desperation, I removed the directionals. I had a feeling that they would mount in the brace that pointed out the back of the rack. The poor directions confirmed this - I had stopped trusting them a long time ago. With the directionals removed, the brace that I thought was supposed to go BEHIND the fender actually fit through the blinker hole. This was how it was supposed to go, as everything kind of lined up. And now for the part when I really became upset. There was no way in the world the blinker wiring would reach to the new mounting point on the brace. I would have to get to the wiring inside the tail section. And this would mean I would have to pull apart the entire tail section, including the top box mount. Which I just installed. Thanks for letting me know, Givi! I was so upset at that time, that I considered sending everything back. The instructions should have said something about this, and there is no excuse on Givi's part for no providing text stating as such.