Any Ideas?

I've got a 1981 Yamaha xj650h and I'm looking to put some saddle bags on it. Anybody have any ideas on a decent pair that I could put on without making any serious modifications to my bike? I would really appreciate the help!

 

they have universal ones at most motorcycle shops, call and ask around

 

I had a small set of leather bags on my 650 Maxim. Installing them is easy because you just hang them under the seat.

You cannot use a deep bag because of the exhaust. I found I needed to make supports to keep the shocks from rubbing them. I also had to move the turn signals back.

Mine had a sissy bar with extra holes in the mounting bracket that gave me places to attach the bag support and to mount the turn signals. There are pictures in my gallery.

 

CARL!

how ya doin!

 

Ok, it's been a long time. Looking at the pictures I'm reminded that I cut the yoke apart and actually screwed it to the grab bar.

I had trouble with the yoke interfering with the seat latch. Also, screwing them down let me precisely locate the zipper (zip off bags) so it was easy to remove/install the bags. I regularly rode to work, put lunch in one bag and street shoes in the other. Carried the bags right in with me.

I think these are the exact bags I used: eBay

Notice the diamond shaped hole in each side of the yoke? This hole is what wraps around the seat lock cylinder in my pictures.

Those bags were perfectly adequate EXCEPT the rivets started to pull through the carry handles. If you're going to cart them around like I did you can't have much weight in them.

 

DAVE!

 

ation: In an Igloo, on Jupiter wow you moved to jupitor ?? what badge do you need

 

Yea, i find it soothing to wake up and breathe in hydrogen sulfide, phosphine, neon, and sulfer with trace amounts of oxygen

ill pm ya!

 

Thanks for the information guys. I like those on Ebay Carl. Im not looking to carry a lot in them. They are just to help me transport things to and from work and around town, so I think they would work perfectly!

 

Exhaust is the main concern with S'bags, my Virago has two deep ones mounted to the grab bar that just clear the exhaust, as long as there is more than 2" clearance and you don't let the bike sit and idle they should be fine..

You could also use a tank bag to transport if you don't have too much stuff-they are cheap and nice to rest on when on longer trips.

 

go to my gallery and take a peek at the bags on the black 650. that's original yamaha gear.....................

Dave F

 

Just have a close look at this picture:


You can see that the rail for the sissy bar was important in having a straight line for the zipper. Also that even after moving the turn signal back the bag just clears it.

Wasn't deep enough to be a problem on the pipes and I thought it looked good on the motorcycle.

I don't think it is mentioned in my album posts but the bag supports were made from 1/2" steel rod. Vise, heavy hammer, propane torch and drill were the tools.

No rear picture of Hogfiddles 650 to show what was done about signals with the Yamaha hard luggage. Maybe he can come up with one so you can see other options.