I loved the look of the leather bags on my FLHRC, I hated the straps! FWIW, they are water tight, I had a quickie photo shoot and took the bike, had 10 grand in camera gear spread out between the 2 bags and got caught in a downpour! Through multiple deep puddles and all the rain my camera gear stayed dry, me on the other hand wasn't so lucky...

 

He has the FLHRSI- Road King Custom. Smaller bags with the button on the back.

Every time I get to thinking about hard bags I look at my leathers realoze they are better than hard bags in every way except the locks. And they look much better.
One man's oponion.

 

I had the lock kit from HD on my 2001 RKC leather saddlebags (like shown in an earlier post here). Fastened the top of the straps to the bag instead of the lid. Never had to mess with the straps again. The bags were lockable w/ the same key as my ignition key (dealer does that for you). Bags never leaked and always kept their shape. Was a huge improvement not having to mess with the buckles/straps!

 

In my opinion, the leather wrapped bags look better. I don't like all that plastic (which is why I don't like fairings either).

I installed Ponderosa saddlebag locks and like them when I'm touring. http://www.saddlebaglidlocks.com/ Here is a video on the easy install--Unlike the other lock system, you don't have to do any irreversible modifications (like drilling holes) to your bags. ) Will they stop a determined thief? Of course not. But neither will the locks on your hard bags. They will deter the opportunistic thief who just wants to see what you have in your bags.

 

Ah!, that make sense. Thanks.

Beary

 

Having had many HD hard bag bikes, I think your taste will change as you age. What and how you ride today, may change 4 or 5 times before you get to my age 65.

Right now in my life, I am cutting down on all the cross country trips I have done (7-10K)over the yrs. I will still do week trips of 2-3K this year.

And lastly, I am just that kind of guy that likes to go against the grain. Everybody is doing ext bags, big fenders and the like but, eventually that will even change. I have been wanting to do a Classic with leather bags for yrs. I quess now is my time in life to go after it. Still making mods, of course!

 

Do you have Saddlebag Fillers on your bike? For the 2013, I'm being told they don't make a filler that goes with the Nostic guard rails.

 

Love the looks of the leather bags but I look forward to owning some hard bags also.

 

i swapped to hard police bags that had the pucks removed and they look great. hard bags are where its at but there was nothing wrong with my leathers. just a visual thing for me really

 

I put hard bags on my 06 RKC. I kept the leather bags, but I don't know why. I like the hard bags for several reasons. One, you can lock your stuff, another is you can paint the hard bags to give your ride that special one-off look. Yes, I like my hard bags.