New to me Hard Bags

I found what I consider to be a great deal on some OEM hard bags for a 6th Gen. These were off an 03 and mine is an 06 but la de da. They were on Craig's List in Vancouver for $250 and I got them for $225. Only thing though is they are red and my bike is Pearl White.

The bags have some scratches on them as the woman who owned them dropped her bike at a stand still. The scratches are barely through the paint. I think what she did was replace them with a new set because the hardware and brackets I got were still in their original packaging and clean as new. They had never been installed on anything yet.













As you can see, they were in great shape. The picture below showed the scratches. These are noticeable, but not that my bike is scratch free itself. I have dropped it more times than I can remember now while at a stand still so I have my own scratches already.



After getting these things mounted, I realized that they actually do not look too bad being red on my white bike seeing as I have the red graphics on there already. But I think I am still going to take it in to the body shop and get them painted Pearl White to match the bike. Don't know if I will put graphics on the hard bags but I doubt that. I think that would be too much. Best leave them white I think. Now to get the rims painted white as well. Thanks to info from Jethro911, I think that may be done in the not too distant future. I am just trying to decide if I want them painted so that I can get the pearl paint, or get them powder coated, which I do not believe can be gotten in Pearl. Decisions, decisions. I am getting stressed. I gotta find a job so I can relax.

 

Nice score there young man :thumb: she look good

 

I thought that these were going to be a breeze to install. I was definitely wrong there. There was a whole lot of swearing goin on in the garage. I think what was wrong was that from my drops of the bike, I may have bent the rear passenger foot peg bracket a bit. That threw everything off so the bolts were not lining up worth a shit. I tried using a pipe wrench to bend the bracket but it just broke. They are made of pot metal. Fortunately, just a small tab broke off and I was still able to use this bracket.

What I ended up doing is loosening just about every nut and bolt, screw and wire, on the back of that bike so that there was enough wiggle room to get all the bolts started. Once they were all in place, I could slowly and evenly tighten everything down and that forces the bracket back into place.

One of the disheartening things in this was that if found a few things that needed repairs once I got in there. We have a TV program up here called "Holmes on Homes" This guy started "Make it Right Production Company". He goes into homes where the home owner had hired someone to do some renos, and they did a botch job leaving the homeowner out in the cold. Holmes goes in and "makes it right". But when he starts tearing things open to do the repairs, he is always finding a mess like very dangerous wiring, termites, black mold, terrible plumbing and everything you can think of that does not come anywhere near meeting minimum code. That's his big beef and he fixes everything he uncovers.

Well that is kinda what I ran into. Shit and lazy work being done on my bike that I would not have noticed if I had not taken this apart. So I was doing repairs as I was working along. Shameful. And I get charged $90.00 an hour labour fees. Simple stupid things like wrapping license plate light wires with electrical tape rather than putting that plastic wrap on it. And running the wire where it is convenient for the mechanic, rather than where it should be run. But those things are fixed now. And I am having Coffee with a substantial flavouring of Bailey's. to sweeten it up just a smidgen.

 

For years I hesitated on buying the OEM bags because I didn't think they would look good on the bike. I broke down last winter and bought them and I think that they look fantastic and you can't beat the convenience that they offer. The red on your bike does make them look OK, but I agree that painting them will really make the bike. As far as your rims, I've always powercoated mine. They are more durable than paint and less resistant to chipping. Keep us up to date with the progress.

 

I agree on both counts I think. It would be nice to have the rims pearlized but I would rather have the durability of the powder coat. Spell check says "pearlized' is not a word. Fuckem I say. That isn't a word either.

 

I had the opportunity to get OEM when I bought mine new. I declined because I didn't think they looked that great either. Didn't take long before I realized I was wrong and should have ordered the bags at time of purchase.

 

Hey Randy

I would definitely get the rims powder coated as opposed to painted. When I went to do the rims on my 2000 I checked with a local body shop that I do work for on a regular basis, and they mentioned that I get the rims powder coated. The reasoning they said is that the company that does the powder coating would media blast the wheels first to strip off the old paint whereas the body shop would have to prep the wheels by hand which was very time consuming. The cost to powder coat the wheels was dirt cheap by comparison, $80 for both wheels and painting them would have been over $250. Apparently the more common the color the color that you choose when powder coating the cheaper the cost. The company I had do mine said that white and black were the two cheapest colors as they used those particular colors most frequently. The only down side to powder coating the wheels versus painting them is that the front wheel bearings must be removed before they are done and this may wind up costing you a bit extra unless you can do it yourself. Good time to put in new wheel bearings though.

