After market hard pannier/top box kit for Sportster?

After market hard pannier/top box kit for Sportster....anyone know of any?

I am looking out for hard panniers for my Sporty (883 XL)

They need to be:
Hard lockable panniers
Quick release.
Single top handle, so they can be used as Luggage, to go into the hotel/motel etc.

Top box does not need to be quick release, but must hold two helemts.

Any one got any recomendations?

Neil

So what do you call them ?

Saddlebags. The guys from Texas probably call 'em Beer Coolers.

OK, so how do you differentiate between actual saddle bags that fit/throw-over the saddle and the hard fixed boxes that fit/bolt to the side of the bike?

Hard saddlebags are simply called "hard bags" over here in "The Colonies".

You might check with these guys - even though they are Pommies!

http://www.harley-davidson-hangout.com/forum/hdrcgb-evo-sportsters/57082-panniers.html

These guys may be able to work with you, but they don't advertise as H-D accessorizers:
http://www.happy-trail.com/Departments/Make-Model-Specific/Suzuki/DR650SE-(1996-plus-).aspx
They are my choice for my Suzuki dual-sport

:cheers:

:devil: Ah, I don't...colonials!!!...mucking about with a perfectly good language

Oh, and cheers for the link,

had come across that forum before

Cheers

Oh I just have to pick @ you, Neil - "Sportster", as in "Sport", as in what you do for fun, or to compete with others. There's no "Glide" in the name "Sportster" is there? And a Sportster isn't called a "Fatboy", is it??

Now there are people who have run "Iron Butt" long-distance rides on Sportsters, gone to Alaska, all across Australia & have accomplished other considerable feats, but a Sportster is a Sportster, not a "touring bike" & that's why there are no panniers readily available.

You can get some saddlebags (I have set) and/or an upright bag that will fit a "sissy bar", but there are no hard-bag panniers I know of for Sportsters. People have made some for a specific purpose, but not for sale.

I figure it this way - if I'd wanted a BMW touring bike I would have bought one - if I wanted an Electra Glide I would have bought one, etc. Silly me, I just happen to like Sportsters. And I have to ask, why did you buy yours?

look on chopper exchange.com then go to parts there should be a listing for bags and seats! remember early bags were made of fiberglass...the later ones in the mid 2000 area are ABS plastic Just another way of Harley making cheaper parts.....and charging more for there bikes! Now mounting them and getting the correct brackets Good Luck!

Don't quite get what you are getting at with this

Yes there are, from Harley themselves:
Color-Matched Hard Saddlebags for Sportster® Models

I have just done 3000 miles on the Sportster in 7 days, OK, so not an epic to Alaska tour, but still no problem with comfort for me.

So do I, and I feel no need to get another bike. I got mine because that was all I could afford, a second hand one for £2000. There is no way I can afford more than Half a years salary on a second hand Glide...that is the price they fetch over here. Just seen a 2004 Ultra Glide, (8000 miles) with all the hard luggage on, for UK£ 16 000 = 24 532.8 U.S. dollars

Now if you can afford that sort of money then good luck to you, but we are not all that lucky. I got a Sportster because that was all I could afford, and now I need to upgrade it a bit to make it a bit more usable for touring..

Yes, could go and buy a second hand BMW or Honda tourer, for a lot less money than a Harley, and far better equipped, but I want a Harley. In fact even a brand new BMW tourer K1300GT with all the extras on is cheaper than the second hand harley mentioned above...but as they are all out of my price league then that is immaterial.

I could buy the Harley brand hard 'saddlebags' but they are also bloody expensive when compared to other after market panniers and as far as I know are not quick release.

Hence the original question

I would think that, with a little make it work, you could make any bags work. I bought mine because thats what I could afford at the time. I'ts actually cheaper to build it into what you want, done all the cosmetic stuff, going after the motor next, they have alot of bump up kits now days. ride'n mine for long distences isn't what I call fun or comfy. I'm with art on the touring thing, not the most ideal thing on a sporty, but we all make due with what we got.

I've never seen the hard bags you posted the link for, Neil, nor any other hard bags for a Sportster that weren't custom made. But while the H-D bags do look nice, I believe the soft "throwover" bags I've got will hold more "stuff" & I paid less than $100 for them. I don't have a photo of the bags I've got installed on a bike, but they're similar to these:

Willie and Max - Motorcycle saddlebags, sissy bar bags, motorcycle chrome parts, luggage, seats, windshield bags, tool pouches, accessories

I run a Corbin "Gunfighter" seat that throwover bags won't fit over right, but there's a simple solution to that problem - I run the center section under the seat, which is neither difficult nor time-consuming to remove / put back on. And all you really need in addition are the saddlebag brackets such as were on the '95 Sportster when I bought it - those keep the bags from rubbing on the rear tire.

I think the idea of a Sportster not being particularly comfy comes from riders coming 'down' from a Glide. But never having ridden one and my previous bikes being Kawasaki LTD 450, KH250 and 750 triples, various Suzuki GS550 and 1000's, Montessa and Bultaco trials bikes, for me the Sportster is very comfortable, even with no screen and standard seating.

I have two different sets of throw over bags, a leather set of a Virago, and set of after market ones I have used for 20 years but would just like to have something that I feel I can leave on the bike in the centre of a town with all the luggage inside and not have to worry about someone coming along and lifting the bags. OK even hard bags not 100% but better than the soft bag option

The reason I want hard lockable bags is so that when touring around Europe and England I can just stop somewhere, park the bike up and leave the panniers on the bike while exploring a town/forest etc etc. Soft bags are just not an option.

Also want quick lockable release, so when I get to the night stop/hotel/motel I can just take the panniers off and straight into the hotel. Yes, you can obviously put a bag inside the hard fixed type bags, but that is extra stuff on the bike....OK so not much, but a bag inside a bag is just carrying more stuff than you need.

Wish I knew of an inexpensive option, Neil, but I don't. I run the soft bags under the seat not only because they fit better, but because you can't steal them unless you know how to remove the seat quickly - I do, but the general public doesn't. I can lock the bags to slow a thief down with respect to what's inside, but that's not a problem where I live or travel to.

Some of the after market hard bag kits I have seen for Japanese bikes are around $150 -500 US dollars, but the harley equivalent is $1150 US dollars. So the cheaper hard luggage is out there, it is just a matter of finding some that are made to fit harleys.

yes, I could buy any set and make up my own brackets, but if there was a manufacturer that made them ready to go then that would have been my preferred option.

At present I use my old 'plastic set' or the leather bags that I have under the seat, with a stainless bar on either side keeping them off the wheel, but it is a right pain.

Anyway the search goes on



Neil

how bout just strap on a t-bag, they are a good alternetive if your going on a trip and pretty cheap now days.

Last trip we had one of those, a proper Harley one, bought from the local dealer, especially for the trip for this bike. Good capacity and waterproof, and looked OK, when empty, but as soon as you used it it sagged down and covered the number plate, and the straps broke.

Even with extra luggage straps to hold it, it was still crap...Won't buy Harley luggage again.

get a trailer....