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securing your saddle bags on the cheap
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aaronrkelly
Posted 2013-11-13 1:46 AM (#148807)
Subject: securing your saddle bags on the cheap


Tourer

Posts: 395
Moravia, IA

There are a few posts around here where XC and XR have lost saddle bags. Im not going to get into whether or not the factory fasteners are at fault here or not.

There is a commercial product out there - Brukus. Its a very nice product.....but cost $40.




 

There are mention of people getting bolt/nuts etc to do this at your local hardware store but not very much information on exactly what that hardware is. Some people arent very savvy about hardware so I thought Id put it all in a useful post.

What you need:

(1)

5/16-18 bolts that are 2" long in stainless

5/16 refers to the size of bolt. 18 refers to the pitch of the threads.

 

 

(2)

5/16-18 speed nut or u nut (they are commonly called both)

IF there are both long and regular available you just need the regular ones.

 

 

 

 

3)

5/16 stainless lock washers (or 8mm if they dont have 5/16 available in stainless)

 

 

*************NOTES********************

You can use any bolt head design you want......regular hex like pictured.....allen cap.....torx security (just like the Brukus bolts) - whatever you prefer.

5/16-18 is what I used.  The other most common thread pitch in 5/16 is 24....which would be written like 5/16-24.  You CAN use 5/16-24 bolts *IF* you also use 5/16-24 speed/u nuts.  As long as your bolt and nut have the same pitch it doesnt really matter what that pitch is.  The bolt and nut are only interfacing with each other......the bike really has nothing to do with it.

I reused the factory flat washers.....if youve lost them or dont have them for some reason just pick up 5/16 (or again, 8mm) stainless flat washers.

I kept typing in stainless.  You dont HAVE to use stainless hardware but stainless hardware is very, very rust resistant and thats why I prefer it in this application.

How many of each of these you need depends on you.  I bought 4 of each and replaced ALL the factory fastners with bolts.  You could just buy 2 of each and replace just one factory fastener set per saddle bag.  Your choice.....

************INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS****************

(sorry I dont have any pictures of this....it was like 5 degrees in my garage)

1) Take off your factory saddle bags

2) Slide the factory dsuz fasteners off the saddlebag mounts on the bike.  Just pop/pry them off with a screwdriver.  They come off real easy.

3) Slide your new 5/16 speed or u nuts on in the same location you took the factory fasteners off.

4) Take the "pins" out of your factory bags.  They are just slid in there inside of a rubber grommet - they pull right out.  Keep track of the factory flat washers....if not you will need some 5/16 (or 8mm flat washers) as noted in the notes above.

5) Take one 5/16 bolt......slide on a lock washer.......then the flat washer.  Now push them thru the rubber grommets on your saddle bag.  They will fit tight....which is good, you dont want your bags rattling.

6) Position bags on the bike and thread bolts into the speed or u nuts on the saddle bag mounts.  You can easily see them to line them up.

7) Tighten the bolts - get them good and tight.....but dont over tighten them.  Your really just sandwhiching the rubber grommet inside the saddle bag between the bolt head and speed nut....so just tighten till you see them swell out a bit.

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aaronrkelly
Posted 2013-11-13 1:57 AM (#148808 - in reply to #148807)
Subject: Re: securing your saddle bags on the cheap


Tourer

Posts: 395
Moravia, IA
Total price at my hardware store (bought 4 of everything)

u nuts where .59 cents each - 2.36

lock washers .19 cents each - .76

bolts where .42 cents each - 1.68

Total cost $4.80

*FAR* cheaper then the Brukus product. Same level of protection and its as close as your local hardware store.

Some hardware stores sell bulk bolts and nuts much cheaper then singles. For instance at the "other" hardware store in town the stainless bolts where $2.34 each but you could buy a bag of 12 of them for $4.97 - yeah....for the same cost as 2 bolts you could get 12. Keep an eye on this when your buying your stuff.
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