I'm making my Tourmaster Cruiser III throw over bags more stable and neatly mounted.

These bags are a perfect fit for my '13 FXDB, great quality, and inexpensive, but I hate having the straps and yoke running all over the rear end. I also want something that I can easily take off so I can put my Bad&G bag on when I want to...AND I don't want to relocate my rear sigs.

I drilled and tapped a 3/8" mounting hole in my detachable sissy bar, that I can cover with a black acorn nut when not in use. I replaced the front QR bolt with one that is 1/2" longer.



This is my first draft using a piece of Optix plexiglass that I cut to fit. The problem is that while its stiff enough to hold the bags in line, its too brittle and cracked during my first road test.

I'm looking for something light and stiff that I can easily cut to fit with my jigsaw, but won't crack/break under load.

Any suggestions?



Here's a shot of the bags I'm working with:

 

ABS plastic would be perfect...

 

Probably, but I don't think I can get it at Home Depot. Where can you buy a small sheet of it?

 

Either Home Depot or an arts and craft store

 

Didn't find any ABS plastic, but I found a sheet of Lexan polycarbonate, which seems to have the right properties. Rigid but not brittle, easy to cut and drill. I had enough left over to make a couple bottom plates to replace the crappy cardboard shape-holders that came with the bags.

OPTESTED today by filling up a couple growlers at Ballast Point. So far, so good. Not as high quality as Leatherpros or Conleys, but I'm only into them for $160 including the Lexan and hardware. They also fit between the shocks and turn signals, whereas I don't think the others would.

A couple more pics:

 

Hey man. What size bags did you use? Thanks.

Dallas

 

Those are the Mediums.

 

Squidhead, if you ever need plastic you can go to ridout plastics or harrington plastics.

 

Cool, thanks. I'm probably going to redo these and add more support. They sag a little when loaded.

 

I had the same bags as you (but the XL size). I used the detachable side plates and flipped them upside down. Not perfect, as it caused rub-wear on the bags but it worked.

You might get by with some nice 7-ply maple from an old skateboard or something similar. (birch?)