Calling all DIY Guru's

[dlee6413]

Hey All,

I'm looking for an inexpensive mod to position my soft saddlebags in a more parallel and upright position. As they are mounted currently they are in no danger of hitting the tire, chain, exhaust, etc....but I think they might look much better if positioned properly. I don't want to buy the expensive saddlebag mounting hardware so I'm thinking some sort of U-shaped or even a square bracket mounted from one bag to the other might keep them in place? Looking for suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

[L.B.S.]

What is the tension like, of the connecting straps across the passenger seat? Is there any way you can tighten those or shorten them in order to pull the tops of the bags closer together?

That's what I did when I had soft saddlebags. The upper straps were too long, and the seat was too narrow (Suzuki DR350) I carefully folded the straps over on themselves to shorten them, sewed through a couple quick loops of strong nylon thread to "tack" the folded pleats together, and then taped them up hockey stick style, with a several wraps of black electrical tape.

This allowed me to use the bags "as is" without having to add or invent brackets and stuff, as I was leery of having something strong enough to keep fully loaded panniers in place, ever come undone and get hit or sucked into the rear wheel.

I also liked the idea that I had a couple metres of electrical tape handy, to be able to use in case I needed some emergency fixit repair. (If you do a good job of wrapping, it doesn't stand out and look nearly as trashy as it may sound, lol)

 

[Cagedodger]

I would get a couple of pieces of 1/4" aluminum or 1/8" steel and sandwich them between the grab handles and the bike. Use a low friction polymer strip like this strip from Woodcraft between the metal and the plastic. Have those go slightly out and then bend straight down trying hard to get them parallel on the downward plane. Take one more piece each side and connect the two metal braces about 2" above where the bags rest either by welding, bolt or rivet. Cut the original down braces just below where you lined them with the horizontal pieces so that there's no dangling vertical parts of the brace. Spray paint with the color of your choice or apply the remaining low friction polymer and your saddlebags should sit well and last a good bit longer (since there's nothing wearing at them). If they still sag once heavily loaded, you can connect the two sides with a side to side brace: long piece with two 90 degree bends |___________| which should not be at the bottom of the vertical braces, maybe half way down probably only need it on the front or back instead of both. Just be very sure that you've not in your rear wheel's travel range.

 

[danrev]

There is a tread on the forum where someone made some brackets using plastic pvc pipe. They looked good and didn't cost much to make. Search the forum.

 

[Old Can Ride]

You have to get under the rear hand grips to attach a bag support. Bag support has to have a 90 degree angle to attach under the rear hand grip, can be bent in vise. Drill a hole in plate for bolt (#12) to go through.

2012 Honda NC700X AC SEAT COWL | Babbitts Honda Parts House

Can purchase flat plat at any hardware store to build the support.

 

[Mikee3544]

This is what I made for the sidebags :

And a better picture here about the so-called-bracket

 

[dlee6413]

What is the tension like, of the connecting straps across the passenger seat? Is there any way you can tighten those or shorten them in order to pull the tops of the bags closer together?

The top straps are tightened as much as possible. They are restricted by the passenger seat grab rails. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[dduelin]

You might try poking around in Kawasaki KLR 650 forums. Some of those guys elevate DIY farkling to an art form and they tend to be on the thrifty side to boot. I used to ride with a KLR owner that used ordinary 90 degree shelf brackets to fashion some saddlebag stays that worked well and looked purpose made.

 

[davidc83]

I havent bought my soft bags yet (in the future plans) and I was thinking about using a long bungee cord (one of the tough rubberized ones) and stretch from the left passenger foot peg area, around the back (above the light and below the small fender) and hook to the right passenger foot peg area (there are already holes in the mounting areas).
I tested one I have, it looks durable and I could then hook the bags to the rubberized cord.

 

[StratTuner]

there was an article with pitures on this forum with saddlebag brakets fashioned from pvc pipe. It was etirely removable. Wish my powers of "search" were up to finding it. I'll try again.

 

[Chestnut]

I now have a PVC support, but when I used mine to go up to Washington I ran a bungee cord from the inside rear d ring up around the outside, over the seat, around the outside if the other bag and hooked it into the matching d ring. It looked goofy, but it made the bags hang more vertically and made me feel better.

 

[maxou723]

Here is the link by LittleEd for the homemade pvc bracket. I also built one and will put it to the test this weekend with a ride from Montreal to Lake Placid.

