As I look around at saddlebags and see people asking $500+, I started to wonder, why cant I bolt on whatever saddlebags I want? I'm planning on keeping them on all the time, can't I get whatever, even cheaper ones and make my own mounting and just add extended bolts? If I need to I could add brackets, but is there something I'm missing?

I was thinking of buying inexpensive bags for now, until I see something I really want to invest in, drill a hole through them add a internal bar to stiffen to attachment and just run with it. I'm sure there must be a problem I'm not aware of.

 

It will work just bolting them to the struts. Be careful about the lenght of the bolts, dont get them to long or your tire may hit them inside the fender.

You do need to extend some sort of support down the bak of the bag or theuy will flex in and out as you ride. Depending on the size of the bags and if you have axel covers you may need to space out from the strut to clear tha axels and the belt guard.

 

Check out Vikingbags.com the saddlebags comes with the mounting brackets and are inexpensive

 

The reason people sue the expensive brackets is because they provide support for the back of the bags. I recently added some road king bags to my fatboy, and used the cycle visions brackets as these bags are large and need some support on the bottom as well.

If you plan on carrying anything of substantial weight in them I recommend getting a proper bracket setup to bolt them on. The setup I have supports the touring bags as they are meant to be supported. Also, hard backed bags will work the best as they will not have the chance to hit the rear wheel on the inside. I have wanted to add bags for a long time but found that it was ridiculously expensive as well.

I picked up my bags on CL for $200 and got the brackets from Cycle Visions. It has worked out great as I don't plan on taking them off either. Here is a pic. Plus, the bags are huge and I can stuff them full of all kinds of stuff as my bike is my basic transportation. If you ewver flook at a Heritage closely, the bags have a lower support as well as the upper support.




Drew

 

WOW, that fatboy looks AWESOME with the Road King bags....