I had posted at the end of another thread about the OEM saddlebag backorder situation. I have a solution for those that 1)Don't want to wait, 2) That don't want to spend $1329 plus whatever taxes, shipping, installation costs are involved. The bottom line is this: an Easy Bracket with locks that allow removal of bags in seconds just released by Great Bike Gear (URL is http://www.greatbikegear.com/index....le-saddlebag-system/can-am/spyder-f3-f3s.html) and a pair of The Leatherworks LW120 leather saddlebags, also from Great Bike Gear (URL for this item is http://www.greatbikegear.com/index....-special-slight-angle-leather-saddlebags.html). The Easy Bracket is terrific for another reason: when the bags are off the only thing visible are the new mounting bolts and post that replace the allen head bolts on the bike. Everything but the allen bolts stay on the bike. Note: the key only has to turn 45 degrees or slightly less to allow removal of the bracket and bag.
Great Bike Gear and Bob Zamzow have put together an excellent package for about $570 including shipping. The installation for the Easy Brackets, which are extremely well engineered and are of superior quality took 7 minutes. I left the grab handles on as you will see from the pics. The bags are of excellent quality as well, with a very hard backing to drill the holes for the bolts that secure the back to the bracket. That part of the installation took about 1.5 hours. Measure and position several times before drilling. There are a few tricks to mounting the bags. If you get this package you can pm me or call Bob. His customer service is terrific.
As you can see I positioned the bags at a slight angle to maintain a close to parallel position to the grab bars. To position the bags correctly I used a short bungee cord as my third hand. This tip will allow you to move the bag and also let you make sure you can get the key in if you leave the bars on. Bob has all the information as I was the first customer for this setup. He knew some things and I found out some things during the install of the bags and we stayed in constant touch, another indication of the level of customer service he provides.
For those wanting locks on the bags, you can order them that way. I opted to order Harley Davidson style barrel locks specifically made for this purpose. Those are on order from Amazon. Another tiip or 2: you need a good drill with a 3/8" bit for the bolts that secure the bag to the bracket. I drilled 2 pilot holes of increasing size before the 3" bit. Also, once you get the 4 holes drilled for the first bag, you can easily match them to the second bag by laying them on top of each other and using the first bag as a template. Or, you can lay them side by side mirror image style and measure distances, mark the holes, check the accuracy with the 2nd bracket on the bag, and drill away. Just be careful when you drill as you are going through a layer of metal sandwiched between the suede interior and the hard and thick leather backing. Use 2 hands on the drill in case the bit gets stuck. You don't want your drill to break your wrist.
I am willing to assist anyone who is interested in anything having to do with this solution. The brackets are universal (but specifically made for the F3) so that you can use any bag that you want. Make sure whatever you choose doesn't obscure the tail lights or come too close to the exhaust pipe. I don't know if you can post email addresses on this site but I should receive a PM alert from my email if that's the way it works. Apologies for typos, TMI, and anything else. I am new to this forum but this is my 3rd Spyder so I know enough to be dangerous. Thanks for checking this out, and as always be safe out there.
We've gotten to the point of TMI, so here are the pics.
Great Bike Gear and Bob Zamzow have put together an excellent package for about $570 including shipping. The installation for the Easy Brackets, which are extremely well engineered and are of superior quality took 7 minutes. I left the grab handles on as you will see from the pics. The bags are of excellent quality as well, with a very hard backing to drill the holes for the bolts that secure the back to the bracket. That part of the installation took about 1.5 hours. Measure and position several times before drilling. There are a few tricks to mounting the bags. If you get this package you can pm me or call Bob. His customer service is terrific.
As you can see I positioned the bags at a slight angle to maintain a close to parallel position to the grab bars. To position the bags correctly I used a short bungee cord as my third hand. This tip will allow you to move the bag and also let you make sure you can get the key in if you leave the bars on. Bob has all the information as I was the first customer for this setup. He knew some things and I found out some things during the install of the bags and we stayed in constant touch, another indication of the level of customer service he provides.
For those wanting locks on the bags, you can order them that way. I opted to order Harley Davidson style barrel locks specifically made for this purpose. Those are on order from Amazon. Another tiip or 2: you need a good drill with a 3/8" bit for the bolts that secure the bag to the bracket. I drilled 2 pilot holes of increasing size before the 3" bit. Also, once you get the 4 holes drilled for the first bag, you can easily match them to the second bag by laying them on top of each other and using the first bag as a template. Or, you can lay them side by side mirror image style and measure distances, mark the holes, check the accuracy with the 2nd bracket on the bag, and drill away. Just be careful when you drill as you are going through a layer of metal sandwiched between the suede interior and the hard and thick leather backing. Use 2 hands on the drill in case the bit gets stuck. You don't want your drill to break your wrist.
I am willing to assist anyone who is interested in anything having to do with this solution. The brackets are universal (but specifically made for the F3) so that you can use any bag that you want. Make sure whatever you choose doesn't obscure the tail lights or come too close to the exhaust pipe. I don't know if you can post email addresses on this site but I should receive a PM alert from my email if that's the way it works. Apologies for typos, TMI, and anything else. I am new to this forum but this is my 3rd Spyder so I know enough to be dangerous. Thanks for checking this out, and as always be safe out there.
We've gotten to the point of TMI, so here are the pics.
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