My first fabrication... saddlebag support

Just tried my hand a at fabrication for the first time. Nothing fancy, just a simple bag support to keep my new soft bags from sagging and ending up on my pipes. Solid, light weight and easy to replicate.
Made supports from 1/8" x 3/4" flat aluminum.
New bags zip off and the support makes it real easy to get the bag back on. Holds ther bag in place while I line-up the zipper, even when the bag is fully loaded.

Let me know what you think.

Looks great! Awesome job! I love stuff like that cuz you get to know that you did it yourself vs. buying something. Awesome idea!!

Nice. I used unistrut and 2 inch steel pipe, it is a little heavy and looks like crap but it works.

Doc,

Your fab looks good. I wouldn't worry about the bags sagging and touching the pipes though, I've had the same bags for the better part of two years and they still do not sag. I can see how a mount that holds the bags in place while you zip them on would be very good, that was one of my issues with them in the beginning. Of course, I never did like the way they hung off of the throw-over so I cut it off and hard mounted them. I took two pieces of diamond plate aluminum and cut them to fit the inside of the bags. I then drilled 1/8" holes at the bottom (4) and bolted the bags to the aluminum along that edge. I then drilled holes big enough for the heads of the bolts to pass through from the two trailing holes on the fender struts (new bolts as that they needed to go through the spacers I had, as well as the aluminum and the bag pleather). I then cut a notch out of four washers (two different sizes for the two different sized bolts) to form a "C" shape. I can loosen the bolt, slide off the C shaped washer and then remove the bag. With the bag off of the bike I have a spacer, a washer and a bolt head sticking out of the fender strut on each side. I use these for bungee ties when I do not want to run with bags, and the washers hold the bags off of the chrome when I have the bags on. This was the third incarnation of me trying to hard mount these bags and it seems to be the best one in my opinion. It is not so easy to remove the bags that you would take them off and into a hotel room, but for simple maintenance it is quick enough. Where did you find the bag standoff that bolts up to the bike though, I've been looking for something like that for another project I've been thinking about.

Oh, and BTW, I also found that purchasing Kuryakyn small bullet rear lights give you a little extra room to mount the bags a little further rearward.

http://www.kuryakyn.com/index.cfm/go/Home.ProductDetail/catID/16/scID/37/IMID/730

This thread has a pick of my bike with the bags mounted and the taillights installed

https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/gytt-is-on-the-bike-t2615.htm

Keep the shiny side up

To be honest... I have no idea what brand these bag mount/stand-offs are... they came with the bike along with a beat-up pair of soft bags that didn't fit. Sorry i couldn't be more helpful.

I have had to make modifications as the bags have softened up quite a bit in the sun and are HUGE. They started to sag around the aluminum brackets so I ended up bolting 1 1/2" aluminum plates to the bottom of the bag to give them a stiff heat resistant base that sits on the brackets. I will post some pics when I get a chance.

Good idea. Thanks for posting