 

Yup. Jethro911 gave me the insight on how to remove the bearings. Appear they are much simpler to do than I had thought. And I agree, now is the time for me to change the bearings even though they are not showing signs of wear. After all, they have 160,000 + km on them. There is a place in town here that acid dips radiators and the such. I used them when I was restoring my old Le Mans Convertible years ago. I think I will get the wheels acid dipped. That is probably cheaper than media blasting yet. Then powdercoat. I think it is more expensive than $80. a pair here though. We like to pay far more than everyone else out here on the west coast.

 

So when is you next trip? otstir:

 

After the paint job,, I start saving.

 

Nice score, Randy.

 

Wow, those looke like crap. Utter and total crap. No way that matches your bike. Tell you what, just save yourself some grief and just ship them to me. I'll even pay you half of what you bought them for, since they're damaged and all. :wink:




In all seriousness, good score man. Looks good.

 

I did mine today so I will load some pics for a mini DIY for the front wheel bearings. Just can't remember my password for photobucket aaargh. :crazy:

 

Well shit. You're just so right. Tell you what. I will send them off to your right away. Matter of fact, I will pay the shipping and send you a couple "C" notes as well.

I am ASHAMED! just so ASHAMED. Please help me in this, my all time low time of guilty feelings.

 

Instead of paying to have them painted, have you considered white plasti-dip and a coat of the pearlizer?

 

Something I have to keep in mind is that my bike has been painted. The repaint looks exactly like the original, but the shop told me they took the colour by comparing a paint chip. I know that one of two things has happened. They use this colour a lot so have it on hand, or they purchased this colour when they painted my bike not that long ago. They would have had to buy at least a quart of this paint and there is no way they used that much paint on my bike. I am sure they still have that paint, or will match it with the same that they ordered before. So the colour match should be right on the money.

Having said all this, I did spend some time on the plasti-dip site a few days ago, and they have several products that really give me a hard on. One is their dip for coating handles of tools with a rubber compound, which I want to get. Seems all the tools you buy today with the plastic handles on them, the plastic sleeve comes off within a few usages of the tool. I hate cheap shit.

The other that got my mo jo going was a clear rubber like spray. Being an old and less than limber type person, I tend to kick and mark my seat cowl when mounting my bike. I will no doubt do the same thing to the hard bags. This product may be part of an answer to that. If that works, I will likely spray that stuff on certain parts of the glass running boards of my truck which seems to catch gravel and so called sand they use for traction on the roads here. (More like 3/4" crushed rock).

But now that I think of this more, plasti-dip might be something to consider for my wheels when I get them done! I will have to consider that some more.

 

Perhaps you already know this, but just incase anyone reading this thread doesn't, Plasti-dip does have clear true. They also have "gloss", smoke or tinted, and now the pearlizer. However, being that it is still plasti-dip, they will not be shiny smooth. It will be more of a satin finish. I personally like that, some may not.

Just wanted everyone to know. Whichever way you go, post some pics!

 

Congrats on the nice score randy. You can not beat that deal!!. I think the red bags goes well with the bike(atleast in the pictures). It gives a nice contrast and matches with the decals. I would get the wheels PC'd.

My hard bags will arrive on Tuesday and I am little nervous about the installation

 

The instructions that came with mine were less than stellar. A lot because they were copied quite faint and the lines depicting where an item or bolt went, were extremely light. Take your time. Some of the pieces that came with mine were already installed on the bike like the fender flange. I changed it anyways.

If you come across a situation like I did, where the bolts were not quite lining up, I suggest you look at where you can loosen others so that this fit can be accommodated better, without swearing, then everything tightened up in the end.

Of course, you might be the type that gets some enjoyment out of screaming and swearing. Then go get at it!

 

Good deal, Randy. It should make your trips a bit easier and keep your stuff secure.
I just got a full set this summer too(thanks to Brian). I use the tail bag(thanks to Tink) way more than I thought I would.
I got so disgusted with the wear on my tail section from the soft bags. No matter what I did to protect it, it is dreadfully worn now.
I will get her repainted as soon as I can afford to get it done right.