Lookin for a set of paintable, detachable Hard bags for a heritage softail. Anybody have any recommendations? I looked in search and didnt find much. Any help is appreciated. Thx

 

There is a post in the general chat section from a guy inquiring about the value of his used hard bags... See "how much are they worth" and go from there

 

Prepare to spend. Hard bags from a touring bike, mounts to put it on the heritage and most of the time the trim on the bags themselves. Latches, locks...

 

Your best bet to buy saddlebags is from ebay, they go from $150 a piece for bags all the way up to $1,000+ for stretched custom bags with lids. There is a company on ebay which sells "fiberglass bagger saddlebags" and claim they're slightly wider than stock. I made the mistake of buying them, they are almost 13 inches wide, the lids don't fit the bags, the holes are drilled in completely wrong places for the hardware....


That aside, STOCK HD bags as a set will go typically for $250-400 without lids, $350-500ish with lids. Hardware is typically not included, although some listings have hardware included for around $600-800, sometimes more.

For a heritage softail, there are brackets you must also purcahse (or you can make your own, but it's pretty involved, including precise tight bends and obtaining exactly the right angles, plus paint/powdercoating afterwards, you're better off to buy the pre-fabbed brackets). These brackets come as a kit, between $100 and $300. I recently purchased a set with a best offer of $135, plus an additional $18 shipping.

Hardware is another story, the latch/hinge kits are expensive (almost $300 to do both bags) and do not typically include locks, so you have to go to HD dealerships to buy them. Add to that chrome saddlebag rails and guards (if desired) and to have the bags painted to match your bike (I'd estimate around $300, however I do my own paint so I don't know shop prices), this entire project could easily add up to $1500 or more.

You also mentioned quick detatch. Hard saddlebags are designed to mount to permanent spots on the bike, so making a quick detatch bracket could pose a problem. The bags sit on a rail for support, which is where most of the load is held. If you attach a quick release system to the sides of the bags, you run the risk of putting too much weight on the mounting points on the side of the bags (just 2 small bolts) and causing a stress fracture, or the bags could break completely off the bike on the road, which is never a good thing.

Long story short, it's not exactly economical to put hard bags on a softail model, but it can be done. Quick detatch is another story, but the aftermarket brackets are relatively easy to remove, in about 10 minutes or less.

I'm currently in the process of designing/building a prototype hard bag for softail models, you should be able to find it on here to get an idea of what I'm working with. My bag brackets should arrive in the mail later today, I'll be posting pics on how to attach them and stuff, so keep an eye out.

Good luck!

 

I'm looking forward to your pics. I hate putting things in my soft bags, the design is just awful.

 

I went thru three sets of bags (Hog Deluxe to Boss to OEM Hard Bags) before getting what i wanted.

The process is fairly expensive unless you really watch for the deals. I bought a set of RK bags locally w/ lids for $350. My buddy painted them for free. Bought Cyclevisions mounts (those are expensive but definitely work well, hardware off ebay (with locks but after market)plus a few bits and pieces. I added the CV filler panels since the bags sit away from my docking mounts for the Sissy Bar and TourPak.

All said and down the Hard Bags cost me about the same as a really good set of new Leather bags ($1200) with the filler panels, Chrome latches, locks, etc.

I like the result and would not go back to the leather although the Boss 42D;s I had were a great bags.....

I have pictures on the forum here:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...ur-deluxe.html

Post 397.

GL, D

 

If you want regular size OEM and not the stretched ones, go to ebay and be patient. You will find all kinds of take off bags with all the hardware included. Usually they dont have a key for the lock so you have to buy new locks from HD for around $80 and you can get them keyed to your ignition key. When I was doing mine, seemed that most bags with lids and hardware were going for $800 or so. The Cycle Visions Baggertail kit is around $275. If you go with some other mount, you are likely to have issues down the road. I would highly discourage you from using a quick detach that only mounts at the top of the bag. The bags will break at some point, guaranteed. I went with custum stretched bags and had to buy the lids, hardware, locks, etc. seperately. After paint and mounts it ran around $1600. So there ya go. Happy spending

 

i have been looking for hard bags for my deluxe on ebay and they arn't cheap.but i was looking at the bossbags for deluxes.they look pretty good,and about the same money.are bossbags worth it?