best saddlebags for xj11?

[DGXSER]

My friends may have been vinyl and perhaps that changes things, but I know his SWMBO was pissed cause the bike was not her idea to begin with, and then to burn up her clothes as well.

[madmax-im]

??? Mine hang down on the exhaust loaded now also.. leather stretched over time and getting wet a bunch of times. Never had a problem with anything getting warmer than... well.. warm. That leather is a good insulator and the mufflers aren't nearly as hot as the headers. Maybe I've just been lucky.

The bottoms had become so mishapen from being wet and drying many times that I pop-riveted a flat piece of aluminum to the bottom of them to help hold the shape. So.. I either made a fire-barrier.. or a hot plate for my stuff! lol. Seriously though... I've gone a ton of miles with these on there. Not sure what happened to your friend's bags, but these have been the best $40 I ever spent for the bike. Well.. except maybe that fairing Ben likes so well..


Tod

I do like your fairing... Thread hijack...I need help finding another exhaust system...If anybody has one in good condition pls sell it to me...I'm looking for a 4 into 1..Kerker,Supertrapp etc...I hate the Jardine i have...which I bought from Karla @ Merriam cycles...although its not their fault. It just does not fit the bike the way an exhaust should...I'm sick of it dragging the pavement...Ok Hijack over....

[Larrym]

Faux Rich or Faux poor.

My faux leather bags came to me with a small hole in the bottom panel caused by a close encounter with the XS exhaust. Relatively easy to fix with a patch of similar material.

Inside stitching/patch:


Outside stitching:


Mounted on Bike:






I did cut/place a piece of 1/4 plywood inside the bottom for XStra support. In my mount position the exhaust seems to be a "safe" distance away. I believe that the bike the bags were mounted on previously had a more upswept exhaust similar to the XJ which placed the bags close enough to be damaged when fully loaded.

Today I loaded the bags up with my disc golf gear and went for a ride. No heat felt on the bag bottoms so I'm a happy camper.

BTW: lots of speedbumps on the road to the golf course and so I'd have been really twitchy if I had a 4-into-1 exhaust.

[CatatonicBug]

Yeah, those were the bags I killed with a 2-liter soda bottle. Thankfully, Larry got some use out of them after my mistake.