How to install TriGlide saddlebags for under $10.

[jimgpayne]

Howdy fron Nashville.

My wife and I have matching TriGlides; and we wanted to have the TriGlide Saddlebags installed on both bikes.

After paying about $350 per set; our local Harley Dealership quoted us 2.5 hours for each bike to do the install.

Now, I'm by no means what you would consider "handy" around the house - but looking at the back of these bags gave me an idea.

The first thing you need to get is available from Amazon: it's a 10-foot long strip of velcro that is industrial strength and 4 inches wide. Here's the link: Adhestive-Strips-Sticky-Fabric-Fastenerl. The current cost of this is only $9.96 including shipping.

I would tell you how strong this stuff is; but if you need proof - go check out the episode of Mythbusters where they tested the strength of this stuff. It's unbelievable!

The saddlebags are attached to the bike via two metal plates; one at the top and one at the bottom. The top plate is somewhere around 3 inches, and the bottom is around 2 inches. Be sure to measure them yourselves before you cut out your velco to match them (my memory is not what it used to be).



So once you have the velcro; cut a strip of it to be somewhere between 9 and 11 inches. You only need 9 inches to cover from the top of the first metal plate to the bottom of the second metal plate. But I put a little longer on mine so that I can subtly adjust the height up or down as needed.

Now if your worried about the adhesive on your bike; don't be too concerned. Folks have been velcro'ing things to their bikes for decades.

Once you remove the velcro you can use stuff like WD40 and "Goo Be Gone" (I swear thats a real product!) to clean the adhesive off your bike.

Notice that rubber plug in the center of the lower plate???

It's gotta go. You need the plate to be completely flat to maximize the velcro efficiency. I used a knife to slice the grommet in half as shown below:



Now measure the width of each plate and cut a corresponding piece of velcro to cover each metal plate. Then affix them to the plates as shown:



Now your ready to begin work on the trike itself. While you can measure whatever position you may like; I chose to put the top of my velcro strip exactly 7 inches from the underside of my passenger armrests. You can get a feel for this by holding one of the saddlebags against the bike and then measuring the top of the bag against whatever landmark you want to use a reference. Here's my photo:



Now I put the velcro on my trike; starting at the 7 inch position I chose earlier.

Note that in my case; I actually had to move the velcro over closer to the wheel wells because I have an Air Zeppelin seat and the controls would interfere with the opening of the saddlebags.

So here's what my velcro looked like on the trike:



Once it is installed; you can then simply push your saddlebags into the velcro at the height that you prefer.

Here's how my bags look on the trike when mounted:



Total cost: $10 for both bikes. Total install time of both bikes was about 30 minutes.

Of course, your mileage may vary!

[Gorilla]

Good Job thank you for the sharing.

[consitter]

Looks great. Thanks for the tutorial.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Nice tip ... I wonder how it will hold up in the rain ... although ... Like stated, I've been velcroing things to bikes for years ... just not on that scale. I'm sure it will last well.

[geezerglide11441]

Howdy fron Nashville.

My wife and I have matching TriGlides; and we wanted to have the TriGlide Saddlebags installed on both bikes.

After paying about $350 per set; our local Harley Dealership quoted us 2.5 hours for each bike to do the install.

Now, I'm by no means what you would consider "handy" around the house - but looking at the back of these bags gave me an idea.

The first thing you need to get is available from Amazon: it's a 10-foot long strip of velcro that is industrial strength and 4 inches wide.

Here's the link: Adhestive-Strips-Sticky-Fabric-Fastenerl.

The current cost of this is only $9.96 including shipping.

I would tell you how strong this stuff is; but if you need proof - go check out the episode of Mythbusters where they tested the strength of this stuff. It's unbelievable!

The saddlebags are attached to the bike via two metal plates; one at the top and one at the bottom. The top plate is somewhere around 3 inches, and the bottom is around 2 inches. Be sure to measure them yourselves before you cut out your velco to match them (my memory is not what it used to be).



So once you have the velcro; cut a strip of it to be somewhere between 9 and 11 inches. You only need 9 inches to cover from the top of the first metal plate to the bottom of the second metal plate. But I put a little longer on mine so that I can subtly adjust the height up or down as needed.

Now if your worried about the adhesive on your bike; don't be too concerned. Folks have been velcro'ing things to their bikes for decades. Once you remove the velcro you can use stuff like WD40 and "Goo Be Gone" (I swear thats a real product!) to clean the adhesive off your bike.

Notice that rubber plug in the center of the lower plate??? It's gotta go.

You need the plate to be completely flat to maximize the velcro efficiency.

I used a knife to slice the grommet in half as shown below:



Now measure the width of each plate and cut a corresponding piece of velcro to cover each metal plate. Then affix them to the plates as shown:



Now your ready to begin work on the trike itself. While you can measure whatever position you may like; I chose to put the top of my velcro strip exactly 7 inches from the underside of my passenger armrests. You can get a feel for this by holding one of the saddlebags against the bike and then measuring the top of the bag against whatever landmark you want to use a reference. Here's my photo:



Now I put the velcro on my trike; starting at the 7 inch position I chose earlier. Note that in my case; I actually had to move the velcro over closer to the wheel wells because I have an Air Zeppelin seat and the controls would interfere with the opening of the saddlebags.

So here's what my velcro looked like on the trike:



Once it is installed; you can then simply push your saddlebags into the velcro at the height that you prefer.

Here's how my bags look on the trike when mounted:

[IMG]http://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdforums.com-vbulletin/1600x2000/80-img_0315_134173d6f1d6225860220f41e322c02218a7445a.

jpg[/IMG]

Total cost: $10 for both bikes. Total install time of both bikes was about 30 minutes.

Of course, your mileage may vary!

