Ever open the saddle bags?

[Allnight]

The saddle bags are dual-walled: there is an outer shell and an inner husk, I call it.

I'm just digging out the service manual to see if it says anything, but does anybody know if there's a way to separate them? Temporarily, of course, I want to put them back together.

I'm trying to decide how to mount an Admore Light system to the bags, and if I can avoid drilling through the inner "chamber" I feel more like it might stay water tight.

This is the kit. Just arrived today.

I'm thinking that I'd like to mount them so that the center of each strip is at the rear-facing point of the inner half. Does that make sense? Here's a picture of what I mean:

You can see the 18 gauge or 20 gauge lamp cord hanging from the light strip. A small hole needs to be drilled to run that through the inside of the bag, up to the connector to the bike, which I want to mount somewhere under the release handle.

Anyone done anything like this before?

 

[Allnight]

After looking in the TOC for the service manual and not seeing anything, I flipped through it, and sure enough, the saddle bags and their mounting is not covered at all in the service manual.

Let the searching begin!

 

[user 213]

As I recall, they are glued together. Someone used a heat gun to separate a trashed one as an experiment if memory serves. Not pretty. And putting it back together might be problematic.

I've seen speakers mounted in the hard bags. Holes drilled and looked like crap, never mind the loss of cargo room and weather seal.

I strongly urge you to mount your new lights to the bike, not the bags. The rear plastic is pretty easy to remove/replace.

edit - or just stick them to the outside of the bags, as intended by the manufacturer. Not as slick, admittedly.

 

[Allnight]

I'm starting to wonder about drilling into the bags.

If I were to simply glue it on (it comes with a double-sided adhesive strip) and run the wire around the outside, got any suggestions on how to hold the wire to the bag?

I'm worried about fastening it so that it doesn't flap in the wind or get caught on some of the junk that flies around the Bay Area freeways? (I've had to dig plastic bags out of the radiator.)

 

[Old Michael]

Ever open the saddle bags?

I mean separate the shell from the husk?

NO! HELL no!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Whata ya do when you take the bags off?

Your going to need some kind of disconnect. There is allways RTV to seal the hole from the inside so it wont show. I think there is some kind of flexible strip to hold cables somewhere if you search.

Good luck

Dave

 

[Fred W]

If you turn the led strip in your picture 90 degrees CW, and mounted them horizontally across the rearmost apex of the bag, over the reflective panels you have, the wiring would start in inboard corner of the bag and be the least visible. You could then fasten down the wires somehow to the inboard surface of the bag where it can't be seen. Also, this would make the most of the LEDs as they are brightest when facing them end on, so the ones angling up and down in your picture would be sub-optimized.

As Dave says, find some flexible wire cover material or just use black duct tape since it won't be real visible. Obviously you'll need some connectors and to fashion a pigtail of some kind to allow bag removal.

 

[Allnight]

That's an idea that hadn't occurrred to me...mount it sideways. In my test firing of the lights I didn't notice them being a directional as LEDs normally are; thinking back on it, I wonder if there are some kind of dispersion lenses just above the LEDs...I'll have to look at that a little closer.

They supplied a nice connector that would work well if it could be mounted to the surface, but only from below. It's a push-then-twist-the-collar kind of thing, very nice although the durability over long term use concerns me.

My original thought, had been to put that disconnect below the handle you life to disengage the bag restraint. After pulling that handle up, I'd be able to reach the connector. There would be a cable hanging a few inches out from under the rear seat, that could be tucked in when riding sans bags.

Thanks for the thoughts! I've started looking around to see if I can find any trashed bags, that I could experiment with...maybe I can drill through only the shell and somehow fish the wire up to where the connector will be mounted. Not very likely to succeed, that's why I want to find a non-functional bag to try it on.

Mike