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Shad Topcases

Zoomzoommo

New member
Anyone have experience with Shad topcases? Considering their SH48 with the brakelight kit under the mounting plate. Supposedly, Shad supplies BMW with their OEM cases.
 
I put the SH45 on my '07RT over 20K kms ago. Kept the contents dry in heavy downpours, didn't notice any handling issues up to 160kph last year over on the autobahn. Wish I had bought the SH50, altho I could pack less too. It was nearly a perfect color match to my blue RT.
 
I put a SH50 on my 07 RT and the thing is nice. Better than a Givi in my opinion. If you decide to buy one check inventory first. Shad USA is the importer for all the suppliers in the US and they suck! It took me 9 weeks to get my case and then they sent me the wrong color (It came direct from Shad USA since it was a backorder). The shop I bought it from had they correct color shell in stock so they speed shipped it to me and all is fine now. But overall it's a NICE case.
 
Thanks for the replies. What color is your SH50? Trying to determine if the titanium would be somewhat close in color to my fluid gray metallic R12RT.
 
Thanks for the replies. What color is your SH50? Trying to determine if the titanium would be somewhat close in color to my fluid gray metallic R12RT.

The titanium is the wrong color they sent me. I ordered the silver because my bike is biarritz (sp?) blue with silver lower trim. The titanium is a silver but darker, kinda smokey. It looks nice, it was just one more shade of silver than I wanted on the bike. So if fluid grey is a dark or smokey silver go for it. if it's a lighter silver than go for the silver. One more thing to think about is the "shell" is very easily removed and could be color matched at a paint shop or even ordering the rattle cans from Color-Rite.
 
Just yesterday I finished installing the SH50 on my 2011 R1200 RT. The titanium color is perfect for my bike ( the charcoal gray they sold in '11.) Do not be fooled by the fact that the SH50 says it comes with mounting hardware. It does, but it won't work on your RT. I ordered the RT specific mount kit and it worked like a dream. Really no complaints however, the total price is still less than half of the BMW box. The box itself is very well made, it looks good, and the better half is happy to have a backrest. I'll take responsibility for making the mounting hardware mistake, so I really have no complaints about the box. I did not get the brake light mount; I felt that for the same money I could get something that flashed and would provide better visibility.
 
SH48 arived today. Seems to be a quality piece and the latch & lock mechanisms are nice. Unfortunately, the R12RT specific mounting plate wasn't in the carton. I've called and emailed the distributor to see why it wasn't shipped. I specifically inquired as to if all parts were in stock at Shad USA before placing the order. Hope it doesn't take another 10 days.
 
SH48 arived today. Seems to be a quality piece and the latch & lock mechanisms are nice. Unfortunately, the R12RT specific mounting plate wasn't in the carton. I've called and emailed the distributor to see why it wasn't shipped. I specifically inquired as to if all parts were in stock at Shad USA before placing the order. Hope it doesn't take another 10 days.

If it shipped directly from Shad USA anything is possible. They are kind of flaky. Luckily when mine arrived with the wrong color shell the distributor I purchased from had the correct color shell in stock and shipped it out ASAP (The RT mounting brackets were in the box with the SH50 top case although). Hope it works out quickly for you. Such a nice product but the importer needs to get their sh!t together.
 
I've got the SH48 and BMW specific mount on my 2010 RT. I had another Shad case on my former FJR and liked it. The SH48 looks great, but I passed on the brake light kit because it mounts right under the case and just above the stock tail light. For the price of the light I'd rather add a P3 or some other attention getting light.

I bought both my Shad stuff from Adventure Moto USA. The website isn't the best, but if you call and talk to Claudio he is very helpful. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.
 
Received the R12RT specific mounting kit yesterday directly from Cli-Max. No explanation as to why it didn't ship with the SH48, but I suspect it had something to do with Shad USA. Anyway, the folks at Cli-Max were quite helpful.

Installation was straightforward and took perhaps 30 minutes, although the instruction sheet required a magnifying glass for my 47 y/o eyes. There are four steel plates that fit into the appropriate spaces under RT luggage mount. Each plate is tapped to receive bolts. The Shad mount attaches to the four plates with four bolts. Everything lined up perfectly.

One nice feature of the SH48 locking mechanism is that you can open the case by pushing in on the lock mechanism, just like the BMW OEM cases. No key required unless the mechanism is in the locked position.

The Titanium color blends nicely with the silver bits on the bike, and complements the Fluid Grey Metallic without looking too 'aftermarketish'. I ordered the Titanium SH48 with the black lid, but do have the option of getting a Titanium cover for the lid if I so choose.

My total cost on this top case, including the BMW specific mounting kit and freight, was $331.58.

Here's the Shad mounting plate bolted up. Notice the location of the four bolts:
2ebc7420.jpg


This the Shad mounting plate with the decorative cover attached:
b063a018.jpg


A rear shot of the SH48 attached to the mounting plate:
22b22a79.jpg


The inside of the SH48:
6726d7d4.jpg


And finally a shot of the R12RT with the SH48:
b0795676.jpg
 
Received the R12RT specific mounting kit yesterday directly from Cli-Max. No explanation as to why it didn't ship with the SH48, but I suspect it had something to do with Shad USA. Anyway, the folks at Cli-Max were quite helpful.
Installation was straightforward and took perhaps 30 minutes, although the instruction sheet required a magnifying glass for my 47 y/o eyes. There are four steel plates that fit into the appropriate spaces under RT luggage mount. Each plate is tapped to receive bolts. The Shad mount attaches to the four plates with four bolts. Everything lined up perfectly.
One nice feature of the SH48 locking mechanism is that you can open the case by pushing in on the lock mechanism, just like the BMW OEM cases. No key required unless the mechanism is in the locked position.
The Titanium color blends nicely with the silver bits on the bike, and complements the Fluid Grey Metallic without looking too 'aftermarketish'. I ordered the Titanium SH48 with the black lid, but do have the option of getting a Titanium cover for the lid if I so choose.
My total cost on this top case, including the BMW specific mounting kit and freight, was $331.58. /QUOTE]


Thanks for the photos and thanks for the update. Very nice setup!
 
I paid a bit over $100 for a Shad 42ltr closeout topcase . The seller stopped carrying them not long after my purchase & I suspect from the problem I had with poor quality control on my 1st case and a few comments they made about Shad USA(in Miami,FL) that they are not always responsive to consumer issues? My case is nice for the money-much better than Chinese clones, they were/are the BMW OEM case mfg..
 
Shad50

I have a shad 50 on my 09 RT and love it. Quality controls is great and it fits like a glove
 
Can anybody tell me how the SH50 compares against the BMW top case for passenger comfort? I've read on the forums that the BMW case provides great back support for the passenger. I believe that the SH50 comes with a back rest and was wondering how well the Shad supports the passengers back. Thanks.
 
Shad SH48

Not sure about anyone else. The only irritant I have with the Shad SH48 is that the lid will not stay open when loading and unloading. It appears that the tethers need to be a litttle bit longer. I emailed Shad on it and never heard back. Other than that it works great. I plan to head to the hardware store and make some longer tehters.
 
Mounting Shad 50 to r1200gs

Would anyone have mounting instructions for mounting a Shad SH-50 to a 1200GS they could email me?
 
If you're mtg. the Shad supplied plate to a flat plate (as in it's already on the MC) it's gonna be easy. If not, you'll need more than instructions?
 
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