I picked up a 1992 Heritage Softail last May. I have been working on developing it into the kind of bike I want.

I have decided I want it to be sort of a blend of a softail and road king. It is a little crusty and I want to leave it that way, but make sure it is mechanically solid.

I want to put hard lockable saddle bags on it and set it up with a removable top case. I want to be able to use it for touring but also take the luggage off for bopping around town.

Ideally, I would like to adapt old EVO luggage that would have the right look for the age of my bike.

I plan to replace the rear shocks with Progressive 422 and probably drop in new front springs. I do not plan to lower it. I like the stock height. I want it to handle and ride as good as a softail can.

I know a touring frame would be better for touring. But I want to work with this bike.

I plan to get a new seat. Leaning toward a single Mustang seat. There is some damage to the rear fender from the old seat so I will either need to fix the damage or put a bib on it.

I like the idea of the old school exposed fender look.

I have 12 inch ape hangers on it. Thinking of some more regular handle bars, but I like the ergonomics of the way it is set up now.

No specific questions. Just general thoughts observations recommendations, etc.

 

Sounds close to what I did.

 

Yes, Tina has a lot of the vibe I am going for. I have white walls on it now, but the next set of tires will be black walls.

I plan to have a single seat. When I take the luggage off, I want to see the fender. I have an old chrome rack for the back. But I might put one over the fender to give it more of the old school look. Perhaps the top case will be more forward as well since I do not plan to have a passenger seat.

Anybody have any idea what would be involved in adapting old Road King saddle bags to fit a 92 Softail?

 

I have a 93 heritage and I was thinking about the same thing. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but there are a lot of kits on ebay that look decent for the prices. Just search "softail saddlebag brackets" and a bunch will come up.

 

Cycle Visions makes what you need.

http://www.cyclevisions.com/index.ph...ag-mounts.html

 

Use the later style of bags, not early ones, as they have a cutout in the r/h bag. Later bags are actually bigger all round than the earlier ones (I have both), as well as having no cutout in the r/h one. When shopping for my later ones I found that the Police version, with twist-lock on the lid, were much cheaper, although the mouldings are identical.

 

By later, how much later do you mean? What years approximately

I like the look of your bike. It has balance and consistency. I want mine to be functional and look like it is set up the way it was designed to be set up.

Bike is blue. Thinking flat black for bags.

 

The 'new' bags were introduced in model year 1994 IIRC. They are the ones with the lid hinge on the side of the bag, so very easy to identify them. The Police bags have a 'puck' on the lid and different hinges, otherwise use the same mouldings. The previous bags have a detachable lid, with no hinge.

My bike looks quite different now, a different blue, with many upgrades and changes! It isn't complete yet, so will be a while before I can upgrade my sigpic.

 

My Soft King build plan

1. Get the cycle vision adaptor recommended by Prot
2. Find used post 1994 Road King bags as recommended by grbrown. Already found one pair for $250. But they are 1 1/2 hours away. Terrible color, but does not matter since I am going to paint them anyway. Also missing all hardware. Not sure how hard that would be to find. Even missing hinges and locking mechanism.
3. Paint them flat black
4. Replace rear shocks with Progressive 422
5. Replace front springs with Progressive standard length springs
6. Buy Mustang single seat original style but no buttons or chonchos
7. Buy Mustang fender bib to hide fender damage from current seat. There is also some scratches around the rear attachment point for seat. Will need to see if this bib will hide those scratches too.
8. Upgrade lighting
9. Replace rear light with old school slopping light
10.Replace any wiring that is worn. Possibly the entire wiring system.
11.Relocate rear turn signals to accomodate Road King bags. This will reveal some scratches and damage to rear fender. Will have to see what that looks like.
12. Find a rear rack that will be more forward since I do not need to leave room for passenger seat.
13. Find top case that will fit on rear rack and match style of Road King bags
14. I like the original color and the paint is in good shape except for the damage to the rear fender. I want to keep the original paint.
15. Consider replacing carburator. Runs fine, but sometimes coughs if not warmed up properly.

There is a motorcycle / car swap meet near me Feb 5. I think I am going to check it out to see if I can find any of the stuff I need.

Appreciate all the helpful comments. Any more comments would be very welcome. While I am at it, I want to address any issues that will be easier to address all at once.

I have a mechanic who is going to do the hard work. I will do what I can, with his guidance.

I hope to learn and be able to do more and more. Bike has about 49K miles. I hope to put another 100K or more on it and then give it to my kids. 5K a year for 20 years. I will be 77. Then move to a scooter.

Thanks!!

 

Harley moved the battery on the ElectraGlide touring bikes with the 1993 model year (I own a 93 FLHS). 1992 and earlier have the cutout for the battery.

There are a number of companies that now sell clones of the later model hard bags and tourpacks, so do a cost comparison between used/new.