Ok...I received the Saddlebag/sissy bar detach kit from Bubbasbreak.com. Shipping and all the kit which they call the combo six is $370. I like the final results but there is a significant markup in price for what you actually get. I showed these parts to a friend of mine that is a fabricator and he seemed to think that he could do the same thing for under $100. There is a cost to marketing, their website, staff and such but seems to me thats a pretty high markup.

What I liked:

The kit keeps the saddlebags very close to the fender. Looks very good. I never did like some of the quick detach kits because they keep the bags so far from the fender and this solution solves that issue.

The detachable side plates for the sissy bar has a very nice finish. No flaws in the chrome and it looks very good.

Install was easy with good instructions.

What I didn't like:

Sissy bar side plates feel alittle shaky and loose when in place. Not at all like the Harley detach sissy bar side plates. Harley has a much better design.

***** inside the bag to attach the bag are too small and very hard to get ahold of. Very hard to get the bolts tightened all the way and hard to get them to loosen up. This may change once I've put the bags off and on a few times.

Kit not as described on the website. If you look at the pictures of the saddlebag detach kit on their website they are showing a completely different lower saddlebag support arm with a small hook to keep it in place. What they send you is a bolt with a small turn handle on it nothing more.

Final thoughts:

Kit was overpriced for what you get. If I knew exactly what the kit consisted of I wouldn't have paid over $150 - $200 for it. All I really wanted was a quick detach kit for my saddle bags and a detachable sissy bar. I plan on leaving the bags on most of the time but keeping the sissy bar off unless I'm going to do a trip. I wanted the saddlebags to be quick detach so that I could remove them for cleaning. This kit does not make removal of the saddlebags any faster than stock. It does make it so you don't need any tools but in my opinion its actually harder to get the bags back on now with this kit. What I should have done is just bought the Harley detachable side plates for my sissy bar and left the saddlebags alone. Although now if I do want to remove the saddlebags the huge studs sticking out the side are gone. Overall I feel that this was a waste of money for what I wanted.

 

I agree overpriced. Plus the chrome was flawed on my sideplates.They werereturned and the replacements weren't much better.

 

The chrome on my sideplates are ok, but they do have a bit of play in them. Personally, I'd rather have the play than have them spaced out like the Harley ones.

I have found that if I lift up on the bottom of the bag while turning the *****, they tighten easily. Install the support bolt last. It takes me about 60 seconds to remove or install a bag now that I discovered the trick of lifting them from the bottom while tightening the ****.

Jim

 

Interesting and honest write up.. A good read.

I didn't buy their side plates but their license plate signal relocation part.. Nice design.. I'm in love with it. My only beef was the plastic wrap was heated a bit too much and it was stuck to the product.. They're going to talk to their packaging folks about it.

About sissybars though.. I did the Harley sissybar detach setup and I like the plain old H-D setup.. However, if I had it to do again, I wouldn't even bother.. as I just do solo riding. Otherwise, I'd just put the hard-mount standard sideplates on.. I think I've gone down the detach road and now I'm just into 'bolt it on and leave it" mode recently. I seriously don't think I'll miss quick-detach saddlebags, but I am leaving the HD detach sissybar setup on as I might want to use the sissybar to strap stuff to or something.

I do think H-D could improve on their setup by making it not so thick off the fender with those black plastic latches. I think when they designed it, the didn't have more detach hardware for saddlebags in mind.. I'd be willing to bet they're probably going to revise it... But judging by their bulbous saddlebag detach hardware attempt, they better get their Taiwanese or Chinese or South American vendors to do some better engineering.

 

Which style of quick release did you get? I have the push pin style. All I have to do is push the two quick release pins, and unscrew the thumb screw. My sissybar side plates have nylon/plastic in the slots. If I push sissybar from behind it will move, but has never once rattled going down the road.

It doesn't sound like you have the push pin style quick release. I know there were two types when I ordered my kit.

 

Ok guys...I want to update this thread. After owning the Bubba's brake quick detach saddle bag kit and their quick release sissy bar side plates for almost a year now I'd like to add some observations.

The sissy bar quickly looses the small plastic cups on their contact points. They get broken, lost or cracked within a few months of taking the sissy bar on and off. After these small plastic parts are no longer on the side plates the sissy bar becomes so loose that it rattles horribly and passengers are scared to lean back because it feels so loose. The chrome on the side plates suck so bad that they start to flake after just a couple months. Just a very poor chrome job.

The small thumb screws they give you for the lower support bracket come loose and fall off after a couple months use. At $16 each from Bubba's Brake I decided to put a bolt with nylon nut on and didn't have a problem after that but it does now need tools to remove.

Due to these issues I decided to replace the bubba's brake side plates with my stock ones and go back to rigid. This is where my next problem came up. How are you supposed to get the saddle bag attachment points off after they have been installed? There is no place to put a wrench, socket or anything to unscrew them. After we tried multiple ideas I finally just took a set of channel locks and got them off but it totally marred up the finish and I've decided to go back to the stock setup. Before I took this drastic measure I attempted to contact Bubba's Brake multiple times but if your not spending any additional money with them they don't seem to want to return calls or e-mail.

It was nice to be able to take the bags and sissy bar off quickly but its just not worth the headaches of the Bubba's Brake product. They are just poorly designed and poorly finished. Big waste of money in my opinion.

 

I USED HARLEYS SISSY BAR QUIK DETACH AND CYCLEVISIONS SADDLE BAGS KIT LOOKS AND WORKS GREAT 159.00

 

I have the cycle visons barebacks too. No complaints except they make the bags stick out an extra 1/2 inch on each side. Before the barebacks, I mostly left the bags on because it was to much trouble the mount them when I needed them. Now, my bags stay on the shelf most of the time and I can mount them in a minute when I need them. I got the barebacksnew on ebay, with a set of chrome caps that I don't use, for $100. If it wasn't for hdforums, I never would of heard about them.