Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Trashed my Saddle bags

Riding to the girlfriend's house, down a back dirt road, full bags, maybe too full, bumpy road, really bumpy back dirt road, me thinking I'm Joe Motocross, priceless. New Bags $$ouch.
I figure I should be able to carry whatever fits in the bags, wherever I go. Guess not eeh?
Need better, stronger bags. They bounced, rolled crashed, tossed the contents all over the road. Generally really sucked and got me way into the po'd range.
The Easy Brackets themselves faired perfectly though, they held strong, the bag cracked off of the mount. At first I thought one of the brackets somehow popped off the bike (did I mention how rough the road that Speedy and Joe MotoX were on?)

What were you carrying? 1/4 kegs? gold ingots?? sheesh...
You squeeze every last ounce of oomph out of that poor bike and then load her down and go MX'ing over whoops?....

Seriously, bags shouldn't do that, what kind are/were they?

Ouch! I too would like to know what kind of bags those are.

You might want to look at the BB hard bags. Not only are the bags tough but they are supported on the bottom and front as well as the back.

It's all fun and games until someone looses an..er..saddlebag.

I wonder if you had used some kind of backing if they would of held up better.

Tell the OL that she needs to move to a paved road. All those bumps can't be good for that Magna either.

Hi Pat,
I think I can fix that. It may take a while. I can't do anything for the surface abrasions. With enough filled epoxy, flat material like plexiglass and time, I can fix that.
Just Ride Safe!
See you in GA,
Dennis

You know for anyone attaching bags to EZ brackets, unless they are fiberglass hard bags, maybe even then, I sould suggest laying a piece of material, plexi or something, inside the bag as kind of a sandwich and bolting thru that to the bracket. It'll keep them nice and stiff and out of your chain too. From your pics it looks like they shoulda held together tho... Did you have your old pistons in there or something? Geez.

Those are Saddleman bags. Ouch!

I don't have Easy Brackets (cheapskate) but have mine mounted with cable brackets to each side of the saddlebag bracket. The inner section of those bags looks pretty tough, but I guess there is a limit to the abuse they will take.

I suspect the demise of Pat's bags "might" be related to all that extra HP he is pushing! <g>

These bags are (were) the Saddleman Jumbo Drifters, and they do have the rigid plexfiberplasticstuff back. I will make some nice pieces of aluminum for the next bags.
All I had in them was some tools, 4 quarts of oil, a filter, a new battery, and a six pack. This was between both bags too. The one that broke off had the battery and tools in it, about 15 pounds max. Of course the bags have a warning for no more than 5 lbs, which is about a pair of gloves.
I had my upholsterer friend check tham out and he told me to forget them and get new ones. He said it could be fixed, but way too much work and expense.

bmwhd
Those are some nice bags, really pricey though. I especially like the Star Trek Federation looking stickers on them. Beam me up.

Now there's a new tshirt, "I own the saddle bag that fell off" ...

Hey Pat I think I remember someone making some nice backs out of sheet AL for their bags, they made a slight X shaped bend in them, almost like a pyramid, to stiffen them. If you have the means to roll a bead in the edge of them they'd be super stiff!

The American Eagle Leatherworks Bags that I bought have steel backing on that side, as they're only meant to be used with some kind of "easy" bracket or other. They were expensive ($500 plus) But I remember the metal shavings that came out when I drilled the holes to install Brent's easy brackets. Of course, they, like other saddlebags, are very careful to state a recommended weight limit for the darned things. :-( Sorry to hear about your bags, thanks for the pic though.

Wow, sucks about the bags. However thank you for the "real life" testing of them. I am looking for bags for my bike and have pretty much settled on the same ones mounted with the EZ brackets as well, I just don't want or need them on permanently. I was wondering how the backs would hold up since they aren't really designed for that type of mounting... well now I know. Definitely need to have a backer of some sort so it would seem, either gonna use plexi or some stainless steel sheets I have.
My second choice is the BB bags but having a hard time dealing with their spendy nature. I don't want any hardware bolted onto the bike so wondering if they would be stout enough to hold up to the EZ brackets? Perhaps if you used a really large fender washer or such to distribute the load?
Whatcha think Todd?


Steve

Fender washers are good, but I would consider either a backing inside the back to really spread it out, or even some strips of aluminum on the inside, kind of like a cleat. Either way you would sandwich the backs themselves between the brackets and something. From the looks of Pats bags, have a slightly larger washer still would have pulled out the back, those were some pretty big hunks ripped off!

Hey Pat,

What do you plan on doing with these bags now?

If you're going to trash em, I'd like them!

Phil,
No problem, they're trash now as far as I am concerned. The other one is also right on the verge of snapping off too. I am gonna keep the Easy brackets though, send me your address and I'll send them to ya for the cost of shipping them.

