BMW R Nine T Custom Sissy Bar

This video explains how I arrived at putting a custom sissy bar (or back rest) on my 2017 BMW R Nine T Scrambler.

The sissy bar originated from the Schwinn Stingray bicycle from the early 1960s. It had this banana seat with a loop on the top that kids called the sister bar. Because if you wanted to give your sister a ride on your bike she could hang on there. Sister got shortened to sissy. 

On motorcycles it was probably first adapted as a low fender strut, but has evolved and stretched, and gives custom choppers a lot of character.

I put one on my bike because I have a young son and we checked out this book from the library - "My Papi Has a Motorcycle" by Isabel Quintero and Zeke Pena.

And in it, is this neat little parallel twin that's got a sissy bar on it. I do want my son to ride on the back with me one day, like Robert Pursig with his son in the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I thought if I put a sissy bar on my bike it would give us both some peace of mind.

Nobody makes a sissy bar for the Nine T so I had to figure out how to get one made. I have a Rizoma luggage rack and thought it should be pretty simple to have a sissy bar welded to it. 

My background is in architecture and design so I did what I would normally do for any project and started mocking it up in cardboard to see what proportions I liked. 

I made some drawings and sent them to a fabricator. And about 2 months later. I got it back.

Shout out to the fabricator:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EdwardRichie

This is probably making some of you upset, and I can totally relate. You know, it's not really my style, I've had this vision of a really clean stripped down bike. But I have a young son who I want to take for rides. It's a bit of a compromise, but at the same time, it's kinda bad ass.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Positive or negative

Music: Lukewarm Hazy - Asher Fulero