Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Turkish]

True aint that the truth I am so happy I purchased this bad boy! so any of you have any problems with the media player on the GPS? About 50% of the time I have to resart it so that it will find my music.

[TxDrifter]

OK folks  not sure how a pot hole affects the bags   the swingarm  moves  not the fender where the upper mounts for bags and the lower mount doesn't move either  it comes off the passenger peg mount ...take your bag off stand back  and look for yourself   better yet  pushed down on your bike  and you will see  the swingarm moves only not the bag mounts

You might want to revisit the mechanics of that.  Pushing down on the fender will prove my point.  The fender closes with the top swing arm as it is compressed.  The fender itself may be fixed, but the gap between the fender and that swing arm closes with more pressure. 

As for the Dyna and a similar setup.  It also has three points of contact.  ALL of them are on the fender.

[Lever]

when you pushed down on the fender  your not affecting the bags mounts there are stationary  the mounts don't move look   look at the chrome strut  on your rear fender it doesn't move  the tire assemble moves the last mounting point on the passager peg mount don't move either the tire and swingarm  moves inside the fender
 as far as the Dyna  you really cant compare it to a softail suspension  two different setup all together

[Jasray]

Lever,

I assume you have been riding for a while so I know you have hit a few hard bumps in your time on the road, we all have.  The reason we feel them and sometimes even hurt our backs is due to the suspension (although better than a hard tail) not being 100% efficient.  In my non-engineering humble opinion, that up and down jolt combined with the odd three point docking system, causes the bag to twist slightly from the torque of absorbing the shock load.  In some situations, not all, that torque overcomes the spring tension holding the locking knob in place and the locking pin pops out of place.  Since the bike is moving forward and the bags are removed by pulling them backwards, physics takes over and the bags simply slide off the back of the bike.

Maybe some off those locking knob springs have higher tension than others, or maybe the bags should have been designed to come off by moving them forwards instead of rearwards, I really don't know, but having experienced it I can say that it is lucky that as my bag slid across a 6 lane highway no one was hurt.

[Lever]

thank you for the compliment ..i have been riding for a long time ,
  those bumps that hurt our backs my friends and i call those spine shots hehe and boy do those  hurt
 ..chiropractor loves me on  a long bumpy ride
anyway 
I'm are going to have to agree to disagree with this whole saddle bag, baffling, enigmatic, incomprehensible, indecipherable, indescribable, inexplainable, inscrutable, insoluble, mysterious, mystifying, obscure, odd*, peculiar, puzzling, strange, unaccountable, undefinable, unfathomable, unintelligible, unsolvable  bag falling off
have a super weekend my friend and keep the rubber side down 
thanks Lever

[Jasray]

i agree........
Best to you as well

[ejvette]

Jasray .....question

When your bag came off did the locking mechanism break or was it still full functional ?

[Jasray]

Just when Lever and I agree to take a vacation from this topic, you guys suck me back in...

The truth is, it would be hard to say accurately.  The bag was run over by three cars and ultimately got stuck in the undercarriage of a pickup truck and was dragged down the road for about half a mile before the guy could pull over.  I did recover the bag and the metal locking knob and pin still appeared functional but I wouldn't want to put money on it.

However as a side note to the story that I have never told before is that the other bag (riders left) also came loose (it was a very big pot hole) but I managed to reach back with my left hand and stabilize it before it slid off the back.  That bag although loose still had fully functioning hardware and is still on my bike today (with zip ties).

If anyone else wants to tell me how wrong I am, be nice about it.  Its been a tough week..

[ejvette]

so the moral of the story is......dont hit any potholes while your bags are on lol.

[Porschestan]

Wow again.......

[Turkish]

Ok went to my dealer, told the Manager Harley was not helping, then I mentioned these forums and he said I know I know it happened to us! My dealership knows about the problem as well, anyway they said they are going to make some phone calls and get me a new bag. After that ZIP ties for me.

[Mach]

With HD taking it off the Breakout, maybe it simply wasn't worth the hassle.  However, reading this post, I do check, at least twice, any time I take off with the bags on, that they are mounted correctly and pin showing. 

While I was going to post this picture for a different reason (text up top), I was looking at it and noticed I didn't have the bag on correctly (or if I did it moved).  This was before I was reading this thread, so I hope to NOT have a repeat.

Not sure HD will come out with a recall, but with the item no longer on new bikes, doubt there will be a mechanical change any time soon.  I will be sure not to bring the topic up at the bar, as I too think it is like religion or politics, everyone at least knows what the topic is now and choose their course to follow.

Still love the bike, and the fact that I can strip it down or put it all back together faster then tying my boots.

two different times I had my bags look like this, both on the left bag. looks impossible to pop off and still have the pin showing out.

[SteveO]

Again, if secured correctly you won't have a problem.

[jjohn581]

Have not had the problem with the saddlebags falling off but I now zip tie them as a precaution but I did have a new problem on my last trip.  The lid popped open on the right side and when I stopped I saw that I lost my zip in liner vest to my jacket.  One other time that side had opened so I just got in the habit of locking it and it hadn't happened since then.  This time I checked and the lock was still in the locked position but I also had run into some very stiff cross winds.  I just put a bungee around it till I got back and of course had to hit a couple of passes in CO and the temps were in the upper 30's and could have used that liner.

It looks like it wasn't hooking low enough in the latch and the wind if strong enough could flip it open if it got under it.  I did some bending and will see if that helps.  Just something else for you to check on the saddlebags of the 11's and 12's. 

[Willie D]

Again, if secured correctly you won't have a problem.

  i HAVE TO AGREE.

I have had mine off and back on many times, and have NOT had a problem.

JMHO