I may have come across a free set of 2014 hard bags and a tourpak (I believe king, but may be chopped). As some know, I was already fabricating a breakout mount for a tourpak. The bags would add a layer of complexity, but not impossible. I don't really care how it "looks" because this is specifically for touring functionality with the intention of removing quickly once at the destination. Anyone attempted to mount this year models to softails? To keep everything quick release, I am considering a couple ideas of doing so. I can make a single bracket much like the TP mount I made that perma-mount the pack and both bags with a quick on and off sliding motion on the Harley quick release bolts for the whole setup. The second option is to add a dedicated easy bracket hookup off the TP mount I designed for function of going with TP only or TP with bags as needed. OR go for the easybracket extension on the TP bolts to add the bags there. Anything I should consider in the design? I am not worried about appearance of bags with the short fender, or how people think it would look. It’s mostly to see if it can be done and to give my OL some extra storage for the longer trips. And for the sake of free.

 

Realistically, the 2014 and up bags and tour pak are worth a small fortune. I would sell that stuff and surf ebay and craigslist for a better, more suitable luggage option for a short fender Softail. If you buy and sell smart, you will have both a proper looking Softy, AND cash to boot.

 

Would be hard to sell since some service buddies are hooking me up. I can make the tour pack fit for sure and look good. Will have to make the call on the bags when I get them.

 

You can buy a used chrome rack pretty cheaply. But if you have the fab skills to make a mount for that tour pak, even better. If you want those bags to be quick release, your likely stuck with an EZ Brackets type solution. But your gonna need to do some serious reinforcement of those bags if you hang them on easy brackets. The bulk of the weight of the stock bags is meant to be supported from the bottom. If you just side-bolt them to easy brackets then let the wife fill them up, I would expect them to start cracking rather quickly. A nicely formed piece of diamond plate bolted on the inside may be enough. Or fab a hoop to the easy brackets that the bags can sit upon. Those bags are huge, and my wife can easily overload them with 30lbs of junk, without even thinking about it. Ha!

 

All valid points. I already have the design and an initial cut for the tourpak mount posted in the build/mod forum for my bike. I will have to see how the mounting points on the bags match up, but I could easily extend the tourpak mount down to add a shelf system for the saddlebags. Though at 1/8" steel, that will be heavy. Another option is to lighten the load by having two 1" wide wings that hang down from the tourpak mount and form their own shelves. Here's what I have fabbed so far:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...l#post15169960

 

The tour pac was the easy part for me because I had a couple of dressers in the past and had a spare luggage rack. Just had to get some quick release pins for the fender bolts and widen the rack to fit. To use the bags you need to buy some mounts like CycleVisions for a secure mount. You could notch the mounting bolts to make them quicker to remove if you think you need to but I'm so used to keeping the bags on I'm naked without that storage. I have two softails and used a cheaper mount on one. Had to make a crossover to tie the bag racks together otherwise they flop around when you hit bumps and don't support the bags near as well. Go with the cycle vision mounts. Just seen you pictures. Your tourpack is going to make you way top heavy. I applaud your building skills but keep it tight to the fender and lower to the ground.

 

Yeah a simple adjustment to the cad diagram will fix that. Maybe drop the side plates an inch or so. Will definitely look into the cycle vision options as well. What I imagine might happen is once the bags are in hand, identify where the mounting holes are, and create two one inch wide wings that hang down below that bracket far enough to L under the bags and secure them from the inside and bottom. Hard to plan without them yet though.

 

By hang down, I mean they will extend down as an all in one piece with the quick release bracket.

 

Go for it, waiting to see how this turns out.

 

( I was wondering if you have a set up that you can sale to me, that I can put hard bags like yours on my bike. I love my rocker I travel alot on it but I'm allways the odd one out of the bunch because I have a bungie cord set up on my back fender. plus it's hard on my back with my backpack sometimes. please help. email me. brabbit1094@gmail.com any info will help thanks. )

this is my 09 rocker c.