My Road to Rod

[Yoder327]

Awesome build!


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[bob_suruncle]

Originally Posted by Aced It

So Joe (njcjoe) gifted me this nice Willie & Max fork bag and I cannot express my gratuity enough. Thanks Joe, and Merry Christmas!

Being me, I'm not putting this big-^ss thing on my forks. Seriously, it is much bigger than the other one gifted by Steve (the Elf man) ... what can I say; people dig me! ... Anywaaaaayyyy, another reason it's not going on my forks is it blocks my fork wrapped signals. I constructed a couple of simple aluminum L-brackets from some flat I have. Some fitment, stainless rivets and Velcro later, here it is.

I designed it to be able to slip on and off using the slots on the back of the bag. The Velcro helps to keep it secure while I'm ridin'. Fits really nice back here though; I even had my step-son sit on the bike and bounce it a bit to ensure it doesn't hit the side panel or shock under suspension load. Looks good from the rear too as it balances out visually with the exhaust pipes on the other side.

This is probably about as close as you'll see my bike goin' bagger.

I was going to do that very thing! Nice idea for mounting. Might borrow it

[Dropkick_pride]

That is a nice low hanging bag you have there...

[Aced It]

Originally Posted by Dropkick_pride

That is a nice low hanging bag you have there...

Hahaha ... this made me giggle ... just a bit.

PS - As an addition to my build, see this link for the How-To: 4° Advance Timing and Clutch Spring Upgrade

[Aced It]

Been workin' on a little somethin' ...





... more to come.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

[Aced It]

I took it upon a friend ... let's call him "Dan" ... and went to visit a local leather supplies shop, Tandy Leather. Wow, the aroma was just about as good as BACON! Anyway, I was looking for some material that I could dye to match the grips that Dan did for me. What I found was nothing short of awesome, right in the discounted leather selection! The piece I found was about 6' x 4' of 100% genuine leather; pre-dyed a really nice redish brown, and soft as butter! Perfect! Bought a few other supplies including some decorative snap buttons that match my bullet theme!





So I did some measuring and cut out some shapes from poster board. Using tape, I assembled my cut-outs into a cardboard box. Remember these 'pics' ...






When I was happy with it's shape and fitment to where I was installing them, I cut the box methodically how I wanted to cut the leather. Now I really just don't like traditional saddle bags. So I call them Phoenix bags! Why? Because the template I cut resembles that of a Phoenix rising. I think so anyway. Could be a penguin too, but Phoenix just sounds cooler, right?





Cut out the leather; used the leather punch for stitch holes and began lacing them with leather lace (similar to that used for work boot laces). Installed the snaps and TA-DAH!







But as I was fitting them to the bike and getting ready to design the brackets I realized something. They needed a sturdy internal skeleton. Something I had thought of, but got over anxious and did the bags first. No problem. To build the skeletons, I was thinking of something flexible but not brittle - strong but not heavy. I looked at the plastic garbage can in my garage of which the lid had broke off years ago. Hmmm ...





Cut up some aluminum into strips and bent them 90deg, measured and drilled holes and assembled the skeletons with rivets. I used rivets I had already instead of buying more, so they're a little longer than what I wanted, but it's inside the bag so I don't mind. Still does the job.





Went to install the skeletons in the bags and then ... damn. They won't go in the opening. So I had to step backwards and simply unstitch a complete corner of each bag, insert the skeleton and stitch it back up. Worked out great!






Now to work on the brackets. I had a few sketches and headed over to where else ... Ace Hardware, again. I live there. What can I say. It's my Cheers; everybody knows my name. Picked up some steel flat-bar and rods. For mounting to the frame I used some metal plumbing clamps that had a rubberized surface to prevent slippage. Also got some smaller ones to use as upper supports. And of course attachment hardware - some Grade 8, others stainless steel. Let the measuring, bending, contorting and paint begin!






Assembled the brackets and fit them on the bike. They got a little banged up in the process of minor adjustments ... it's just paint; I'll touch 'em up. Thought I had a pic of the right side, but I don't know what happened to it. Note the "stabilizer" hook at the top. Since this is a swingarm scoot, I could not mount the rear end of the bracket anywhere. So I hooked it around the shock tower to eliminate any up and down movements of the bracket/bags. For now, this will demonstrate:

[Aced It]

Used some aluminum flat and wingnuts with lock washers to mount the bags to the brackets. Easy on, easy off. Here's the final set of pics. I'm in the process of making a matching fork bag, so those will come this weekend. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having!











Oh yeah, how much. How much you ask? Everything came in just under $200. And I still have plenty to make the fork bag and then some. Well, off to ride! I'll get some day shots when I can.

[Kitulu]

Wow! I am in awe, and never would have thought about making bags from scratch!

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[Aced It]

Originally Posted by Kitulu

Wow! I am in awe, and never would have thought about making bags from scratch!

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Thanks! I really could make use of a welder though! Thus the reasons I used clamps and bolts. I may take the brackets over to a local shop and throw a few bucks at him. I'd like to have a couple of mounting tabs welded to the frame too. Bah, I need to just get a d^mn welder!

[wlamb]

wow super impressive, I have followed your build from day one and cant stop being amazed from what you are able to create. Have you thought of a change in career?