I had been looking for a way to provide some security for the Kawasaki F&S semi-hard saddlebags (Item# K53000-197) that I have on my Vulcan 1500 Classic FI when I spotted this locking system on Globalrider's web site. After checking to see what information was available on the manufacturer's web site, I called them (the manufacturer) and spent about 1/2 hour on the phone with a charming and very knowledgeable woman named Cathy. After she answered my pile o' questions and broke out a set to give me the exact measurements, I ordered a set, along with 2 Master locks to lock them with. The system cost me $150, the locks were $7.50 each and they were having a free shipping special, so the entire thing cost me $165.00 US. This was all on Tuesday and they were waiting on my front porch when I got home from work Friday evening. Not bad for UPS delivery (Our local UPS office is pretty brain dead, so I'm never sure when things will arrive)
Included in the package were two sets of the items below:
The right hand saddlebag, removed from the bike and sitting on a bench: (The item clamped to the corner of the bench is a bracket I'm working on to relocate the helmet locks to where they can be reached with the saddlebags on.)
The inside of the bag. The red arrows indicate the holes for the bolts that hold the bag onto the bike. The back of the bag is made of some sort of heavy plastic, with a metal plate on the upper half. Most of the interior shots here show this plate. I had to tie the lid open with a piece of string to keep it out of the way while I worked. I also took this opportunity to replace the 4 bolts that hold the bottom bar onto the bag, as they had rusted in the 4 months on they had been on the bike (Only this side did, the bolts on the left hand bag were not rusted. Go figure) I also repainted the rivets on the bottom of the bag, as the paint had flaked off. (Again, only on this bag.)
This next shot is kind of hard to see, but it shows the brace taped to the inside to act as a drill template. The hinge on the plate has seven holes in, I used 4 in this installation (White numbers). I aligned the center hole on the template over the center of the 5 rivets that hold the lid to the bag (red arrow). The holes in the hinge are rather large, so I used one of a set of self-centering drill bits (made for getting the holes right on door hinges) to mark the center. I didn't use them to actually drill the holes, as they are wood bits, I used a titanium coated metal bit for that. Since used 3/16 pop rivets to attach the hinge, I used a drill bit just slightly larger than 3/16. I believe that on the bags this system is made for, there is a sort of ledge inside that the plates attach to with the plastic rivets, but since mine were going to be through the back of the bag, I didn't trust the plastic ones. You will be drilling through a layer of metal, a layer of plastic and a layer of leather. Mark your drill locations, remove the template and drill the holes.
Once the holes are drilled, locate yourself a couple of bolts, nuts and washers that will fit through the holes. Put the plate on, putting the bolts through two of the holes with the heads on the inside and the the washers/nuts on the outside. Make sure the other two holes are lined up and tighten the bolts until the hinge is flat against the inside of the bag. This will save you an incredible amount of frustration, as the hinge is spring loaded. This spring is great once installed, as it keeps the lid open when unlatched, but it's a royal pain when trying to install them. I can't take credit for the idea though, that goes to the lady in my life, who, after watching me struggle with trying to hold the plate in place, hold the washer on the back side of the rivet, keep the bag from moving and work the rivet gun all at once, took pity on me and said "Why don't you just put a couple of bolts in temporarily?" After smacking myself in the head a few times with the rivet gun for not thinking of it myself, I did so and it went MUCH smoother. The picture below shows the bolts.
Once you've got the bolts in place, putting the rivets in is easy. Make sure you use washers on the backside of the rivets to keep them from tearing through the leather. Put the first two in, take the bolts out and put the second two in.
Put the latch plate on the front of the bag, using the supplied pressure plate and set screws, but do NOT tighten it down yet. Close the top plate and slide the latch along the front until it lines up with the plate, then tighten the latch plate down. The picture below was taken with the bag already back on the bike, but you can do this step before or after putting it back on.
Note: I'm not thrilled with the way the latch attaches to the front of the bag. I understand that they did it this way to prevent damage to the bag, but I will be having a local machine shop drill 2-3 holes in the latch and riveting it on as well. (The metal of the latch plate is too thick for me to get nice, neat holes at the location I want with hand tools)
The bag, back on the bike, with the plate down and the lock in place.
And with the bag closed. You can just barely see the bottom of the lock sticking out from under the bag's lid, but you have to be looking for it.
All in all, it took me about 45 minutes to do the first bag and about 15 to do the second. While I would probably get a set of Leatherlyke or National Cycle hard bags with locks built in if I was going to re-do the bike from scratch, if you have soft bags that these plates will fit or you just don't like hard bags, the Lock Your Leathers™ system is definitely the way to go. Easy to install and a nice bit of "peace of mind".
My Thanks to Mark at GlobalRiders and to Cathy at Lock Your Leathers™ for all their help!
If anyone wants to install a set of these themselves and has any further questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail. If you're in the Mid-Hudson Valley area of New York, I can probably even arrange to help out in person.
Keith
VROC #7985
'02 Vulcan 1500 Classic Fi
kad.dsl@verizon.net
May-28-2002