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Have not lost a bag yet, I did find a pin laying in the bottom of one bag. 2015 Street glide with recall performed. I put bolts in the front hole and left quick release in rear hole.
+1 taking 1 screw out adds 30 sec to bag remove I like that better than chasing one down the road
I got rid of those twist pins right away for that very reason. I did not trust them and didn't want to have to constantly check them. Not to mention someone can steal your saddlebags in about 5 seconds with just a screw driver. They get behind the bag and pop them right off. I bought expensive top shop bags and switched to Allen bolts and screw type setup. Nice and secure. No worries.
Dropped my bike off for service and my parts guy suggested some replacement locking type screws to replace the pins. They threw them in and will be put on along with the service. Hard to believe this is still such a problem but it'll be nice to have the piece of mind after reading through this thread.
I got this idea from another post. 5/16" clevis pin cut to length with the end rounded off with a grinder, and fender washers on the wheel side and inside the saddlebag. No tools, can't loosen, hard to tamper with. I only use this on the front, and have the OEM fasteners on the back.
What did you do for other side where it mounts to bag bracket? Did you leave stock clip on or the speed nut style with clevis going through it?
FWIW, I put the screw-in ***** (make your own joke) on mine. No kit, just bought the hardware at Home Depot, prob about $10, took about 10 min to swap out. Easy peasy and no problems.
My primary motivation in changing hardware was that I had added a DIY bag organizer, and the pins weren't long enough to hold the organizer and the bag.
Well a good idea BUT to ME it seems the big wingnuts inside the bag can and will cause damage to items in the bag. ?? Light years better than having to even think about the stock stuff failing.
I say that losing a saddlebag is operator error plain and simple. It is a known issue and has been since the Shovelhead era, we took precautions with those too either duct tape over the Jesus pins or a damn nut and bolt on the rear mount. Use a small bungie between them
How hard is it to trot your happy **** to the local hardware store and get real hardware ?? and NEVER have to think of a dang bag falling off?? No need to buy a overpriced "kit" either. No excuse and the very slight inconvenience of having to use a tool to remove the bag.
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