Oh s**t, I have the same bags. Guess I better pack light for Ga.

Hey Pat, I think your weather is better than ours. Upper 60's and blustery as heck.

Ride Safe

Ryan

Pat,

You've got mail!

Benny,
I did use fender washers too. Smaller ones, but a lot larger than normal washers. Kind of hard to tell in the picture, but I used new hardware all the way around as the ones that came with the bags were not good enough for me. Obviously so if the even bigger ones ripped out.

I had to get new hardware too cause the bolts that came with the brackets were kinda short. I already had some wood inserts in my bags (I'll show you in person...) with some strips of that rubber kick board molding stuff they use around bathroom floors, etc. Helps the bags keep their shape as they are truly soft leather bags. Then I bolted thru the bag and wood to the bracket. I also rivited the bags to the inserts so they are real stiff now, but the fronts are completely soft so they can kind of conform if I have big stuff in there. Works pretty well. If I had the resources at the time, I would have done aluminum inserts instead...

I was happy to read that the 6 pack was in the bag that did not fall off.

Whew! That was a close one!

Speaking of scuffed saddle bags.... Mine didn't fall apart, but aside from some simple waterproofing spray 3 years ago, I've hardly touched them cleaning wise and they are noticably faded. Any suggestions for cleaning black leather? Ditto my jacket (Triumph highway jacket). Saddle soap?

Benny, I use this stuff and it's great. It brings back the look and even adds waterproofing to the leather.
Doc Bailey's

Thanks Wojo, might have to try some!

The backs on mine cracked early on. I sent them back to saddlemen and they sent me a new pair. They also advised using additional u-bolts drilled thru to attach to brackets which I installed.

Hi Pat,

I was just looking at the photopost galleries and saw your Saddleman bag. I have those too. Looks like the Evan Williams will be stowed in the sissy bar bag! (And maybe a web bungee around each overloaded bag on the ride to Dahlonega....) Sure am glad that you kept the rubber side down when your center of gravity shifted so abruptly. What is this with carrying a battery? Brew is one thing but shame on you for carrying all that lead around...hehe

The battery was for the GFs Magna. Hers was dead last season so I got her a new one. The beer was for me while I changed her battery, a good 6 pack job at the least. Without beer it would have taken 5 thirsty minutes, with beer, about an hour of satisfied drinking, lots of breaks you know?

pat, those exact bags kept my bike from receiving major damage when she dumped me last friday and the bag itself was only minimally scraped. i doubt that i've ever had over ten pounds in either bag though...

Pat, I just realized that I had answered Benny's post without expressing my sympathies for the bags breaking. Sorry to hear of your problems. Will you be getting the same bags or trying other ones?

I sent an email off to Saddleman this morning in the hope of getting free replacements. If not, I will buy another brand for sure. I have a spare set of smaller leather bags my GF got with her magna and never used so I will at least have something for the Ga romp. I will cob together some sort of backplate for hers and stick them to the Easy Brackets for now. I got real used to having the bags and the extra room and like it. I especially like the fact I can remove them and the bike looks totally different.

Next bags, go to the body and fender shop and get some huge fender washers to put on the Easybracket bolts. that might help.

Definetly, the others were too small, I figure a sheet of aluminum the same size as the bags and the big washers should help.

Pat,
I remember that road. At least my bum does. And you have the good shocks, too! I'll bet you were trying to keep up with her, eh? A man's gotta know his limitations.
Mike Sr.

PAt, definitly a sheet of something, or even a bar across all the bolts and a full width brace would work. Sometihng to sandwich them.

I have the Triumph slant bags and have had the EZ Brackets since Christmas of 03. Awhile ago, I noticed the bottoms of the bags curling in towards the bike. Didn't like that at all!

I took some 1/8" aluminum and cut it fit the back of the bags (I was working with a limited supply so it doesn't cover perfectly). I mounted the brackets again with 2" fender washers and also attached the aluminum to the bags near the bottom. The aluminum is sandwiched between the brackets and the bag... Nice and strong!

If I had larger bags, I would use 1/16" and make sure the metal was the right size. Then the weak point would be where the leather attaches to the backing.

Whatever you guys do for packing, I personally put it INSIDE the bag, but outside is good, I would fasten it to the bags in more places than just the two bracket bolts. I actually rivited my bags to the backing material with aluminum rivets. That way, hopefully the load gets transfered to the brackets in more than two places. THAT is the real problem, even huge fender washers might still pull out because you are not pulling straight on them, you are pulling downward, ya know?

Does Travelcade make these anymore? I was just on their website and can't find them. Theyu looked pretty nice though and was looking for a similar type bag.