Installing Saddlebags

[drawflush]

Question................


I have 2 leather bags that came with my bike, they says ' Traditions' on them and they also came with 4 of the nylon straps, There are saddle guards on each side of the bike, Ive spent an hour trying to figure out the best way to just use the nylon straps an dI cant seem to figure it out for the life of me...........am I stupid??


If I cant figure this out by tonight, Im going to drill 4 holes in the hard backing of each saddlebag and screw them directly onto the guards with some washers.......

[cyclesinct]

zip ties!!!! When I bought my bags the shoe strings that came with them weren't even long enough to reach the supports. Quick run to home depot & bought a pack of black zip ties, they worked like a charm.

[DaveAlvarado]

Yeah, the purpose is to keep the bag held to the side of the bike, so you can't grab the bottom of the bag and lift it away from the bike. You need to somehow secure them to the saddlebag guards that are bolted to the fender mount. Zipties if they won't reach normally.

[drawflush]

guess Im not following. The nylon straps that came with them string over the top of the fender to hold them on right? i have them threaded through the top of the bag where the little 2 hole strap holders are.....however the straps seem to be too short on each side, do you combine each strap from each side to one another?.....I also understand the problem of the bags then flairing out from the bike and not staying secured to the mounts, but if i use zip ties that would mean probably putting holes in the back plate of the bags....i dont really want to do that...........wow, this is baffling me....maybe pics would help....i have to fix this, im going on a trip in 5 hours!!! lol

[1badbaker]

Originally Posted by cyclesinct

zip ties!!!! When I bought my bags the shoe strings that came with them weren't even long enough to reach the supports. Quick run to home depot & bought a pack of black zip ties, they worked like a charm.

mine are held on with zipties too

[drawflush]

Could you guys elaborate on the zip ties? maybe snap a pic? I dont see anywhere on the back of the bags that I can secure zip ties to.....,

[1badbaker]

In the back of my bag there are four small holes. Two sets of two hole spaced out the same as the supports. I simply ran a ziptie through each set of holes, around the support and tightened.

I'll try and get a pic later today and put it up.

[drawflush]

[drawflush]

Here is what Im refering to...


IMG_5646



IMG_5645

[Rumrunner]

Originally Posted by drawflush

Here is what Im refering to...


IMG_5646



IMG_5645

Should have looked at the pics..... Sorry

[cyclesinct]

ahhh, the pics help a lot! I thought you were talking about tying the bottom of the bags to the supports. But I only see two straps in the pics. When you throw the bags over the bottom of the bags shouldn't be much lower than the supports, you want the bags about 2 inches above the pipes. If the bags aren't even covering the bottom of the supports then I'd say that yes, you probably have to combine the straps, throw the bags over the bike and then there should be a way to adjust the straps length. As for connecting the bottom of the bags it looks like you might have to punch some holes through the bottom unless your always going to have something heavy in each bag to hold them down.

[1badbaker]

Here's what mine look like. From the look of your pics, you could punch some holes in the backing and secure with zipties similar to what mine looks like.