here is that kit I was talking about for other lazy people like me, that want to do it the easy way. sorry to hijack your thread but I spent days reading diff. forums when trying to figure out what I needed to get my edge brackets to go on my bike. it was blowing my mind why the rear holes weren't threaded so maybe this will help somebody else.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

 

No hijacking going on. It's all related and meant to help others. Thanks for adding the link.

 

I finally took the time to give this a try. Actaully the motivation was the passsenger seat arrived and I wanted to see what it all looked like put together.

Again thanks for the tips and input in the thread. I would of done some damage using the angle grinder to cut the slots in it. Just thought I would add to the thread incase someone else stumbles on it and decided to give it a go.

The slots I needed to cut were actually the same size as the holes in the side plates. Would of saved me a lot of time if I cut them the right size the first time. I did as recommended and taped the area to cut, them marked the lines. I used a dremmel to start the cut for the hacksaw. I ended up using the dremmel with a metal cutting disc to cut the slots out the second time. Like I said my initial slots were the size of the bolt not the spacer they needed to go over. The dremel worked real well. After the cut I used a file to smooth any sharp edges, increase the slots size if need (and they were needed) then rounded off the inside corner lip (the one that needs to slide over the rear spacer) to allow the rails to go on more smooth I suppose you could say. Tightened down the four bolts and sure enough that backrest and luggage rack are not going any where.

Once it was all said and done. Well worth the time and effort to avoid removing those 4 bolts, saddle bag stand off, etc just to put the back rest on for the weekend. Saved a bunch of money considering I would of needed the detachable rails and included stand off, hardware etc. I wouldn't call or compare this to the quick detachable setup HD sell, it's more like the fast and easy to remove backrest. Thanks agian for the input. Hoping to convince my lady it isn't that cold out and get here on the back for a ride. After that I will take some pictures of the end result of the side plates and slots I added. Spring is in the air my friends!

 

Got a PM from a member about some pictures of the side plates after the cuts were made but I must have deleted the PM so I will post the pics in the thread. I traded that bike in but found a couple of pictures on the pc of the side plates.







The mod didn't turn them into a quick release but sure made it easier to put the side plates on and off.