Kawasaki Versys Forum banner

DIY Soft Bag Supports - 1 hour job

15K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Crash 
#1 ·
This is a 4 ft piece of aluminum trim channel for 3/4" plywood, purchased at Lowe's for $8.00. Very light and very stiff. This will become my soft saddle bag support.


First I hacked it to the desired length and drilled holes on either end. (Make two of these)


It is going to connect to rear most bolt on the sub-frame as shown below.


So you will need to get the grinder or dremmel and groove one end out a little like this.


Slide between subframe support and sub-frame, push bolt through, adjust for angle and tighten up.

This was about 2 inches too long, so i hacked it after I took this pic.

Repeat on port side of bike. Here's a shot of it with bags on, you can see the aluminum channel between the bike and the starboard bag.


You get the idea. Just measure and cut to fit your specific bag application. This can be done in under an hour and provides a nice, virtually invisible support that keeps saddlebags from sagging when they are cinched down with the straps or loaded up with heavy stuff.

-Eric
 
See less See more
6
#6 ·
Pismocycleguy, the other hole will eventually support a 1/2" aluminum cross-tube connecting the rear ends of the two braces under the bike. I plan to do that part later in the week. Might not be necessary for light-duty stuff, as the aluminum U channels are pretty stiff. But for the best assurance against bending the aluminum at the sub-frame bolt, I'm going to connect the rear ends together using the aluminum tube. I'll post pics when I do that. I cinch my bags down pretty tight with the straps, and when doing that plus loading them up with weight, it will definitely give me peace of mind that the DIY saddlebag brackets will provide ample support without bending.

Eric
 
#8 · (Edited)
Finishing touches. Just got back from Lowe's and sourced the below products for the cross-brace. Aluminum tube, rubber grommets, stainless screws and pipe insulation.


Cross-brace cut to width of rear-most holes in the support brackets. Had to widdle the tapered rubber grommets with a utility knife so I could squeeze them into the aluminum tube. A little dish soap helps, and it dries sticky. These rubber grommets will expand when you thread the stainless screws into them.


Next, wrapped the support brackets with some pipe insulation and e-tape to provide some more surface area and protection from rubbing the saddlebags.


Mounted the cross-brace as shown with washer and stainless screw into the rubber grommet in the cross bar.


Both sides screwed together:


Finished product with bags attached:

Addition of the supportive cross-brace is done in about a 1/2 beer (which is a Southern way of measuring time).

Total cost was about $22 bucks, and 1.5 hours of labor. Time to mass produce?

Eric
 
#10 · (Edited)
It appears you relocated your turn indicators, is that true? It also appears you drilled into the license plate light housing to create new mounting locations for the turn indicators, is that the case? What are you going to do about the exposed OEM turn indicator mounting holes? Was that to get the saddlebags to sit further back?

This ..



-Eric
I have the exact same saddlebags. I placed both straps on top of the seat. This is so the front straps weight does not bear on the side trim panels. As seen in the middle photo I placed the front strap just in front of the seat riser. The saddlebags clear the turn indicators completely requiring no relocation of turn indicators or alteration of the bike. This saddlebag location positions the first ~20% of inside surface of the saddlebags against the trellis bars (first picture) and that results in negligible saddlebag droop as seen in the last photo.
So same bags, no work and no alteration to the bike.
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Looks good, Tsunami!

Cmoreride, yes, I did relocate the turn signals. I posted a DIY on that with pictures here: http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14621

I configured the bags in this way for two reasons. 1.) Farther back on the bike allows easier access to the passenger foot pegs for 2-up riding, and 2.) I wanted an under-seat configuration for better ease of getting the seat off, as well as to deter (but obviously not fully prevent) theft of the bags. It would be MUCH harder to separate the velcro connecting straps being that they are located under the seat. Someone would have to yank, rip or cut them off to get them. For those reasons, I wanted them as far back as possible, so the first job was to relocate the turn signals per the URL above. After that, I made the brackets. I love this configuration now. Everything is exactly how I need it.

Eric
 
#13 ·
Oh, and I'm not worrying about the OEM turn signal mounting holes (for now). They're pretty much completely obscured by the bags. If I get an itch later on, I might fab some plastic covers and epoxy them in place, but right now it doesn't bug me at all.

Eric
 
#17 ·
Oh, and I'm not worrying about the OEM turn signal mounting holes (for now). They're pretty much completely obscured by the bags.
Eric
Well I guess you could say that about the whole darned contraption, Eric, an elegant solution it's not! There, I said it. :guilty:
I don't mean to be harsh, I put a fair amount of thought into doing soft bag supports for my V, and I was sort of going down the same road. But one look at Chuck's Bag Bars and I did a U turn.
http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11842
Windwalker's bars are also nice. The bent roundstock looks right on the bike to my eye, the attachment and material are stronger, and it won't chafe the bags. :goodidea:
Rob
 
#16 ·
Looks good, Mike.

Killbilly, i intended to use a wire hanger of some sort under the fender, connected to the center of the cross-bar to keep it up. I didn't do that because I can probably hang a 30 pound weight from there and it won't budge. When I clamp the softer aluminum between the steel sub-frame and the steel trellis bars (shown in the third picture at the top of this thread), it grips like a handlebar clamp. I've thought about this and will keep my eye on it, but I can't imagine it moving unless someone tries to use it as a step.

Eric
 
#18 ·
Rob,
thanks for your feedback. I commute with my bike and use it often for errands and longer weekend rides. My bags aren't coming off, so I don't really need an elegant solution. I needed quick, cheap and solid. If i took my bags off, I agree, this would look foolish. But I don't take my bags off, and I'm more into function than form. I do appreciate the feedback, but I would challenge your comments about strength and chafing the bags. It might not be the right solution for you, but it does exactly what I needed and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks,
Eric
 
#20 ·
I think it's great to see all the different bracket designs everyone has come up with!

I have a set of Firstgear Onyx bags and I wanted to cure "the sag". It helps when you have a brother who has been a fabricator most of his life. This is what we came up with. Notice welded loops and threaded spacer rings to attached just about anything.

~ Wes
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top