I've been looking at cheaper ways to lock the saddle bags on my Road King Classic than spending $180 for the aftermarketlock kits or even more for the Harley Davidson lock kit. What I'm going to show you is not fancy or elegant, but it works and its cheap. I didn't do a lot of detailed photos, but I think you will get the scoop from what I show. Since everyone names these mods something, we'll call this the Flyinlow RKC lock kit.

Go to the hardware store and buy some steel hangerstrapping (plumbing section) and some D rings (hardware section), total of about $4.00. Cut the straps like shown here, one long and one short. Put the D ring in the middle and bend the strap aroundit. Crimp around the D ringwith a pliers.



Then take the long one and bend it like shown below so it will fit around the front leather latch strap in the lid. (You'll see in the next photo)



Place the metal strap as shown, mark a spot and drill a hole. It should come out just under the metal badge on the saddle bag. Use a rivet or blind screw and attach the strip to the bag.



Now the next step entirely depends on what type of lock you are going to use. I've got some travel locks that I used to set this up, but I saw a small Master key lock at the hardware store that is the same size and it might be easier to get a key in there than dialing in the combination. You are going to attach the short D ring strap to the bottom part of the bag and line it up so it ends up underneath the leather strap. You want to space the D rings far enough apartso that once locked, there is not alot of play between the D rings, but close enough so you can get the lock on.



Then go ahead and mark a hole and drill. Rivet this strap on or use a blind head screw. Below is what it looks like when riveted on and the lock is in place. Then just latch the strap as you would normally do.



Here is what it looks like with the lock on, the strap bows out a little but you really can't see the lock.



Here is what you see if the lock isn't on, you can't hardly tell anything is there. If you really want to make it stealthy, paint the straps black before you mount them.



Here is the only thing that shows on the outside. I'm going to get some black touch up paint and paint the rivet, then it will blend in. As I said its not pretty like the latch kits are, but it is far less expensive. Total cost with a couple of locks is less than $20. I'm sure there are ways to modify this such as thread the stud that the badge is held on with, make the strap longer, and bolt it there. You could make the lower strap longer and put it on with two rivets instead of one for more security.

 

sweeet- looks like it would work to me- I may have to try this out

Thanks!!

 

That's pretty much how my "Leather Pro" bags lock.

Click here

and here

and here

 

Maybe we should get the mods to move this to the cheap DIY sticky section

 

I know this thread is very old, but does any one have pics of this mod, All the old pictures in the DIY thread are gone. Thanks

 

+1 bump bump

 

I used these on my previous RKC... They worked and looked great. Well worth the price. Trust me. Made by Midway USA.






Here is the link...


Road King Classic Locks

 

Just ordered these tonight for my bike. $25.95 & piece of mind my saddlebags won't walk off while I'm on the road at a motel.

http://brukus.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-pro...parts&pc=12995