I have had a pair of throw over willie max saddle bags for awhile. I know that you can throw them over the seat and secure them. However I want to install them under my seat which I have been told you can. I attempted to install them the other day. Only problem was I could not get the seat back on. The seat was lifted up a bit and I could not get the bolt back in. Is there a trick to making this work?

 

I have some bags and also put them under the seat. I had to frig a bit to get the seat to fit over them, and a little pressure on the screw. Voila.

 

Mine too...push down hard (helper) and then put the screw in the back and they fit fine. I never take mine off as I like the looks.

 

Like the others stated, you'll have to push down harder. Or there's excess adjusting string wadded up keeping the seat from fitting right. I have throw overs under my seat and have no issue getting the seat back on. You could also just get a slightly longer bolt, but be careful not to get one too long so it doesn't start scraping/cutting into your tire.

Another word of caution for people running this type of set up is to make sure your seat bolt is going into the fender mounting nut far enough....I had a solo seat & passenger pillion seat setup previously, and on one ride, the mounting nut snapped. Apparently, the bolt didn't go down into the part that actually was under the fender, and was only screwed into the collar part of the nut that sticks up through the fender with the plastic clip. It allowed the seats to wiggle and slide around on the ride back home. I had to get a new fender mounting nut and a slightly longer bolt.

 

You might want to put some felt on the underside of your bags to keep them from marring the paint or clear film on your fender.

 

Sit backwards on the passenger pad when you put the screw in. This will put pressure on the seat to help get it down and back enough. Through use this procedure will get easier to the point where everything just lines up.

 

Of Course!! Pressure. Sometimes I amaze myself in the inability to think about the obvious.This will be the perfect job for my boy to help me with. Maybe tonight 60lbs of pressure should do it. Felt is a good idea as well. I wonder if I can cut a piece of a microfiber towel instead since I have a few of those.

Thanks for all the help.

 

buy some ghost brackets and be done with it. they hang better and can quickly take them off and on.

 

I found that to make them work properly you have to shorten the bag so they don't burn up on the exhaust pipe and you also have to shorten the yoke and have it sewn so you don't have so much extra leather to try and cram under the seat.
I works really well if you do this but they don't hold much.

 

Thanks guys they are on. My 8 year old sat on the passenger seat while I screwed them in. Also this way my boy got to help his mom work on her Harley. He was really excited. It actually made me decide that we are going to work on the windshield together. I got one off ebay that isnt the quick release. It takes a docking kit (which I need to buy). I checked with two dealerships and it seems the labor on it will be alot. So I have decided I am buying the kit ($60) and him and I are installing it. Will say me around a $100 plus I would have to have someone drive the windshield to dealership while I rode bike. Hopefully that project will turn out fun as well.
And when I can't figure out how to do something simple there is always HDF to help me figure it out.