Soft saddlebag and support install

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AKrider
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:21 am
I ride: '93 Vulcan 500, '06 Honda Rebel, '81 CX 500
Location: Two Rivers, Alaska

Soft saddlebag and support install

Postby AKrider » Mon May 27, 2013 9:26 pm

Wife wanted to go camping and I needed some saddlebags quick. Living in the non-contiguous USA with nothing available in Fairbanks I resorted to Amazon and ordered the parts below:
Saddlebag Support Brackets for Kawasaki 1996-2008 Vulcan VN1500 Models

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I picked these because I had already relocated my turn signals to the license plate bracket so they fit almost straight out of the box using the original turn signal holes and the rear bolt. (I only had to squeeze the ends about half an inch closer together.) To mount these just remove the seat and the rear bolts and the backrest supports will roll forward on the shock bolts far enough to get some nylocks and washers on the front bolts. I had to cut the rear bolts that came with the supports so they wouldn’t stick through the frame and endanger my rear tire.

Waterproof Classic Biker Motorcycle Saddlebags
by Xelement 14 ¼ inches width X 11 inches height X 5 ½ inches in Depth

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I mounted these under the seat to leave it free for my waterproof duffle bag. At first I thought I would just cut a slot in the crosspiece buy I realized I would have to mount the rear seat bracket on top of the crosspiece for the seat to go back on.

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Luckily I found some longer bolts to account for the extra material under the seat bracket and once I had it bolted back down the seat went back on no problem.
Note: Be careful to select the correct length bolts if they are too long they stick out under the fender and could damage the rear tire.

I “drilled” holes through the saddlebags with my trusty “vinyl drill”. Just heat up the awl and drill away, also works well on nylon webbing, dog collars, Lexan, etc.

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Hopefully these bags will hold up. They were relatively inexpensive but seem fairly well made. The only problem I have with these bags is the ties to secure them are only located at the top of the bags so they flop around some when empty. I will probably end up sewing or riveting a strip of UHMW plastic, (old dog sled runners) to the back of them to slip the support brackets through when I zip them on.
With these bags, my dry bag duffle and tank bag as well as the trunk and saddlebags on my wife’s Rebel we should be set for a comfortable summer of camping.
We are what we repeatedly do, excellence is a habit.

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Triangles
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Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:35 pm
I ride: '94 Black Cherry Vulcan 500, '06 Candyfire Red Vulcan 500 LTD
Location: Toledo Ohio
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Re: Soft saddlebag and support install

Postby Triangles » Tue May 28, 2013 12:45 am

Very nice. I had resorted to importing some saddle bag supports from the Netherlands at a cost of nearly $100 for my '94. I also like your method of securing them with the seat bracket.
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