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How To Properly and Stylishly Mount Mutazu Bags To An F3 or F3S - with pics
Mutazu bags, at $299 shipped, represent the best value for money by far.
In addition to being stylish, they are quite large, and well built. We also (well, Patti my wife) found some very affordable inner liners that are a close fit and will do the job for us.
Their downfall has been their universal mounts - the frames supplied which the bags attach to are very robust and well thought out. The hanging brackets supplied to mount the frames to the bike are strong and pre-bent for an "average" installation, but to do the job properly takes time and thought. Well, it took me 2 1/2 weeks of mornings to nut it out and put it together, and so I share my work with you now. I reckon it would take 5 to 6 hours of not rushing to finish mounting them from scratch, not including electrical wiring.
It also takes a few additional parts, like spacers, T nuts and bolts (about $35 worth), in addition to the pretty good set that comes with the kit, plus an angle grinder with cut-off and finishing disks, a 10-12" adjustable wrench and a can of satin black touch up paint.
To me, mounting bags up high and angling them to match the grab handles is just not on. These are set straight, in line with the frame, not the grab handles, and are angled down ever so slightly. You probably could adjust the angle up or down by about a 1/2", measured at the rear of the bag.
In addition, the bags need additional support to stop them from sagging inwards at the bottom under load, just like any other saddlebags. That is where most of the time and thought went. Some people mount them without that, and it looks wacky and is unsafe.
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Sorry, I had a BMW happen to me two weeks ago
I'll get the closeup pics and details onto my Facebook page shortly.
I have been looking for something to let me keep up with my wife, Patti, on her F3S. I had been sitting on the back behind her, which is a lot of fun. I get so many thumbs up for doing that, especially from female drivers around town.
On the day we drove to Prescott to look at the BM, which is a 1988 K75S with less than 6,000 miles, one car pulled up beside us at 75 mph on the I17 just to give us the thumbs, and another did the same at 50mph in Prescott Valley.
Mrs G will readily push any Spyder to 80-90 mph, and my hotted-up 750 Moto Guzzi was just a bit vibey at that speed. Now I easily leave her, in comfort.
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Here Is An Overview Of The Mounting Syustem
My aim was to use the brackets supplied. I don't have a vise, but I do have a drill and an angle grinder, so everything had to be achieved with just those tools.
The bags are braced at the rear. Because the frame mounting system supplied is so strong there is no chance of the brackets twisting or bending unless, maybe, you sat on one of the bags!
The bag frame is stabilised at the front, to stop it bending inwards under the weight of the bags, by using a third hanger. The top of this sits directly under the grab rail boss - as the bags try to bend inwards the top of this hanger contacts the boss and prevents further movement.
This additional hanger also allows the bags to be mounted at the correct height, so that they don't come too close to any fixtures such as the front hanger/grab rail mounting bolt.
The full instructions are being placed on my Facebook page first. I'll add here as required.
https://www.facebook.com/trevor.grae...09804402538083
List Of Additional Parts Required
When ordering Mutazu bags for your Spyder make sure you get the Can Am Spyder version from Ebay. This will ensure that you get side opening bags (top opening will not clear the grab rails) and the brackets supplied exactly fit the mounting points.
You will also need to buy some additional components, which are available in the US from Ace Hardware stores.
4 x 8mm (or 5/16") mudguard washers
4 x Steel bushes 5/16" ID, 3/8" Long, 5/8" OD
2 x Steel bushes 5/16" ID, 3/4" Long, 5/8" OD
2 x Button head 8mmx50mm bolts
2 x 8mm T nuts
If you have no other accessories fitted to the grab rails then you will use the 4 x 40mm long 8mm round head bolts which are supplied in the mounting kit, to mount the hangers off the grab rails. In that case you will then need:
4 x 8mmx30mm round head bolts.
I had originally thought to use heat shrink tubing on the hangers to cover the many bolt holes, but that has certain issues. Instead, we found 5/16 nylon caps at Ace which fill the holes nicely.
You will need the following tools:
Big hammer (just joking)
Electric drill with 8mm or 5/16" bit.
Small bit to drill pilot holes
Angle grinder with cutoff and finishing discs, or hacksaw (very slow)
Hand file (optional if you are really good with the angle grinder).
1 aerosol can of satin black paint - Ace's paint is great.
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Adding Stabilisers To The Hangers
Each hanger has an additional piece bolted to it, to allow the saddlebag frame to sit at the right height, and to stabilize the bags so that they don't bend inwards and bounce up and down.
By now you should have modified the front hanger before installing it, by cutting it off 3/16" below the lowest mounting hole.
Now take the third hanger and hold it on the inside of the front one, making sure that the offset section is disposed inwards towards the tyre. The photo shows the correct orientation.
The top of the offset will sit just under the boss on the grab rail, when you fit it correctly. Take a 25mm bolt, place a washer on it, and insert it from the inside (the tyre side) into the top hole of the third hanger, then into the third hole on the original, front hanger.
Once again, check the photo. Attach a nut but only tighten it with your fingers about 1 1/2 turns.
When mounting the third hanger you might find that once you insert the bolt the hanger will not sit under the boss.
Loosen the bolt on the front hanger, which also mounts the grab rail, and then insert the mounting bolt for connecting the third hanger to the front hanger.
Gradually tighten both bolts and make sure that the front hanger is not being bent outwards at the bottom. If it is, you might need to slightly relieve the top edge of the third hanger, where it contacts the underside of the grab rail boss, with a half-round file. Don't rush into doing this, however.
Note that all hangers point straight down. The photos sometimes suggest that they might be slanted because of perspective distortion.
When you insert the bolt which connects the two hangers leave the nut on loosely - the saddlebag frame also connects to this bolt, but we only attach that later
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Closeup Detail Of Front and Third Hanger Mounting
Let's review the mounting of the front and third hangers.
Note that the third hanger is not just to stop the bags from wobbling inwards under the weight of their load or road surface irregularities.
The third hanger actually extends the length of the front hanger to allow the bags to be mounted at the correct height, so that they allow good clearance to other fixtures.
There is an alternative way to deal with the bush Can Am provide in their original grab rail mounting. If you reverse it you won't need to use a washer between it and the hanger - the inside edge is flat, not recessed like the outside edge.
If you don't have an MBL rack, then here is the way the mounting screw and washer attach the hanger to the grab rail components.
Behind the hanger is the black washer retrieved from inside the grab rail mounting, then the bush, then the grab rail.
I don't have photos but the alternative mounting under the hanger is to not use a washer and turn the oem Can Am grab rail bush back to front so that the recess is inside and the flat edge is to the outside.