Today I started my late saddlebag upgrade. As others have said....."They are completely different!" They are a bit bigger, in almost every direction, and they have to be spaced 1/2" farther away from the bike to work properly.

I started out by replacing my bag mounting hardware with late model (2004-2006) stuff. It looks cleaner and has a little wider crashbar. I may not have had to, but some idiot welded the lower bag support to the fender strut.....I guess bolts were just to hard to use. I have some finished install pics for now and will do a better documentation with more pics tomorrow. I took a little different approach than Mr. Brown did. They really go on quite easy, except for the battery relocation. I will start that side tomorrow, but for now, this is where I am.

 

Looking good so far!

 

Lookin' over your shoulder with interest!

 

Bags look good

 

Thanks............I get smarter as I get older. Gunna fit them BEFORE I paint them.

 

As promised, more details and pics.

First, I measured the crashbars......our origanal factory bar is about 10 3/8" from where it bolts on the top to the outside. While the later model bars are 11 1/2" to the outside. Sooo the later crashbars are wider AND better looking! I use the whole late model assembly....fender strut, crashbar, and bag rail. I found the crashbars on ebay for $15.00 and got the fender struts and bag rails from a crashed bike for $20.00, also from ebay, the crashbars were unusable. This is the cheapest way that I found to get all the parts using ebay. If you try to buy them as a set on ebay they are well over $100.00 most of the time.

Factory 89 crashbar


Late model crashbar


Now for more fitting detail..............I had to space the factory rear bag mount out 1/2" and got some beefy chrome spacers from the dealer. They are pretty cheap at a few bucks each (cheaper than buying the late model rear mount) and there is no real mods needed plus our origanal mount is MUCH stronger than the later ones. For the front, I bought 06 and later front bag mounts (47449-06) and had to do a little modding to them. I was going to mount them to the origanal front bag mount, but found that it almost lined up with the front mounting bolt for the rear frame rail covers. I had to drill and shave the slot to make it mount lower and use the larger bolt. I bent the factory mount down and cut it off. Its welded to the frame, and for now I will leave whats left of it there. Sometime in the future, probably when I need to do some motor work, I will strip the parts off of the frame and make it pretty, then get it powder coated.

Late model front bag mount mods


Factory bracket removed


New bracket mounted


Factory rear mount with spacers


I did not get to the other side today, had to much other crap to do......maybe tomorrow. I havent decided if I will replace the bag assembly on the battery side yet or just mod the old factory stuff thats there. If I do replace it, it will down Ester for awhile, cause I need to weld a bracket on for the later crashbar, and I will put on my 04 fender at the same time.

We'll see.

 

Good looking stuff Chuck. I'll revisit the way I mounting my bags, so members can see our two approaches and compare them. Everything is due to go off to my painter this weekend, so it may be a while before I get my bags back.

 

No problem Graham.......always like options.

The battery side is going to be more involved due to the missing "tab" on the frame for the mounting of the late crashbar. I'll need to get it welded, but will have the fab work done and ready to go, so I can ride it to the welder and have it done. I would do it myself, but I havent replaced my welder yet.

 

Tonight I mocked up the right side saddlebag. You can see in the picture that I will have to move the relay and circut breaker that is behind the stock side cover. They wont fit under the replacement cover that I have. I could use the stock cover and cut it and fab a bracket for it, but I want to go to later rear floorboards so I can use the Kury passenger swing pegs, cause the wife REALLY likes them. So I will relocate them, dont know where yet......havent got that far, kinda shootin fron the hip on the ongoing design.

I guess for now, Ester is down. So tomorrow I will fab a lower crashbar bracket and start on the battery box for under the seat, since I have the battery size. I guess I will replace the rear fender too. So tomorrow will be teardown day.

More to come!

 

Today was a teardown day..........and I got my 04 fender on. Had to drill 2 holes for the shock mounts, but other than that it went pretty smooth. The later fender is way shorter than the stock one, so all the modifications I did to the late seat was in vain, cause with a late fender the seat sits back about 2" farther....oh-well, at least I didnt pay $500.00 for the seat. Im going to have to make a bracket to mount the front of the fender to the frame too.

I got all my wiring moved to inside the frame and started rerouting it. I also mocked up a battery bracket for under the seat. I need to buy some nuts nd bolts for the bracket and then paint it, but its going to work great, and the battery will be well below the seat.

Thats all for today.