Hrad bags for sure. We had a heritage. Looked nice, just a pain. Hard bags look great, wont break down, more secure.

 

 

Barney
Whereabouts in the UK are you? I have a 12 month old RK standard and may be interested in swapping my hard lugagge for the RK classic bags. I have RK classic tank, mud guards, and always loved the look of the leather bags. Mind you, after my recent trip to Europe where it rained about 70% of the time, I'm not sure how well the leather bags would have stood up to the weather. My RK is in vivid black.
Charles

 

I'm with you on this. I had a 99 RKC and loved the look in the beginning but after a few rain storms the bags started looking a bit crappy and as you said, no security at all. With hard bags you have the option of color, security and I think they have a bit more space. My buddy swapped his out for hard bags and if I would have kept mine I would have done the same at some point.

 

I had the hard bags on my 08 FLHR, have the leather on the FLHRSI.. I was shopping for a set of hards before I even got the bike. Now that I have it, I like the leather better for two reasons; The leather is more forgiving if you brush it with your boot when getting on or off. They open a lot easier, one button and they pop open. I can open them from my seat at a red light with one hand. I thought there was a lock kit available for them... I do think the hards also have just a tiny bit more room in them, I can't get a half helmet in my leather ones where I could on the hard ones.

 

I thought the leather bags made my Road King Classic look really good but I like the hard bags better. Plus they were lockable.

 

I too am twisted about getting hard bags for my 2013 RKC. One thing I like about hard bags is the lids open outward. The soft bags open with lids flipping back towards the bike. This can be a pain putting items in or taking out. Converting to hard bags is so expensive! Decisions, decisions, decisions...........

 

Didn't like the leather bags, and shopped for replacement hard bags. Price stooped me. Still would buy a set if I found a set cheap. But, I've otherwise qotten quite used to the leather bags. They work better than I expected.

 

Leather bags w/ the chrome bag protectors just look right on a RKC.

 

Thats strange, I could easily get two gallons of milk with other groceries in my RKC bags, I can't do it in the SG. How does the helmet not fit? Maybe its the way I pack, but I could get a 1/4 more stuff in my leather bags and they never leaked even in the hard rain. They were easier to keep clean than my Vivid Black hard bags and didn't scratch from heal marks as bad easier.

I like the looks of hard bags, but I miss the utility of my leather bags. I also agree leather bags are easier to open, well until the new 2014 hard bags.

Beary