Hard Bags getting installed today

Well, YellowJacket is in the shop getting permanently fitted with her hard bags. Its the first work that is being done on the bike by someone other than me since I started the project other than the paint which I participated in.
Should have her back by tonight or Saturday.
The next project will be the lights and I've been working on a wiring harness for them so all I'll have to do is take off the shark fairing, connect part of the relay to the headlight harness and then to the battery. Should be switched by the lowbeams via the relay once all is worked out.

David

I installed a set a couple of weeks ago...dead handy

Tiger

I love the look of Yellowjacket's bags . Those are the best saddlbags I have ever seen. Eventually, you have to get them to black. Gray just doesn't quite do it. Almost...but not quite.

I'm partial to a trunk bag myself : custom backrest and knapsack to fit my laptop and hello for going. Nothing to bump into things when squeezing between cars. I even have a pack & go extension for camping that goes on the top to allow a larger bag. One of these days I gotta do that...

I have long thought that a small "tail trunk" mounted on my luggage rack would be an excellent replacement for my tank bag. I rarely carry enough stuff in it to really justify its' large size(42 liters). There are a lot of boxes designed for scooters that are small enough to be viable candidates. Looking for one that is not too tall.

Yea, if it's behind me I don't have to look at it, but it's there when I need it. I even added a smaller bag in the front just to toss in the little stuff. I use my ride every day for work and get on and off for errands, then you need a bottle of water for hot days, a place to stow gloves and retrieve them quickly, glasses, and so on. Man, you can't just ride a motorcycle, it has to fit your life and you need storage to do that.

and you can always throw the tank bag in the trunk when you don't need it. :-)

David

I stopped by the shop today to see how YJ was doing and did a double take when I thought I saw another Vision in the shop. It "looked" like the Vision...shaft drive, water cooled, V-twin...even similar front end and wheels, but on closer inspection, it was a Honda V45 Sabre. Quite similar to the Vision when strippped down but the rounded tank is a giveaway.

David

But that 90 degree V is a strange looking sight...

I think that's the bike my nephew has.

Oh yes, when will we see pictures?

Brian

Yeah...it reminded me somewhat of an older BMW the way the motor was mounted.

As far as the bags go, I was a bit disappointed. He's been working on a custom Harley all day and hadn't had a chance to get to YJ. For the very small $$ I'm paying, I can't complain much.

He's got everything marked up and he really came up with some cool ideas how to modify the bracket. One of them was to cut and rotate/weld the forward mounting tab rather than bend it. He said it would look better in the long run and would keep the bags more evenly spaced from the frame and the plastics. He's also going to cut my side rails to fit over the brackets so I can still use them.

Rest assured, there will be plenty pictures when its all done.

David

Several years ago I took a real hard look at the Saber. Rode a nice low miles example. Compared to my '83 V, I found the Saber to be much heavier and ponderious. Yes, it was faster, but was also taller. Didn't stop any better, but did have roomier seating for two up. In many ways it reminds me of a current Honda ST 1300, except for the STs' fairing. The bottom line for me was that the V did more things well for me than the Saber. For example, there was no way I would try to take the Saber down many of the dirt roads my V has easily handled. The Sabers' V4 had a really bad rep for eating cam shafts back in the day.