I want to add bag stiffeners to my 07 Heritage. I have looked at Saggy Bags, Boss Bags, and Leather Lid Stiffeners. The Boss Bags look like the best but cost more. Also my straps are a little flimsy and they have a strap replacement. Any suggestions?
David

 

cheapest as in most inexpensive way to reinforce your bags would be to go to a office depot and get the aluminum bars that they have for hanging baskets, for file cabinets. Worked for me.

zoood/RJ

 

I never thought of the metal bars from someplace like Office Depot. Hmm, that may be something to consider later. Oh well ... I basically made my own system using ABS plastic. The ABS plastic is fairly easy to work with, and I got it from a local shop for under $15.

You can cut the ABS plastic with a wide variety of saw blades (using jigsaws and circular saws is pretty popular) and I actually used a plastic cutting bit on my Dremel powertool. Depending on how you want to build the set you can make a 2-piece or 3-piece framing system. The 2-piece system uses 1 on the top (inside lid) and then a long piece to form inside the bag. It's a bit more complicated to set up the bends in a 2 piece system, but with some patience it can be done.

In my case I actually used a 3-piece system (my sheets were only 16 inches long so one sheet would not cover the whole interior circumference of the bag). That means I made a front frame and a back frame (they come together at the bottom of the bag).This also meant that each piece only had 2 bends in it rather than a single piece which required 4 bends. I know, ultimately there are still 4 bends, but doing in a 3-piece system meant I could be a little less precise when getting all the bends to line up right so it fit snugly inside the bag.

I don't know the exact temperature that ABS becomes maliable, but it's fairly low. Be careful not to overheat it. The first time I tried to heat a sheet of ABS plastic I melted right through it. I've been told you can use a hair dryer, but I've not tried that. I actuallyuse a small propane torch like the one you use to shrink plastic shrink wrapping for wiring.

You will only need to heat a relatively small area at one time: about an inch on either side of the bend area and thenthe width of the sheet (I believe the bag is 7 inches across, so that's how wide the sheet will be). Flick the flame back and forth across the area so you don't heat it too fast or concentrate too much heat in one area. Remember, it's just plastic so it will heat quickly and cool fairly quickly as well. That means once you heat the area for bending then you need to bend fairly quickly so that you don't try to force it. I found that I had 10 to 20 seconds fairly easily to work with. Oh yeah, I used a set of C-clamps to hold one end of the sheet down to the benchtop, heated the area for the bend at the edge of the benchtop, and then simply applied pressure to the extended end while heating the bending area. Within a few seconds it will start to bend and that's all you need.

I made a template based on the outside dimensions of the bag so that I'd have an idea of the angles I needed as well as the overall shape. I actually used the side facingaway from the bike (the large flat side) for my guide. I put a sheet of cardboard over it and then traced around the edge of the bag.

 

Saggy bags worked well for me.

 

Really like the boss bags-well fit and the lock is a great touch. Sent them off and got them back same next week. Real good people to work with.

 

I did the SaggyBags kit a few years ago and have been very happy with it. I like the boss bags as it provides a way to lock the bags. I also like that they offer stiffer straps for $50.

 

I did the Boss Bags and had the straps replaced. They look great and I like being able to lock them.