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/nc700-mods/2648-soft-luggage-tailbag-homemade-support-bracket.html

 

[buckshot]

Over the winter I'm going to try and use the blind threaded holes behind the passenger pegs to make a bag support. I think Honda sells support brackets that use these holes, but they want close to $300 for them. No thanks. SW Motech also has a soft bag kit that uses similar "arm" brackets, and that's what I plan on basing my design on. I'm thinking 3/4" aluminum rod and a custom bracket on each side.

 

[OneGun]

I have a set like that too. I cut out 2 4" x 4" pieces of a board (about 3/4" thick) and a 14" length of 5/8 wood dowel. I screwed and glued the dowel to the 4x4 wood pieces. Once it was all dried, I coated it in black plasti-dip and affixed industrial strength velcro to the outside ends of the 4x4 bases and in the corresponding locations on the inside of the saddle bags.

So basically I'm just sticking a support between the 2 bags that holds them outward. It does a great job and the more you load the bags, the more they push themselves inward towards the brace. You can't even see it unless you're looking for it and it hasn't moved a bit in hundreds of miles. Cost about $3 to make.

 

[jdmitchell]

Onegun, that sounds so crazy simple.....and cheap to boot. You must be a KLR owner.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4

 

[docwells7]

OneGun,
Just curious. How did you attach the velcro to the inside of the bags? Is it sewn on or is the adhesive strong enough to hold securely enough? I just worry about the dowel falling onto a spinning tire at speed and locking things up. I suppose the dowel would simply break, but still worries me. I thought of doing something similar, but it involved making a little pocket on each bag out of heavy duty nylon that the square would slip into. Never pursued it beyond my mind...very common problem...lol...
Could you post up a couple of pictures of your set-up?

 

[OneGun]

OneGun,
Just curious. How did you attach the velcro to the inside of the bags? Is it sewn on or is the adhesive strong enough to hold securely enough? I just worry about the dowel falling onto a spinning tire at speed and locking things up. I suppose the dowel would simply break, but still worries me. I thought of doing something similar, but it involved making a little pocket on each bag out of heavy duty nylon that the square would slip into. Never pursued it beyond my mind...very common problem...lol...
Could you post up a couple of pictures of your set-up?

The velcro attaches to both the brace and the inside portion of the bags with just its own adhesive. The bags I have (Nelson Rig) have what I believe is a neoprene cover on the inside. The adhesive sticks to it well enough, but it's not the most robust approach. However, since this set up has an inherent tendency to push itself together naturally, the adhesive is sufficient... or at least has been sufficient thus far.

It's really rather crude, imo, but it gets the job done. However, I am going to modify it a bit. The 4" x 4" surface isn't doing the best job on one of the bags in terms of support and is resulting in the bag caving in a bit. So I'm going to make some mods and increase that surface area.

I'll take some pics and get them up soon.

 

[jdmitchell]

The velcro attaches to both the brace and the inside portion of the bags with just its own adhesive. The bags I have (Nelson Rig) have what I believe is a neoprene cover on the inside. The adhesive sticks to it well enough, but it's not the most robust approach. However, since this set up has an inherent tendency to push itself together naturally, the adhesive is sufficient... or at least has been sufficient thus far.

It's really rather crude, imo, but it gets the job done. However, I am going to modify it a bit. The 4" x 4" surface isn't doing the best job on one of the bags in terms of support and is resulting in the bag caving in a bit. So I'm going to make some mods and increase that surface area.

I'll take some pics and get them up soon.

Maybe an 8x8 section of thin (1/8 or so) steel or aluminum? If I end up running soft bags I will probably steal your design with the larger bag supports.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4

 

[OneGun]

Maybe an 8x8 section of thin (1/8 or so) steel or aluminum? If I end up running soft bags I will probably steal your design with the larger bag supports.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4

I'm going to use some 1/4" plywood and make 2 pieces that are shaped like the profile of the inside of the bag, so it flows with the shape. I should be able to make it cover the bottom 50% of the lower inner surface area and I think that will be plenty sufficient to prevent the caving in of the bag. I'll also go with some additional pieces of the velcro to make sure everything is solid.

Also, if I were to do this over, I would have cut the dowel 14.5 or 15" instead of the 14" I did. My bags could use an incho or so more "push" outward, but I'm not going to mess with it now.