Bought some saddle bags on the last trip my wife and I took to Gatlinburg and they were a bit too big. My rear turn signals were in the way, so I took the idea of using a shower curtain rod to remount them to the license plate. I adjusted the idea a bit, I cut the shower curtain rod the length of my license plate, I then found some thick PVC tube material that fit very snugly around the pin on the turn signal and cut this the same length as the shower curtain. I then drilled all my hoes and drilled out the PVC material slightly larger to accommodate the bolt that goes behind the license plate, so that I can bolt the license plate on and hold the rear turn signals on and keep the bolt from spinning as I tighten it. I drilled a hole for the wiring to exit the shower curtain rod at the center, so that the wiring would be kept hidden. The wires were too short, so my wife spliced and soldered some extensions and I routed that up into the center of the fender where the stock wiring enters under the seat. I did not like seeing much of the shower curtain, so I mounted it behind the license plate instead of in the front, I think it looks okay. I then fabricated some saddle bag brackets following the dimensions posted on the tech section, I used a cutting torch to heat the steal rods to make a nice clean bend. After a few hours of work, its all back together and I am pretty happy with it. I lost the bolt on the left side of the license plate and need to replace it, aside from that, no problems.

Great job. I might be concerned that the bag is very close to the exhaust though.

Sit on the bike, reach back and put your hand between the bag and the muffler. If you still have 2-3 fingers of free space, call it good. Repeat with a passenger, adjust shocks as needed.

Looks good, I'm considering swapping my BIG Willie and Max bags on to mine, too many people think the current bags are "cute"... Problem is, the big bags are for a rigid or Softail, NOT for an exposed shock setup. But they are capable of holding 2 gallons of milk and a case of beer, each.

Very nice job. Bags look great.
This will help many others that
need a design when wanting to
relocate their turn signals. Heck,
I might even use the idea myself
someday... kim

I forget sometimes how nice a new bike looks. The bag install looks fine, but I think I see the screw you lost sticking in the rear tire. Beautiful ride.  

What kind/size of bags are those?

Thank you,I wasn't really sure what was behind the plate in the original pics.

phillyfanatik wrote on 06/26/11 at 12:52:00:

that's 2 different setups yaknow.  

Phillip's clean shiny red S40 is using the stock signals, the other is an aftermarket bolt on.

Philip - very nice!  I'd probably do the same thing if some clumsy oaf hadn't dropped my bike and smashed the stock signals.  

As a result I'm using method #2 above