Will a Cobra luggage rack support a Honda trunk?

[Ronman105]

I just bought a Honda Interstate trunk for my 07 Nomad with the intention of mounting it on my Cobra luggage rack. It's somewhere around 5-8 pounds. My rack is rated for 40 pounds. Today I thought I'd see just how sturdy my rack is so I pushed down on the rack pretty hard and saw no signs of bending or weakness. My wife will be leaning against the trunk when she's with me plus I'll keep it junked up with stuff. My question is this: how do I get around either making a rack or spending a lot of $$ to mount it. Also, is there a cheap way to paint the trunk without using a can of Krylon spray?

[BOURBON BOY]

What you have to be careful about is the rack may hold your trunk fine, and as long as you don't overload it you should be ok. BUT, I have seen Valk's that people put the Honda Interstate trunk on a rack with cracked frames! Honda added another "crossmember" on the frame to support the extra weight, just pack it lightly and check your bolts fairly often and you should be ok. BB

[Ronman105]

Thanks for the info. I just don't wanna have to spend well over $200.00 for a wompus rack when I have a new cobra rack already on the bike. Right now I'm using a luggage bag with a zipper top that's really annoying. Last week at a poker run I forgot to zip it shut and I was flapping down the road. I had to stop and motion everyone to keep going so my stuff didn't fly out. I'll include some pics when I get it done. Thanks again.

[RichLockyer]

I suspect the Cobra rack is just fine, but the weakness (with many trunks) is the floor of the trunk and the limited support area of the rack itself.

What I'm doing on my Mutazu is cutting two 1/8" steel plates slightly smaller than the floor of the trunk. One will go on the inside and be covered by carpeting, the other will be painted black and be sandwiched between the trunk and rack.

This will spread the load of the mounting bolts so that instead of the floor of the trunk being supported by a little 8x10 square and a couple of 1" washers on the inside, the load is spread over the entire floor of the trunk.