I was talking to one of the guys that I ride with , which is also a painter, about installing top shop extended bags and he said to be sure to get ABS and to stay away from all fiberglass. He said if it was just a show bike that I was just going to ride for short distances then fiberglass would be fine. He claims that if I do long rides, that the vibrations from my bike would cause the fiberglass to begin to spider crack. He said at the least the paint would start to show stress cracks. He said the ABS bags do not have this issue. I have never heard of this nor read anything about it here on this forum.

I told him I thought that I read somewhere that the ABS bags have an oil that weeps from the bags well after they have been produced causing issues with paint later down the road. He disagrees with this statement.

Is he correct about the fiberglass having issues with stress cracks or paint spider web cracking? I’m sure some of the cheaper bags might show this more than the high end bags.
Thanks
Rick

 

Nonsense! On a sample of one, my 1990 Glide, owned from new, has no cracks in its bags. My tourpak is even older and is also fine. Both have travelled extensively across Europe, bulging at the seams, with no ill effects. Also both have been repainted since new. My glassfibre batwing is a 1983 and is also fine, no hint of a crack.

 

I don't even know where you would get fiberglass lids...

HD bags are ABS, and have been for years. Yes, there is mold release in ABS, but proper surface prep eliminates any adhesion problems.

If you look at the "unfinished" side, and it is smooth and black, it is ABS.

 

On the glass fibre bags and tourpaks the interior is also smooth but light grey.

 

paint and body shop guys usually think of fiberglass stress cracks on C3 corvettes that were run pretty hard whenever the F word is mentioned.

 

And that is what he used for comparison. He told me to look closely at a vette that was built with 100% fiberglass and I would see the spider cracks and the bad paint issues.

Rick

 

No issues at all in 6 years and 113,000 miles of normal use, including 4 miles per day on a dirt/washboard road.

 

Yep, seen lots of older Vette's with the stress cracks around the windshield and fender. Typically caused by flexing and twisting of the body when ran hard. But a saddlebag is hardly a car and very few Harley's have enough HP to induce a stress crack of any kind. I would still opt for ABS however because of it's durability and resiliency.

 

OT - Hey Arizona - just curious if you've had any issues with your belt or rear pulley with the dirt road. I just had to replace a worn rear wheel pulley on my 2012 with about 48K on it. I've been down a few dirt/gravel roads too and think that may be part of the cause.

 

I'm pretty sure Top Shop bags aren't pure fiberglass. They have fiberglass in them but not solid. They're arguably the best bags on the market. You'll be fine.