I have a set of the nostalgic saddlebag guard rails for my 09 Road King Classic. I have put them on loosely for now but noticed that after latching the bags shut I do not have enough room to tuck the tail end of the strap behind the bars. Any help would be appreciated.
I have looked at older posts and guys with older Rk's used spacers to move the bars more toward the rear thus lowering the height. You can't do this on the 09 because the rear of the rails mount on the opposite side of the fender support bracket that the older bikes mount to. Instead of going between the head of the bolt and the fender brace they go on last just before the nut so I can not space them backward. They changed the mounting bracket. Instead of being flat with two holes they now are shaped like a "[" with two holes. I know everyone has trouble with latching the bags shut because of the tight space but I have seen a lot of photos with the ends of the strap tucked behind the rail. There are a few photos where the straps are hanging in front of the rails...now I know why.

 

I wish I could help from this end...but if they've changed a few angles on the rails I'm not sure how to. For what its worth, if I get lazy and don't tuck the ends under the rail they tend to flop around like you've described. Have you tried a bigger hammer?

 

Did you use the holes closest to the fender? This will put them a little farther away from the bag, [OO]<------>[OO]