Solo Bag Mount for Soft Tail
#1
Swingarm / Solo Bag Rigid Mount for Soft Tail
I took off my Garage Leathers bag and noticed that the lower bar on my swing arm was already all scratched up. Using a post authored by member WARG as inspiration, I decided to try and make my own solo bag rigid mount. I am not a professional metal worker by any means but I thought I'd give it a shot in my spare time. The cost of the materials I purchased amounted to about $50 but I am satisified with the results and hopefully it will save some money down the road for swingarm repairs.
I used aluminum diamond plate so it wouldn't be too heavy but still strong. I tried to find most of the hardware in chrome but the ones I couldn't find in chrome, I got stainless steel. The diamond plate was about $25 and the hardware was about $25.
One thing I wanted to accomplish was to stop the damage to my swingarm and another thing was to be able to remove and re-install the bag with relative ease. After it was installed, I took it for a 30 minute spin and it worked great, didn't even notice it was there. I intentionally mounted it a little higher for a tiny bit more ground clearance. Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of tackling this project. Feel free to PM me with any questions and I'll try to help you out in any way I can.
Here's what I did:
Got the diamond plate, cut it and drilled the predetermined holes I decided on.
Used Coupling Nuts to set bag out away from swingarm. (Makes it about 1/4 inch out)
Attached diamond plate to bag, one inside and one outside. Used Button head bolts and chrome acorn nuts.
I made a small bracket for the lowest frame mount for a little more stability but mostly to keep the bottom of the bag away from the swingarm.
I then mounted the bag. Bottom picture shows the bottom frame mount/ bracket.
I used aluminum diamond plate so it wouldn't be too heavy but still strong. I tried to find most of the hardware in chrome but the ones I couldn't find in chrome, I got stainless steel. The diamond plate was about $25 and the hardware was about $25.
One thing I wanted to accomplish was to stop the damage to my swingarm and another thing was to be able to remove and re-install the bag with relative ease. After it was installed, I took it for a 30 minute spin and it worked great, didn't even notice it was there. I intentionally mounted it a little higher for a tiny bit more ground clearance. Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of tackling this project. Feel free to PM me with any questions and I'll try to help you out in any way I can.
Here's what I did:
Got the diamond plate, cut it and drilled the predetermined holes I decided on.
Used Coupling Nuts to set bag out away from swingarm. (Makes it about 1/4 inch out)
Attached diamond plate to bag, one inside and one outside. Used Button head bolts and chrome acorn nuts.
I made a small bracket for the lowest frame mount for a little more stability but mostly to keep the bottom of the bag away from the swingarm.
I then mounted the bag. Bottom picture shows the bottom frame mount/ bracket.
Last edited by chuckchili; 01-17-2010 at 12:20 AM. Reason: title confusion
#2
#6
#7
I took off my Garage Leathers bag and noticed that the lower bar on my swing arm was already all scratched up. Using a post authored by member WARG as inspiration, I decided to try and make my own solo bag rigid mount. I am not a professional metal worker by any means but I thought I'd give it a shot in my spare time. The cost of the materials I purchased amounted to about $50 but I am satisified with the results and hopefully it will save some money down the road for swingarm repairs.
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#8
Nice job. Slick solution. I could give a ****, I don't plan on taking it off and have not noticed any rum marks in the frame coating. I did add some zip ties under the stock leather straps. Now the zip ties hold the bag on the frame super tight and the stock straps just cover the ties. Zero movement so I don't think it rubs much. I did use the same type method to hold my bottle opener. I used a section of an old tag as abacking plate.
Last edited by C O L E M A N F U; 01-18-2010 at 05:28 AM.