Leather Saddlebag Recommendations?

[Lucien Harpress]

Okay, here's my story. When I bought my current bike (1980 Standard), the PO had it outfitted as a full dresser. Fairing, double-bucket seat, hard bags (Yamaha), rack, and trunk. I, however, much prefer the look of a stock standard bike, without a lot of that stuff. So, off came everything except the saddlebags.

This winter, I decided to repaint my bike, which I did, and it turned out pretty good. I got the tank and sidecovers done, and have been riding around the past few days with the saddlebags off. Right now, however, I face a dilemma.

When it comes to the fairing, seat, (possibly) rack and trunk, I plan on selling them here really soon. I'm not so sure about the saddlebags. I was initially going to repaint them, but looking at all the work involved I began to wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to just sell them along with everything else and get a set of leather (or leather imitation) bags instead.

I guess what I'm looking for right now is just your recommendations for leather bags for the XS. Ideally I would like something similar size to the Yamaha hard bags, maybe a touch narrower. I guess any style is fine, but if I could find something a bit more substantial that just a "throw-over-the-seat" set of bags, maybe even some with some type of internal structure to them, that be great. All for a price realistic for a broke college student.

(Right now I haven't made up my mind of what I want to do, I'm just looking at options right now)

[fredintoon]

When it comes to the fairing, seat, (possibly) rack and trunk, I plan on selling them here really soon. I'm not so sure about the saddlebags. I was initially going to repaint them, but looking at all the work involved I began to wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to just sell them along with everything else and get a set of leather (or leather imitation) bags instead.

I guess what I'm looking for right now is just your recommendations for leather bags for the XS. Ideally I would like something similar size to the Yamaha hard bags, maybe a touch narrower. I guess any style is fine, but if I could find something a bit more substantial that just a "throw-over-the-seat" set of bags, maybe even some with some type of internal structure to them, that be great. All for a price realistic for a broke college student.

(Right now I haven't made up my mind of what I want to do, I'm just looking at options right now)

Hi Mike,
the least cost & least effort "starving student" option is to keep the hard bags installed to carry your sh1t around in and ignore the colour clash.
OTOH, sturdy cordura soft bags can be found at half the usual price of bike bags if you get the identical looking ones that are sold for use on quads or snowmobiles.
The colour options seem to be black or camo.
And tell me about the rack, eh?

[Yard Dogg]

Here's the bags I just bought. They are pretty small, I'll be lucky to fit a leather jacket in em. I plan on building a rack too though so I wasn't real worried about space. It looks like I'm gonna have to sling em over the rear fender, and under the frame tubes then build some brackets to hold em out away from the axle so when my shocks are full depressed the axle and hubs don't bang into the brackets. Running them under the tubes will also help to move em back to clear the turn signals cause the throw over strap is pretty wide. I can't push em forward anymore because they are into the shocks. If I had hard bags, I'd definitely run those. Besides I think hard bags look better.



http://www.bikebandit.com/fieldsheer-slash-saddlebags

Oh yeah, they're from BikeBandit, they're called "Slash Saddle Bags". Made by Fieldsheer. They cost $86.86. Make sure you order the small ones.

[Lucien Harpress]

What I'm willing to spend on bags is directly related to how much I can get selling the other stuff. So I guess I have a bit of leeway in that respect.

Oh, and fredintoon? PM Sent.

[Yard Dogg]

What I'm willing to spend on bags is directly related to how much I can get selling the other stuff. So I guess I have a bit of leeway in that respect.

Oh, and fredintoon? PM Sent.

I hear ya there. What style are your hard bags? Got a pic?

If I was in your shoes, I would just keep the bags you have. Just an opinion. The bags I bought are not nearly as big as I would like them to be, and I'm not even sure if the things will open with where the turn signals are. I'm gonna have to get crafty to make em work, and they're still small after all that.

[Lucien Harpress]

Here's a photo from last summer:



My turn signals have already been moved (obviously), so I have a bit of space to work with when it comes to getting new bags.

[Yard Dogg]

Looks sweet! If you're looking to clean up the back end, or simplify it. You could go with a hidden bracket to mount the bags with instead of those bars. Then wait till you have some money and paint the bags. Those are a better looking style of hard bag compared to the usual if you ask me. What color did you paint it?

[psycoreefer]

My bags are "river road" bags, not sure what model but they are big enough to fit my jacket if I cram it in. They are what I'd consider semi-soft, they are supposed to look like leather but its a stiff plasticy stuff, so they don't collapse when only part full. I got them as a present but I think they cost around 100 bucks.





The biggest issue you'll have with soft bags is keeping them out of the tire/shocks/brakes, especially if you go with a larger bag.

[ManitoulinLad]

Hey Lucien: Your bike looks awesome man! I wouldn't change a thing, I agree those bags are cool. You won't find a better set than you already have when it comes to hard bags vs soft bags - hard bags win hands down for capacity, low maint. & no wear & tear from weather or weight & lock. I have "huge leather" bags & just built this winter supports for bottom & side of them. But if I had the cash I would get the hard bags in a heartbeat for the above mentioned reasons. I already had these bags from a previous bike. You already got the best man - Dan