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Posted by Ironworking
- July 26, 2016, 22:32:15 PMQuote from: AZCaveman on July 26, 2016, 17:53:19 PMI can assure you plastic or fiberglass saddlebags would not last more than a few hundred miles if loaded with any weight (20 lbs each). They would disintegrate. Think of the rear end as a hard tail, because essentially it is. The suspension if or the rider/s. It does very little for the tail section.I thought about that. the suspension mostly moves up away from exhaust. Not planning to copy Evel with it lol. The downward stroke would be maxed out by spring travel. It would have to have duals as to give more clearance under the bags. The shock clearance only requires a couple of inches. I think using "old" drifter fenders and making them into hardbags and molding them to the fender would produce nice lines like a bagger. However, the earlier post about 'shaking the frieght' could be an issue. I need to find a third 1500 drifter to test out some Ideas!
Posted by Old Drifter
- July 26, 2016, 18:14:37 PMQuote from: RockinRonny on July 26, 2016, 09:40:08 AMIt's not me. Whoever it is has a Michigan plate.Boy , that's a can of worms. Getting bags to look right on this bike can really take some engineering. There is a forum member who has mounted his bags on the fenders, I have pix of his bike but can't remember who it was , maybe Old Drifter? Anyways here is pix of his bags and also pix of the brackets I made for mine that hang off the back seat. My bag hangers match the contour of the fender but my bags don't. Don't know if this helps or not.
Posted by AZCaveman
- July 26, 2016, 17:53:19 PMI thought about that. the suspension mostly moves up away from exhaust. Not planning to copy Evel with it lol. The downward stroke would be maxed out by spring travel. It would have to have duals as to give more clearance under the bags. The shock clearance only requires a couple of inches. I think using "old" drifter fenders and making them into hardbags and molding them to the fender would produce nice lines like a bagger. However, the earlier post about 'shaking the frieght' could be an issue. I need to find a third 1500 drifter to test out some Ideas! 
Posted by pcarrell
- July 26, 2016, 17:17:07 PMYou'd have to leave a lot of clearance for the suspension to move. Remember, the exhaust doesn't move, but the fender does!
Posted by AZCaveman
- July 26, 2016, 15:35:57 PMI would love to get 2 old 'damaged' rear fenders, turn them into hardbags. And flush mount them to the fenders
Posted by RockinRollin
- July 26, 2016, 09:40:08 AMBoy , that's a can of worms. Getting bags to look right on this bike can really take some engineering. There is a forum member who has mounted his bags on the fenders, I have pix of his bike but can't remember who it was , maybe Old Drifter? Anyways here is pix of his bags and also pix of the brackets I made for mine that hang off the back seat. My bag hangers match the contour of the fender but my bags don't. Don't know if this helps or not.
Posted by mittico68
- July 26, 2016, 02:40:30 AMYeah, maybe... but that solution would lead to have everything shaken inside the bags, because of the rear fender bouncin'!
Posted by AZCaveman
- July 25, 2016, 15:23:49 PMHas anyone tried instead of the hanging Bracket for hardbags. Mounting then on the fender 'crashbar" and attaching the tops directly to the fenders? I think done cleanly they would flow with the bikes lines better.