[mrtappan]

I just bought a set of Saddlemen jumbo Drifter slant style bags off Ebay. I'm going to see how they look/mount on the Valkyrie. I have to do something with the two pairs (I guess three if you count the two uppers and one lower) of brackets that have been laying off the floor for almost a year now..........

I'm not really interested in paying $500 for OEM bags or $1800 for Corbins that everyone complains are too small. It's test time!

 

[goldstar903]

Let the testing begin! >

 

[Surfndad]

I've got the OEM and am pretty happy with them, except for the price. But after having three jeeps this isn't as much of a money pit!

 

[mrtappan]

Money isn't really an issue with the bags, it's the principal. I don't want to pay $1800 for bags that are going to make me angry because I'm unhappy about their size. I also don;t want to pay $500 for leather bags which don't mold to the bike and simply stick out mounted to a flat bracket. I can pay $100 for leather bags that simply stick out and mount to a bracket then I'll do that.........

What I really want to get my hands on is a set of OEM Harley fiberglass saddle bags. I doubt they'll look right but in a perfect world I would use those and buy the saddlebag lids that have speaker cut outs. Kill two birds with one stone: stereo and storage.

Also for kicks I bought a bunch of Goldwing stuff like levers, handlebar ends, etc. to try to. Since no one seems to be making anything for these bikes I want to see what I can use from other bikes.

 

[blackwidow]

bags

Here my hard bags from viking , fiberglass covered with black vinyl , i like it !

 

[mrtappan]

Those look so small to me. I guess that's why I decided to just do it and test aftermarket ones....

 

[mrtappan]

Solo seat VS regular brackets

Really? These look terrible to me. I decided to do a little comparison before mounting the bags......

 

[Surfndad]

You your giving up a rear seat for bags? I'd be sleeping on the dogs house before I got them mounted.

 

[mrtappan]

Ha, I never had a rear seat on my Valkyrie. I bought the solo kit the day I bought it. My wife rides a 2008 Yamaha Warrior (Midnight) so most of my bikes are solo bikes.

She also rides the Valkyrie if she feels like it.......



Of course the seat is on in this picture because it was right after I bought the bike and was waiting on the solo kit, windshield, etc to come in at the dealership.

 

[amish.hooligan]

Really? These look terrible to me. I decided to do a little comparison before mounting the bags......

Thanks for the pictures, mrtappan. The last one shows that the saddlebag stays stick out less without the passenger seat.

Am I seeing correctly? I'm wondering, before I give up the passenger seat, how dramatic the difference is.

Thanks again.

 

[mrtappan]

Functionally I think there's no real difference in the mounting other than cosmetically. The lower mounts are the same, the upper is all that changes.

 

[amish.hooligan]

What I'm most curious about is any shortening of side to side distance if I go solo. I'm planning to mount saddlebags to the Honda bracketry and, like you, I want them to stick out as little as possible.

Don't sweat my nitpicking questions. I already have the solo seat parts. I'll probably invest in the saddlebag hardware for both configurations and see for myself.

Thanks again for the helpful photos.

 

[mrtappan]

The solo bracket and the seat bracket have the exact same stance. the only thing that changes is the upper mounting bracket and the location it attaches.