I have the HD luggage back on the back of my WG. If I get caught in the rain dirt and sand get kicked up and stick to the bottom of my tail bag and then act like sandpaper on the rack's finish. My tail bag does have a neoprene pad on the bottom for protection, but that does not stop road dirt trapped under it from sanding the rack's paint away every time I hit a bump.

How do you guys protect the rack's finish? I was thinking about covering the rack's contact points with black electrical tape when I'm going on a trip, but I'm looking for a better idea.

 

It's a luggage rack. Not overly worried about the finish. If it's used, it'll get scratched / etc.

If that much road debris gets kicked up from the rear tire, maybe addressing the short rear fender is an option. What I'm saying is maybe you might want to swap a full rear fender (like the street bob fender).

 

i put a gym bag on mine, and it got real scratched up...function over looks.

other option, i may use plastidip to spray on it, give it a few coats, if it were new, and you did that, when you peel it off, it would look good as new. as for now, mine scratched and all...rhino liner would be pretty sweet...wrinkle black like the rest of the bike, wish it wasn't gloss. maybe i do both the luggage rack and sissy bar? yeah, i just may (plastidip)

 

I use my luggage rack to protect my fender from scratches, if the rack gets scratched I really don't care.

I guess you could tape it up with electrical tape or stick-on adhesive vinyl of some sort, like used to protect rocker panels and fenders from road debris.

 

http://www.saddlemen.com/store/index...oducts_id=7336
My roll bag mounts using a velcrow that wraps around the rack protecting it.

 

That could be an option, but when I travel I think I'm gonna just protect the contact points with easy lift blue painters tape, covered with black electrical tape. I don't really want to mess with spraying Plasti-Dip.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the link, but I'm guessing that if you ride in the rain sand could still work it way under and inside the wrap.