Is appears to be the same bolts that attach these from what I can tell. I have a Harley xj500, crash bars on back and front (my first street bike). I am taking it to work more now and I need bags to carry contracts and maybe put my jacket in.
I see so many options but I am


not sure how I know which bags will work with the tip bars I have on. What do you think?

I am a rather small woman and would want a not huge bag on the back of there. Most say large or extra large when I google it.
Having them lock is important to me but what is the experience with the hard bags vs some with flex? Some of them even look plastic, definitely going to leather look and feel.
There are so many styles and I confused on what to get. Some come withount system, some are connected with a strap.

Also, thoughts on Viking bags or other brands?
Are there no Harley brand saddle bags?

 

@BrandiT - Welcome to the forum!

The genuine H-D bags for these bikes are pretty awful. They are way over priced, look cheap, and are tough to find. They also don't meet your requirement of being lockable. That's a 13 liter bag on each side.

I don't think you will find many bags that will fit with the grab irons. On the other hand, the bags are likely to stick out beyond the guards anyway, so they in essence become your new rear tip guards. I would have gotten the rear guards as my XG750 was my first bike ever, but I didn't even know they existed. Instead I got some in which I carried empty gallon plastic water jugs. These absorbed a couple of parking lot drops. If I needed the carrying capacity a jug or two went in the nearest trash can and I replaced it when I got home.

If you really want to keep the guards you may want to consider some other luggage possibilities such as swing arm, tank and tail bags.

The only saddle bag possibility that I can think of that would work with the rear guards would be throw-over saddlebags, the ones you describe as "connected with a strap". You might be able to thread that strap under the guards and over the seat. On some the top yoke can actually go under the seat. These bags normally have a few additional straps to attach the bottom of the bag to the frame of the bike. The rear guards may interfere with opening some bags.

My concern would be that even if you can find this throw-over bags with locks, the entire bag dismounts fairly easily for carry off theft. Would you consider putting an inside the saddle bag with its security cable coming out and attaching to the frame of the bike?

For throw-over bags it is recommended that you use a saddle bag support bracket to prevent the bag from tipping into the drive belt and wheel. These come in two forms:In my case I couldn't find generic supports in black nor model specific supports, so I installed a pair of saree guards as describe in this video. India, which was a target market for these bikes, has a big scooter culture where it is not unusual for ladies to ride pillion side saddle in a skirt. To prevent the skirts from getting tangled in the more exposed drive belt and rear wheel of a motorcycle with devastating results many motorcycles have these metal grills attached. They are overkill as a bag support, but make a great lashing point for securing other loads onto the back of the bike.

Most hard bags are going to come with some kind of mounting brackets that will use the same fender bracket mounting bolts as the rear tip guards, thus requiring their removal.

The Viking Bags products have a very good reputation, look good, are lockable, and sizes start from 11 liters per bag. Many of them feature cut outs to fit around the shock absorbers, which really takes capacity away from the bag.

 

Back hand hold bars have to go. Viking offers some different bags for the Street. While not the greatest in the world the work.

 

750 street with Viking bags . Not expensive have held up well even riding in snow. I did modify their mounts a little to move them in a bit closer.