This weekend I was talking to a guy that said he converted his RK Custom over to hard bag and that they have a lot more room than what he had.
I like that the hard bags are more weather tight and can be locked but my bike is a RK Classic. Anyone have an experience in swapping out the RKC bags and do they in fact have more room for storage?

 

There are many guys around here that have...Yes, I think there is a bit more storage space.

 

I do and the room is about the same or maybe the RKC has more but just a little due to the leather instead of plastic/fiberglass. I can make my leather bags bulge out a little and still close.

 

I have heard it said many times that the hard bags hold more than the leather ones. I haven't tried to test that, but I will try to do that this weekend. I gather that there are locks that can be retrofitted to the leather bags, if that's a concern. I use my bikes for all kinds of errands when the weather is more favorable, and I need locking bags. I do think that the leather bags look great on a classic, with the laced wheels and whitewalls.

Congrats on your retirement... what facility did you work at?

 

There's a lot more room! I'm a "Convert"

FYI, the spacer setup off the brackets that are bolted to the fender rails are different if you're changing bags. If you use the RK Custom spacers the bags will be distorted when mounted.

 

I did it on my '02 RK Classic and really liked it. Seemed to have more storage in the hard bags, but never really measured it.

Ebay usually has some. I may have some extra ones by the end of the week.

 

i did same on my RKC, and now im thinking of going with extended bags, so i will have my bottoms for sale as soon as i gather up the ducats for the extended.

 

I made the change a few months ago on my Road King Classic. I like the nostalgic look of the factory leather bags but I don't like not being able to lock the bags. After making that change, I decide to continue to convert my King Classic to a full dresser. I've got a set of freshly painted fairing lowers to put on and soon to have HD tour pak.

 

friend of mine is in the process right now with his 09 rkc. some one mentioned earlier about the spacing does anyone know anything about this. so i could pass it on to my friend befor he installs them and they get rueined.
thanks in advance.

 

I did it on my Road King Custom. I had to adjust the brackets a little, as the mounting hole in both sets of bags are not exactly in the same place.

They DO seem to hold a little bit more cargo.