Carrying luggage?

[SalTheWop]

On the off chance that I may be able to make a couple of rallys this year.What options are there for carrying luggage.This is the setup I have at the moment.


Only need to carry essentials i.e camping gear and a bit of clothing.
I do have a set of throwover panniers , can they be used with a solo seat?
But where would you attach the bungee cords to ,for the camping gear?



PS Have a luggage rack,but not installed yet.Would be nice to know if its possible to carry luggage without it?

[1sportyrich]

Stick the rack on Sal, it'll save the paint work. The bungees can be pulled tight and anchor onto the rack.

The more rally adveturous than me will stick their tuppence in tho'. ;)

So how does yir fat arse fit on there.

[Folkie]

I'd have said saddlebags, but that'd be a problem with the bobtail fender. To fit decent size saddlebags you'd need to relocate the turn signals off the fender struts, but with the bobtail there's nowhere to relocate them to.

[kendo]

Sal,

Now I'm swapping my Dyna, I've got to take a few bits off it to sell and I have a rack for when I have my solo seat on. It's a custom chrome one and it uses the screw holes for the seat & were that little black bung goes on the fender. I've bungied my luggage to it safely. If it will fit you can have that for a bargain price ;)

Kendo

[Cybertec™]

I know I harp on about it....but don't use those bungees, I've seen one let go and nearly take someone eye out.

Use the tie downs you can get in Halfords - thy will give a much more secure load that won't shift.

[SalTheWop]

You sure it will fit , Kendo? I thought they were different? Plus it is for a bobtail fender?

[kendo]

Don't know Sal.

A lot of stuff fits both dynas & sportsters.

I'll have a look when I get home later and measure the distance between the fixing holes and in the book to see if it's suitable for a bobtail fender too.

I've got a detachable screen to sell too. According to the Harley Catalogue it fits sportsters as well.

[SalTheWop]

Cheers Kendo.

You can get a nifty small rack that clips to the handlebars for carrying light stuff. Think Zodiac etc. sell it. Personally I wouldn't use if for heavy stuff because of the way it might effect the steering but then I'm a midget with little arms
You can carry quite a lot on a bobtail rack and put saddlebags over it too. On a Softail or Dyna the bags don't need supports as long as you make sure nothing is rubbing beforehand! I've done loads of rallies over the years and although I travel relatively light have never had any problems.
I use the H-D detachable rack on both the Sporty and Dyna and just throw the bags over. If you do want to use bungees there are always those bungee nuts you can use which are also available from Zodiac etc.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by smallhog

On a Softail or Dyna the bags don't need supports as long as you make sure nothing is rubbing beforehand!

There are 2 reasons for using saddlebag supports - to protect paintwork and to keep stuff away from the rear wheel. It is highly ill-advised to use saddlebags without any supports. The compromoise solution is to use the easy-off supports that fit onto a single bolt, so can be added and removed in seconds. These should only cost around £35.