Looking at changing the Road King Custom up some. Thinking a more nostaligic look. billboard type windshield, old school bags, and vintage lighting i.e. yellow spots. came across saddlebags.net. tons of options for bags. I was wondering if any of you guys have purchased the buffalo indian chief bags. pictures would be great. they only have really good reviews. Just looking for a visual.
Thanks
Jim

 

If this helps you, 1953 saddlebags. these are horsehide and very thick. the HD winged shield logo is embossed on the front of the lid. 4 "spoons".
the white fringe was optional on these. piping was often red.
the saddlebag mounts to the stainless steel plate which attaches t the fender with 4 bolts




if you want a "nostalgic look" try to make sure all your parts are era correct with each other.

spots:



not sure if yellow is "vintage" ...try flickering.

you can see the aftermarket ( Buco) windscreen mounts

mike

 

I love the look that the guy builds, but have only actually had my hands on one set. They were pretty nice. But beware, for a long time his site has had warnings due to the owners health. I called once and spoke to them, and they were very up front about super long waits to get my bags. So before you pull the trigger, get a commitment from them about how long the wait time. They hand build everything and I don't think they have bags "ready to ship". I hope you get them, as I would love to see a set mounted up to a Touring bike.

By the way, the Indian Chief bags would be my choice as well. They might be pretty tricky to get properly mounted, but if you pulled it off, that would be Badd-***!

 

thanks for the input. had no idea the owner was sick. hmmm. I really like the stainless arch mounting bracket you suggested. not a fan of the easy mount system. easy on easy stolen. guess getting some stainless stock and matching the arch on the fender and some stainless rivets. I really love making all my own brackets and fab stuff. I am still trying to figure out the color combo. my rkc is smokey gold and was thinking about powder coating the majority of stuff black gloss. and leave the tins smokey. sort of a monochromatic style.
thinking about dna mammoth 52 spoke in 16 front and back. don't want to change the michilen commander 11's. cant say enough about them!

 

Not so much suggesting that saddlebag mount, just illustrating what would be correct for leather saddlebags pre- 1954 introduction of the Royalite bubble bags.

If you are looking for a nostalgic look then mixing in 52 spoke wheels is another direction.

pick a year or era- and then kinda go with that.

knucks and pans use more stainless than chrome.

fasteners may be stainless, nickel plated or parkerized

the brightwork was often part of an option package such as DeLuxe Sport Solo- other wise wheels and other parts might be just black- which can be nice too.

gloss black paints are used for lots of parts.

spend some time looking at pics.


for some of us vintage H-D snobs, seeing an assemblage of bolt on geegaws is as exciting as a kawasaki drifter with straight pipes.

not so awesome.


but then we are snobs and our point of reference is different.

here's a link to a bunch of pics - Guys who went with a late 50's theme and used repop Royalite bags

http://www.bbreproductions.com/photos.htm

mike

 

if I went with 52"s they would be solid black. the smooth rim spoke 16"s are nice would powder coat them black. my first bike was a 95 flstn so I have always been a old school guy. need to research old paint jobs. I don't like the old duo glide hard bags. was reading a article last week about how to parkerize parts. just trying to find my nich. im good with the snob approach, I cant get enough of dale and the wheels thru time stuff. just cant afford a real old bike right now. so I guess ill put it together a little at a time. ill keep you in mind when I need some authenic advice. thanks mike.
jim