Good morning everyone (or evening),
I've been searching for quality saddlebags to surprise my gf with for her S40, but all I can find through Google search are VikingBags which, although look nice, have terrible reviews.

What I want to ask the forum members is, what saddlebags do you roadtrip with and do they need mounting brackets racks?

Thanks in advance!

Eddy

I use Willie and Max.

Mine are throw-over, not hard. Anything I put in the bags, goes into a garbage bag first for weather protection. If I check into a hotel, the bags come with me. I have used the same bags for 15 years  on different bikes.  Keep the rain gear in another bag on the rear seat, so you can get to it fast.

I bought a small pair of throw over bags from Willie and Max also. I'm happy enough with the quality. I also new that any after the universal brackets would not fit. There are some aftermarket brackets available on line but I could also tell they would only work on earlier model S40s.

in the end, I relocated the rest turn signals to make room. I then bought some new OEM brackets from Suzuki. They mount at the front  of the fender, to the sub frame. They also sit a long way out from the bike - lots of clearance.

I stretched the brackets out so I could use the turn signal mounting hole. I also cut and re-welded the brackets to let the bags sit closer to the bike. They still sit too far from the bike for my liking, but they are practical.

Very clean bike , very nice Stewy !

I mounted two ammo boxes to the struts, worked very well over 3000 miles & was cheap.

24fonz wrote on 01/07/18 at 08:28:30:


Thanks.  I made them from some steel strapping. Bent at 90 degree and 45 degree angles (IIRC) in the right places and I also rounded the top a bit where it goes under the fender so I could rotate it around to the right angle I wanted. When I had the angle of rotation that I wanted while still a flat piece, I then drilled the holes, marked the strapping where it needed to be bent, then made the bends in the vise.  IIRC, the offset was about 1", or just enough to clear the belt guard and shocks.

Sadly I didn't take good progress photos but here are two that will offer a fair representation.  The first image is the mock-up using a piece of their universal mount for the horizontal piece. The final product (image 2) used a longer piece of aluminum strapping that was longer so it extended a few inches more to the rear to stabilize the tail end of the bags better. Holes were drilled through the bags and the support pieces and that is what holds it all together. No welding, etc.