Originally Posted by Mark Hoelzel

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and thought this would be an interesting first post. I've been a long time reader, any time I have questions or need some info, this forum is the first place I turn. That being said, I'd like to contribute something of my own for once.

I've seen a lot of baggertail conversions on this site, as well as people debating the best saddlebags, where to buy them, etc. etc. I'm a fan of the touring style hard bags, for their looks. However, on softail models which do not have traditional style shocks, the bags look out of place (in my opinion).

I've done much research on fiberglassing and diy projects, and I'm not afraid to try something new, so I figured why not? I'm going to make my own saddlebags.

I'll start by saying that I bought a set of aftermarket saddlebags from ebay, and was mortified by the horrible quality of what I received (auction was titled Aftermarket Harley Bagger Wide Saddlebags). The auction stated they were "wider than stock, 8" wide fits most 1/2 helmets, but what I received was almost 13" wide, and the lids did not fit, nor were they even close. I chopped about 3" out of the middle of the bags, fiberglassed them back together, and they looked OK, but the lids were a project and a half, so I went a different direction.

I decided, why do softail owners have to deal with the shock cutouts indented in the bags? Why can't there be softail-specific hard bags, that look the same as the touring bags, but without the shock grooves? So, I set out to make my own.

Instead of making simply one set and being done, I decided I was going to take a different approach - With fiberglassing parts, you first must make a plug (the same dimensions and shape as the finished product) then make a mould from the plug, followed by (nearly) unlimited copies of the original part from the plug. Depending how my bags turn out, I may be selling these saddlebags online. I'm designing these bags to accept the factory hardware, as well as mount on traditional softail hard bag brackets, so they will look as close to the original bags as possible. They will also accept lid rails and bag guards if desired.

So, that lengthy explanation aside, here's where I'm at so far. Glad to be part of the HDforums community, and wish me luck!




Comments/suggestions are encouraged! Thanks!

Originally Posted by Raddazzz

I bought some vintage early 70s bags off ebay with original brackets for less than 200 bucks 5 years ago. wasnt hard to adapt them to my 97 heritage at all. those bags dont have the shock cutouts either.