Note to self: Double check those saddlebags! (DOH!)

My son and I went for a trip yesterday up to scenic Moosehead Lake in Maine. In my excitement of packing and re-packing (I always find something I *need* after everything is stowed), I neglected to double check to see if the saddlebags were securely fastened to the bike. Somewhere on Rt. 2, my son began frantically tapping me on the shoulder. I pulled over (thinking he might need to use the bushes or something), and learned that I had jettisoned the right side bag over the last bump I had hit. It fell off the bike and skidded into a drainage ditch. As you can imagine, the case is pretty well scratched up (locally we would say that "it's all stove up").

I think what happened was that when I re-closed the case the last time, the locking tab did not engage the handle the way it is supposed to. Taking a quick look at it, the handle looked like it was in the down position, but it wasn't locked there. After a series of bumps, it must have opened up enough to where a good bump dislodged it from the bike. SO.... note to self (and anyone else that wants to avoid this costly humiliation :angry2: ), give a good yank on the handles of the saddlbags as one of you last "pre-flight" checklist items.

Now, time to start prowling eBay for a right-side 2004 saddlebag (unless someone on this board has one). Has anyone had any success re-finishing really scraped up plastic bike parts? Is it worth it compared to buying a replacement?

Ouch, that's gotta suck! They're on ebay from time to time. Try to be patient or it'll cost ya.

My wife had a 25mph slide down a gravel road last year on her Vstar with hard bags and scratched up the bag pretty bad (and broke 4 ribs). I took it to a kid that did paint work at my local bike shop and he fixed it good as new for $125.

@cota95 - Thanks for the info. I will have to check around. I wasn't sure if anyone had any success in trying to refinish them or not. Sounds like it is worth doing a little research.

Agree with cota, I just had a local kid fill in and repaint some stucco scratches to the left bag for $100 plus $50 for color-rite paint and base.

It was slightly lighter than original, but acceptable.

I've got a camp on Moosehead, hope the rest of the trip was OK.

Sorry to hear of your mishap. There were some do it yourself clips that one of the other board members came up with a couple of years ago. It was easy enough to do, and made sure that the bags were locked on solid. They COULDN'T go anywhere, unless you wanted them to. I had done it on my 04. What happened to you reminded me that I better do it on the new bike.

There were some 04 saddle bags on sale in the classified section on this forum. They are probably on page 3 by now, but he was selling both with liners for $700

Note: pickax as a kickax avatar

+1 on pickax's avatar!

@pickax - yea, the rest of the trip was fine. It is kind of a strange thing - I left that morning *feeling* like something was going to happen. (trivia - how many times in the Star Wars series do we hear "I've got a bad feeling about this"? Yikes - I just publicly identified my geek-dom!). After the mishap, things *seemed* better and I was more relaxed. It has happened to me before. Coincidence? Self fulfilling prophecy? Lunacy? Hmmm.

I'll check the for-sale items on this board (forgot to look before), but I think I like the idea of the lower cost repair option (if possible).

Thanks all!

Check with Toecutter also. Ask him for the pics of his solution to this ever happening again. Toe will NEVER loose a bag.

I've repainted both left and right sidebags... local guy did it and I think the total for both was around $150ish...

For those of you worried abt losing a bag...remember the "No Bag Left Behind Fix?" Add the wire lock pins to the attachment thingy at the bottom of the bags.

Have you priced a set of new bags?Mine cost $2500 last year when rear-ended! If yours is really bad,I could go take a look at mine,sitting in garage.As I recall.one wasn't scuffed up very badly,but one was with broken latch.

brazos parker said:

For those of you worried abt losing a bag...remember the "No Bag Left Behind Fix?" Add the wire lock pins to the attachment thingy at the bottom of the bags.

Click to expand...

Scab said:

Check with Toecutter also. Ask him for the pics of his solution to this ever happening again. Toe will NEVER loose a bag.

Click to expand...

I'll be hitting the ground with my bag if it ever does:

Sorry for your luck. At least your son has half a clue and you avoided the "why didn't you say something????" conversation most fathers would have.

I appreciate the tip. Ever since someone posted about losing his Givi top case on the road, I've tried to wrestle mine off the mount every time I attach it. I'm sure I'm soon to be grappling with my sidecases, too.

I have a set of 04 bags for sale. I want $500 for the pair or $250 for one plus the shipping costs. Unfortunely I am leaving on vacation in the morning. Will be gone till September 10. If interested, PM me and I will get in touch when I return.

I'll be hitting the ground with my bag if it ever does:

I did this little mod on my 04, same pin exactly. When rearended last year, the left bag took a pretty significant portion of the hit, yet stayed on my bike. The force was sufficient to literally rip the two top bag brackets straight up through the fender. Needless to say, this same mod was done to my 06AE the day I got the bags on. You can't buy better insurance for the price of the two pins, in my case. $2.00 Cdn from a local farm machinery supply store.

Toecutter thats a really smart idea. I am scared shitless to drill a hole in my bike. But I am going to do that. What size drill bit did you use and whats the trick way to drill it!!

Don't know the dril size, but I remember he said he drilled from the inside with the rear tire removed. Get the pins and use as a guide for bit size selection.

I've got both sides for sale. 14 grand. You get a scoot also. No warrantee. Ok....I've scuffed up the bags with my boots a bit. Close to 18 thousand miles on them. Don't worry...I haven't used any cleaning agents on them...as they haven't been washed.(neither has the scoot inbetween.