****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I was somewhat hesitant about buying these after I read a handful of reviews saying that these are flimsy, or not as well made as the factory originals. Well, in that regard I can totally de-bunk those statements as being completely false! After comparing these directly to another pair of factory 2014-current Harley Davidson saddlebags I could discern absolutely no noticable difference in either quality of material or material thickness. Fit and finish was also on par with the factory Harley saddlebags. There are 3 things that I will suggest to anyone who buys these however.1 - Remove every machine scew and apply some Blue Loctite to the threads. I'll make this even easier for you on how to tell which ones to remove. They are the ones with the "torx" head, or what some people will call the "star" head screws. Don't worry about the phillips head screws; they are screwed into plastic. Just make sure those are all good and snug (you're in there anyway). Anyway, remove those torx head screws & add a dab of Blue Loctite, and reinstall. No Loctite and you're too much of a cheap, lazy bastard to get some? Fine. Use a drop of superglue if you must. It's better than nothing and still good insurance. AND DON'T FORGET THE SCREW FOR FOR THE LATCH LEVER DUMMY!2 - I will admit, the liners are the one item that suffers points in the fit & finish department. The material is just fine, it's the hole alignments that just plain suck. First thing to address is at the bottom. You know those rubber baby bumpers on the bottom of your saddlebags that rest on your lower saddlebag rails? Ya, well those have rubber nipples that protrude up thru the bottom and keep the liners from being able to rest completely within the saddlebag. DON'T cut those nipples off. Sounds like common sense to some, but trust me, it needs said. Instead, squirt your nipples with a little soapy water (ya, I said that?), and gently work them out one at time. Insert your liners and flip the saddlebags over upside down. Now you can accurately mark your hole locations on the bottom of the liners. Once that is done use an exacto knife or safer yet a hole punch set to cut out those holes for your nipples. And for the love of all that is holy, if you use an exacto knife, don't be stupid & use your hand to support the liner from the other side! You WILL cut yourself if you do. And you will bleed profusely because those mothers are sharp! Be smart folks, exercise some common sense and support it a block of wood or whatever isn't attached to your body?. But do cut those holes slightly oversized to give your rubber nipples a little room to pop thru & fit snugly when you reinstall the rubber baby bumpers. Again, lube up your nipples when you reinstall (I just like saying that. Yes, I do have a grade school mentality. But I'm still smarter than most because I'm figuring this stuff out for you so your life will be easier?). Reinstall your liners and check out your work. Once you've gotten that part fitting good you can check out how the rest of your holes line up. Make adjustments to those accordingly. I will suggest tho that you enlarge the whole to clear the rubber grommets for your saddlebag mounting bolts and simply notch out the area around both latch hooks. The liners will lay flatter and it will quite simply make life easier. Regardless, however you go about it from here is really up to you. The point is to get those liners to where they'll lie flat against the bottom and sides & still be happy with the hardware bits. From here it's up to you whether or not to glue the liners in permanently.3 - If you are going to have them color matched to your motorcycle, do your painter a favor & order them either unfinished or the flat black ones. It will save the poor bastard a little bit of prep work.Are they perfect? Not exactly. But the quality of the ABS material & the hardware itself is perfectly on par with the quality that you'd get from Harley Davidson. And that's where the real meat & potatoes is folks (if you're a vegetarian, I apologize. Go get a Vespa). With about an hour of your precious time spent in prep work to dial everything in perfectly with regards to the things I outlined above, you can have yourself a kickass pair of saddlebags that cost you a third of what you would have spent if you had ordered them thru the Dealership. You're welcome. I just saved you at least $800. And guess what? You can still go to the dealer & get a lockset ordered for your saddlebags to be keyed to your factory keys. So yes, in summary I totally feel like the money spent for these bags was totally worth it! Especially when you consider what the same factory bags would have cost directly from the dealer or even used! Best wishes y'all and keep the rubber side down in all your travels this summer!
