The Custom Motorcycle Magazine

Vintage Brown Leather From Harley-Davidson

Saddle Up!

By Jordan Mastagni, Photography by Jordan Mastagni
Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Bag
Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Mountng Hardware Spacers

5 For mounting the saddlebags, the hardware and spacers (three different lengths) are provided. You can also use Harley's Detachable Docking Hardware if you plan on running a sissy bar. We used the longest spacers in the rear, and the middle-sized spacers for the front. We only needed four of the six bolts/washers for this install.

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Fender Mounting

6 We secured the front of the each bag with the provided hardware to the new fender mounting brackets (positioned inside the fender).

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Turn Signal

7 Getting ready to reinstall the turn signals, we fished the wires through the new rubber grommets, which aid in snugging up the turn signals to their new brackets. Then we plugged the wiring back into their respective plugs and mounted them onto the new black relocation brackets.

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Fender

8 Then we rotated the rear of the bag a few degrees clockwise in order to mount the bags and relocated turn signal mounts (arrow). This is more or less an all-in-one mounting step. With the turn signal bracket in place, we rotated the bag back down, installed the hardware through the bag and through the turn signal relocation bracket, ultimately adhering it to the new fender mounting bracket.

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Taillight

9 After snugging up the bags/turn signal brackets, we secured the signal wires down with zip-ties.

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Rubber Bumper

10 Next, it was time to mount the rubber bumpers that adhere to the fender to protect it from the pillion. There's a template provided that's pretty easy to understand. We think this is kind of a flaw in the fact that you're instructed to stick the bumpers to the fender, which means they will be there when/if you remove the pillion. If you plan on riding without the pillion quite often we suggest mounting the bumpers to the underside of the pillion.

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Saddle

11 We then installed the new brown solo saddle...

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Saddle Tightening

12...and tightened it down with the provided shoulder bolt (yellow arrow). The shoulder bolt also acts as the mounting point for the front of the pillion. The rear of the pillion is secured with the provided retention nut and washer, the plastic plug has to be removed (white arrow).

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Pillion Mounting

13 Finally, we mounted the pillion to the shoulder bolt, tightened down the rear to the retention nut, and installation was complete. The pillion comes with a passenger grab strap but we liked how it looked without it. Plus it just means that our lady will have to hold on to us tighter!

Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat Saddle Bag

14 In our opinion, the new brown rear section of the bike blends nicely with the Red Hot denim paint scheme. It also gives the Street Bob more of a vintage look. We're pleased with the outcome. Look for the next installment of H-D parts for the Street Bob in an upcoming issue of HOT BIKE soon!

SOURCES
Harley-Davidson
3700 W. Juneau Avenue
Milwaukee
WI  53208
800-433-2153
www.harley-davidson.com
By Jordan Mastagni
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