I'm toying with the idea of using the leather bag plastic core as a basis for making a set of aluminum bags. They would follow the same lines as the original leather bags, but be 1" wider than the original bag+outside pocket dimension. The tops would be hinged at the front and open by tilting forward to avoid impact to body parts..

The bags cannot be made to go lower because of the pipes. They can't go farther forward unless you want to work around the shocks. The can't go back beyond the fender. The original bags don't quite match the curve on the fender, but there's very little additional space there so the increase in size is targeted in width.

Aluminum is the only material I can feasibly work with that's light enough for a bag this size and strong enough to take a 0mph tipover. Aluminum can be painted to meet the needs of the owner or even anodized to match our beloved skins.

Those familiar with adventure bikes and Jesse Bags would appreciate the potential toughness of the bags.

Has anyone else thought along these lines as an alternative to the current offering of bags?

would be cool but the seams and curves would be tough to do... only aluminum bags i have ever seen where square and ugly... but like i said it wold be cool

The BMW guys seem (somehow, go figure) that the aluminum boxes look cool (or something). (Think Nelson's bike at the last rally). Sorta 'anti-harley'.

From the side view, these would have the same lines as the HD POS bags so the square box shape would not be there. lol

From the rear view they'd be rectangular and 1" wider ea. than the stock bags overall dimensions.

I've been tinkering with some sketches....It looks like a pretty easy build.

cool.. i'd like to see the outcome...

cool.. i'd like to see the outcome...

:them: ...I'd like to see it too; should be interesting.

If you end up with something that has some real usable storage capacity, looks good, is waterproof and lockable, is easy to get on and off, and complements the lines of the rear fender - post it on the site and I have no doubt you'll have your hands full filling orders!

If you end up with something that has some real usable storage capacity, looks good, is waterproof and lockable, is easy to get on and off, and complements the lines of the rear fender - post it on the site and I have no doubt you'll have your hands full filling orders!
How about the Corbin Beetle Bags? Three nuts and it comes right off.

This will be one of those long slow tinkering projects. Heck.. the V might be a W by the time I get it done. :)

A forum member is sending me a trashed bag core to use as a base for the project. I'm not sure how beautiful they will be... my first goal is functionality and simple design. The corbin bags are prettier and taper to the rear. These won't taper...will be big in the rear...but will carry most everything I like to travel with. My hope is to not need any other bags on a trip.

It'll get a little pricey, but if you made up a set of dies to press out the shapes you could round things out a bit more.... weld the two halves together.

Problem is that you'd need 6 dies total 2 for each half of each side and two for the tops.... BIG$$$!!