Help With Motorcycle Saddlebags

[SDSLIM]

Hello All,

I am new to leather...I have only made a few seat's for bikes, but would like to make a custom set of saddle bags for my Harley. I would be greatful for some pointers, recommended supplier for leather and floral patterns if you guys can provide them,

My thought is to build a slanted hard bag with hard plastic inside....18 inches long, 7 or 8 inches wide and 11 inches deep. Any help would be appreciated, like I mentioned I never made bags before and I am going back to Sturgis this year for the first time since I was a kid (I was born there).

Thank you,

Corey

[Rumblestiltskin]

Hey Corey,

for your bags, have you identified where you will get the Hard plastic inserts from? I'd be interested to know for a similar project of my own.

Couple of ideas for you that have worked out for me on 2 previous projects, one for a sporty, the other for a fat bob.

For the Sporty i managed to pick up a pair of trashed original HD rigid backed sportster bags from Ebay for next to nothing, i removed the moulded backplates and reused them to make a new set of bags.

For the Fat bob I used 2 mm thick diamond plate Aluminum to make rigid backs and built the bags on those. I predrilled stitching holes in the diamond plate ( took forever) as well as rivet holes. stitched and riveted every thing. Additionally (and I am sure someone will yell at me for this) I used Mastick ( the same sealer used on car windscreens) to glue the leather to the plate. This added strength, but more importantly made the aluminum/leather join 100% waterproof.

Using the Aluminum had the added advantage of being able to use Easybrackets to mount the bags on the bike without worrying about packed bag weight stressing the back of the bags where the brackets were bolted on.

I am now on the hunt for a pair of trashed roadking classic bags to recover as a next project.

Good luck

[mato]

not sure if this is much help but i like it

solo bag for harley 48