Hard luggage bodge yay or nay?

[Itchy]

I think I'd like some hard luggage , since touring last year even though nobody tried to nick anything off my bike, I reckon hard luggage will give me a bit more peace of mind. Even though I had an off in France in which the soft luggage actually prevented damage to the bike and me.

I was browsing various sellers of hard luggage and it seemed I'd get very little change out of £300 , since the boxes aren't cheap, and you also have to get a fitting rack which is specific to your bike.

I thought meh.

but then recalled Nath who uses old ammo boxes in a home made rack type thing.

What are YOUR hard luggage bodges?

I'm thinking that I can get a pair of top boxes that are identical GIVI ones from me local bike shop (2nd hand 40 or 35ish litre ones) for £25 for the pair, and have a soft bag on the inside so stuff doesn't fall out.

Cut a few bits of steel into a big U shape , over the seat and bolt the top boxes onto the side of me frame , and buy a spare NTV/CBR seat (also cheap at <£20) and cut it down a bit and bolt it through the spare seat.

You want to take it off? , you undo the bolts on the seat if you find a nice place to stay for a bit, al la Castellane, and cover the huge holes in yer seat with that non slip matting stuff.

Any other ideas?

Ta
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