My son showed up on his leaking 2002 Dyna. His giant-boobed wife, Yvette, hauled over a set of Hardstreet saddlebags for mounting.
“Thanks Dad,” he said and peeled out with the girl of every man's dreams. I don't blame him.
I opened the Bikernet Shop, cleared off a Kendon lift and looked over his blacked-out, LA-style hot rod.
The deal in LA with clubs and hard riding sorts is the Chop N Grind style. It's mostly stock, black, and with city streets attitude. They are mostly rubber-mounts for long, rideable hot rods. They are narrow for splitting Los Angeles freeway lanes. Lots of them run Illusion bad-ass, super-tall risers.
Frank, the boss of HardBall Tattoo, parked his bike and peeled out.
“Sorry Dad.” he said, “I've got a tattoo I need to handle.”
But before his all-black SUV hit the freeway I received a Blackberry induced e-mail: “Hey dad, I need another set of pipes, and when are we going to hop up this monster? I need to keep up with my 100-inch brothers.”
Being saddled with decades of guilt for being an absentee biker father chasing five wives from coast to coast between assorted adventures, I handily volunteered to help. Seems S&S has a new Twin Cam top end that makes 96-inch Twin Cams into 107-inch monsters. I ordered a set of blacked-out Bubs exhaust and the performance package was underway.
The next morning, another e-mail hit the official Bikernet brain-trust communication center. “Hey Dad; would you check the risers?” Frank wrote. “I would also like to change the bars.”
I looked at the Illusion risers and they seemed tight to me. By the afternoon three more e-mails cluttered the official Bikernet e-mail system. “I've got a leak, Dad,” Frank wrote. “Could you check it out? Maybe we (you) could change the oil.”
I could smell an incessant habit forming, or as my old man said, “Someone is breeding a scab.” I thought I'd better install these bags and get this bastard out of here before I got roped into a complete rebuild.
Frank installed a factory-removable sissy bar and I yanked it off. I had to remove both mounting fasteners. As it turned, out once the turn signal was removed, the rear 5/16-in. fine bolt was long enough to accommodated the new Hardstreet mounting cradle. The front fender rail 3/8-in. mounting bolt needed a longer replacement.
Another e-mail flashed across the screen:”Hey Dad; could we find some really cool bullet turn signals? We could replace all the turnsignals with new ones.”
Once I had the fasteners nailed down, I needed to deal with the turn signals. As it turned out, the existing black chrome Harley teardrop turn signals fit between the bracket and the fender perfectly, but I was had to extend the wiring. That was the dull aspect of the job.
I waited until the moon and stars were aligned for a mellow vibe, and I carefully cut, stripped, and soldered longer wire lengths. I couldn't install long lengths of shrink tubing, but I found some convoluted split insulation and wrapped it around the new wires for protection.
I tried to install the cradle to one bag, then install the complete unit on the bike. Bad notion. I took apart and installed the cradle first, then the bag. Each bag is rubber grommet and strap supported with ¼-20 fasteners and lock nuts. I made sure to use blue Loctite on all fasteners, even with locking nuts. Saddlebags vibrate considerably.
I like this system. The brackets are tough and supportive, and the bags are tight, lockable, and cool. I installed and rewired the entire system in a couple of hours. Watch for our performance upgrades in the near future. Here's the info from Hardstreet:
Is your ride important? Are you expecting more from your saddle bags?Hardstreet gives you more style and features than any other saddle bags on the market.IT'S JUST THE HARDSTREET WAY.
Hardstreet Classic Touring Saddle bags
-Large capacity with distinct American styling -Durable Cycra ABS Plastic -Quality injection molded fit & finish
-No more fiberglass or resin smell to ruin your jacket or clothes! -Billet machined Hardstreet emblems -Top Quality Original EquipmentGrade Paints and Specifications are used at Hardstreet. A Polished Base Coat and Clear Coat provides you with the best finish available. -Hardware and optional reflectors included -Secure, key lockable, and weather resistant -American designed and manufactured.
Enjoy spacious compartments that allow you to securely stow away your goods and keep them lockeddown and out of the elements. Over 1,800 cubic inch of volume per bag providing you with plenty of spaceto store jackets, half-helmets, and your CD changer. Saddle bag dimensions : 9 1/2″ x 22″ x 12″.
MOUNTING BRACKETS
-Hard Powdercoat Black Finish
-No Modification Necessary
-Direct Bolt-On.
Includes Rubber Mount Kit, Spacers, and Mounting Hardware.
9 1/2″ x 22″ x 12″
OVER 1,800 CUBICINCHES PER BAG
ABS CONSTRUCTION
NO FIBERGLASS SMELL
Hardstreet builds quality hard saddlebags for Harley-Davidson, Victory and metric motorcycles. Our saddlebags are Made in the U.S.A.and are designed for all weather riding and have twice the capacity of most leather saddlebags. It’s just the Hardstreet Way!
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-770-2259
PHONE: 740-929-0188
FAX: 740-929-0197
ADDRESS: 171 O'Neill Dr., Hebron, OH 43025
WEB: WWW.HARDSTREET.COM
HARDSTREET is a Division of Cycra USA. All Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks are Property of Cycra USA. All Rights Reserved 2008.
