I love the look of the Trike Saddlebags and aside from them being expensive I really don’t want my Husband to be drilling holes to fit them just because I would like them!!!!
So does anyone know of an alternative or has anyone come up their own makeshift saddlebags that doesn’t involve drilling holes. Going on a 4 day trip in a few months and would like to be able to store my phone etc within easy reach and not have to hold onto it or hang it round my neck!!
Same thought here, so we found a couple of two compartment ATV fender bags, and mount them more or less on the Air Wings on the fenders. Here's a pic.
Mounting was "interesting." On the bottom underside of the fender, I cut some white oak pieces 3x5 inches and about 1/2 inch thick, and shaped them to match the inside contour curves of the fender (compound curves, side to side and top to bottom) and then used the good two-sided automotive trim tape to secure them inside, about 1/4" above the fender lip. A couple of marine grade stainless strap tie downs screw into them on the bottom. Essentially you can't see anything when nothing is attached unless your head is nearly on the ground.
So the two bottom nylon attachment straps go down through the strap loops and back up, securing the bottom of the bag at a fixed height. It's hard to see at the bottom of the picture. I wrap cling vinyl material or duct tape under the lip of the fender so the straps don't abrade the paint. Pull that off when not in use
In the middle I made a wood "slider" block for each side with a couple of 5/8 inch half-holes the same distance apart as the rails. They act as sliders so the whole thing can come and go forward and backwards freely. The base layer of the bags screw into them between the top and bottom compartments, and we wrap a piece of velcro around the rails/block/base to secure it in place (yet it can still slide easily.)
Finally the top of the top bag is secured to the back of the air wing with a long bungee cord that allows the top to move around a bit but not touch the paint, and keeps the straps in tension; the center slides easily on the rails.
As most of the lower half of the bags are against the fender paint an do move around a bit, under the whole thing I put vinyl cling material so nothing abrades the paint. Vinyl tape or electrical tape or anything else removable would work. I use that Cricut machine window cling vinyl rolls, it's heavy duty and cheap. Use it between the air wing rails, too, so the bungee cord doesn't rub on anything.
They work really well, hold a whole lot of stuff, and there is not sign of them when removed. Typically the bottoms hold the seat cover, a couple of rags, some garbage bags if needed (waterproof suits aren't, the bags make a good outer 'rain fly' for them on those monsoon days) bungee cords, extra gloves and do-rags, stocking caps, balaclavas and such in plastic baggies, short ropes, velcro straps, a couple of water bottles each for desert trips. The top holds things like a small camera or Go Pro parts, sunglasses, electrical tape, a small kleenex pack, snacks, jerkey, anything small that you want access to without having to take the roll up bag off of the Tour Pack or open the trunk for.
That's the general idea, Yeah,I know it's a kluge and requires the air wings, but these things only cost about twenty bucks each. They aren't really waterprooof, you have to put a lot of stuff in baggies, and you can't really access the top ones very easily without anything flying out at sped, but the sure hold quite a bit, and are very convenient to get at when needed. I'll try to figure out where in the heck I put my other pictures and post them, hope it helps spur some ideas!
Added: you could easily use the velcro mount in the post above (I can't see the poster's name while editing, sorry!) to mount some things like these and have them on the inner fender instead. In fact we might do that next time, but my wife has short legs and there may not be room. I'll look at that when we go for a ride to Ohio Bike Week later today.
The pic is my daughter getting a ride on our trip to California via the upper tier states, those bags have been on from the North Coast in Ohio to Sacramento and back, the Gulf Coast, the East Coast in Vermont and up into Canada for Niagra falls, probably 15K miles, so they are pretty darned secure.
Last edited by Oogie Wa Wa; 05-26-2018 at 05:18 AM.
Reason: Grammar police! Spellink, mo info
Another thing I did, much smaller and more what you want; I made a rider seat backrest cover with pockets on the back.
I cut up an old pair of jeans and sewed the pieces up such that the two back pockets (the "butt panel") are behind the backrest, and a plain piece of material from the one of the legs in the front. Sew the front and back together around the edges facing each other, and turn it inside out so the seams are on the inside. It's sewed on the sides and top, and open on the bottom so it just slides down over the backrest, with a couple of snaps at the bottom so it can't fly off.
My wife keeps her phone, small camera, a couple of candy or protein bars or other stuff and sunglasses in it. Works really good, and very frugal of course. The layer of denim between me and the backrest is an added bonus. Darned if I can find a pic, but I think you get the idea.
PS, actually, I cheated; I can't sew, so I used staples to make it!!!
Last edited by Oogie Wa Wa; 05-26-2018 at 05:33 AM.
Another thing I did, much smaller and more what you want; I made a rider seat backrest cover with pockets on the back.
I cut up an old pair of jeans and sewed the pieces up such that the two back pockets (the "butt panel") are behind the backrest, and a plain piece of material from the one of the legs in the front. Sew the front and back together around the edges facing each other, and turn it inside out so the seams are on the inside. It's sewed on the sides and top, and open on the bottom so it just slides down over the backrest, with a couple of snaps at the bottom so it can't fly off.
My wife keeps her phone, small camera, a couple of candy or protein bars or other stuff and sunglasses in it. Works really good, and very frugal of course. The layer of denim between me and the backrest is an added bonus. Darned if I can find a pic, but I think you get the idea.
PS, actually, I cheated; I can't sew, so I used staples to make it!!!
Anything other than the HD mini-saddlebgs makes the trike look cheap....just my opinion. Why would you not want holes drilled on the fender? It's not like you're going to take them on and off. Those little bags are so convenient and hold all your small "props"!!
Painted fender for my 18 anniversary is $1300.00 per fender, if I don't like the HD bags, it would cost $2600.00 to get rid of the holes. I still cannot get matched paint either.
05-25-2018, 09:39 PM
Saddlebags