Awesome post!! I have been contemplating installing these on my Trike but was/am against the hole drilling. Will definitely consider this application.

Thanks again for the info/post!!

Roger

[Texan]

Talked to Al at SeeThroughBraz about this very issue when I was considering buying those expensive HD bags. See, I didn't want to go drilling 10-15 holes in my trike. STB has a saddle bag mounting system using the same basic principle with Velcro but of a higher quality. Once installed you can stand on the back and there is no movement of the bags.

They also carry an alternative to the HD hard bags using the Saddlebag guard bags. This was the option I went with and couldn't be happier.

http://www.seethroughbraz.com/Saddle..._10448227.aspx

8~\o

[Texan]

Was noticing in the pics with the pink tape measure that it appears you have protective film on you inner fender and outer fenders. Is so who's film did you use and have you tested your bag installation as to durability with the film in place ? Just wondering...

8~\i

[SEE THROUGH BRAZ]

Glad to see your 2 " No Holes" trike saddle bag kits from Seethroughbraz(R) arrived. Included in the kits were Seethroughbraz material(for the inner fenders) application kits and the Velcro to attach to the bags and the Seethroughbraz(R) material. As far as the Velcro goes, your link goes to Amazon. This material is not made by Velcro. Since we do not sell on Amazon, which material did you use, our Velcro or the other hook and loop material?

[Tuccandler]

This is a very well done installation.

I am looking for Bags similar to those on Texan's Trike.

Can you help me out Texan?

Tks

Nvtrikerider

Talked to Al at SeeThroughBraz about this very issue when I was considering buying those expensive HD bags. See, I didn't want to go drilling 10-15 holes in my trike. STB has a saddle bag mounting system using the same basic principle with Velcro but of a higher quality. Once installed you can stand on the back and there is no movement of the bags.

They also carry an alternative to the HD hard bags using the Saddlebag guard bags. This was the option I went with and couldn't be happier.

http://www.seethroughbraz.com/Saddle..._10448227.aspx

8~\o

[Texan]

This is a very well done installation.

I am looking for Bags similar to those on Texan's Trike.

Can you help me out Texan?

Tks

Nvtrikerider

call Meredith or Al at SeeThroughBraz. They are TrikeTalk sponsor. They were very responsive to my needs and concerns. I just didn't want to drill a bunch of holes in my trike. Talked to the dealership about mounting them. 4-6 hours @ $90.00, don't think so. The bags are the original HD bags that they modify and add the mounting materials.

www.seethroughbraz.com

They furnished inner fender protective film, Velcro and bags. I have their complete TG protective package on my trike.

8~\o

[Beorn of Ga]

What a great idea. Wish I saw this before installing saddle bags on my last 2 Tryglides?

[jimgpayne]

Was noticing in the pics with the pink tape measure that it appears you have protective film on you inner fender and outer fenders. Is so who's film did you use and have you tested your bag installation as to durability with the film in place ? Just wondering...

8~\i

My Trike has the standard Harley paint protective film installed. The velcro actually attaches both on and off the film on my Trike (remember I had to move the bags towards the outer fender because of my Road Zeppelin).

My wife's Trike has no film on it at all. So on her bike I simply placed the velcro directly to the bike with no film.

[Big Red]

Awesome post!! I have been contemplating installing these on my Trike but was/am against the hole drilling. Will definitely consider this application.

Thanks again for the info/post!!

Roger

Yes very nice are they worth the price you have to give for them.
Are they large inside.
I would like to no about that seat. I had to install a tall boy seat. So my legs fit a little better. I have a sheep skin on mine and i love it. I am going to check on one this week end.

[jimgpayne]

Are they large inside.
I would like to no about that seat.

Each bag is about big enough to hold maybe two water bottles inside. So I keep things like gloves, wallets, etc in one with no issues.

As for the seat; I love my Zeppelin seat. It's quite expensive, and you give up the ability to possibly have a heated seat - but the comfort is second to none.

Everyone I know that has ever bought one raves about them and would never go back.

But the sundowner gets good reviews as well and is quite a bit cheaper if you are on a budget.

All in all - the seat was my best add-on to my trike.

[MikeyTX]

Guess I'll figure out how to mount the Saddlebag Guard bags from my Limited using the Scotch brand of hook and loop. Both Home Depot and Lowes have the industrial strength product.

[jimgpayne]

Guess I'll figure out how to mount the Saddlebag Guard bags from my Limited using the Scotch brand of hook and loop. Both Home Depot and Lowes have the industrial strength product.

That will work just fine. There's really no difference in all of the "industrial strength" variances. But I would recommend Scotch simply because of their superior quality control.

[HDB0B]

Thanks for the write-up. I did ours today with 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fasteners. It is supposed to be 5X the tensil strength of velcro. There is no way I needed full contact surfaces so I criss-crossed the contact directions. Works great. It gives a nice "pop" when they mate. This stuff looks like micro plastic mushrooms that interlock when pushed together.

Bob

[HDB0B]

Thanks for the write-up. I did ours today with 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fasteners. It is supposed to be 5X the tensil strength of velcro. There is no way I needed full contact surfaces so I criss-crossed the contact directions. Works great. It gives a nice "pop" when they mate. This stuff looks like micro plastic mushrooms that interlock when pushed together.

[rcurnayn]

Great post...... I (like the others that have responded) have been considering these bags, but didn't want the holes. GREAT IDEA!!!

I am also considering fender bras, but I installed the luggage racks which kills the use of the bras as they currently get attached. I am now thinking that I can use the velcro trick to put them on also. I can trim them down to fit just under the racks to cover the front part of the fender.

Opinions Anyone ??

[jimgpayne]

Yes, this same trick will work to connect fender bras.

The only thing I would be concerned with is that those bras need to be tightened down *really* tight to avoid getting dirt under them and scratching the paint.