Vintage Brown Leather From Harley-Davidson

The Street Bob has taken on a whole new look from its stock form. Now it's ready to roll for a weekend trip dressed with vintage-styled luggage and seats.

The Street Bob has taken on a whole new look from its stock form. Now it's ready to roll f

The Motor Company always seems to have its feelers out for cool new trends, which is great because riders consistently search for ways to make their bikes unique. One way to stand out from the pack is with the new line of Distressed Brown Leather goods from Harley-Davidson.

When we first saw the new line of brown goodies offered for Dyna owners, the wheels started turning. First off, we were looking for a different saddle than the stock black solo seat, and knew the brown leather would look great with the Red Hot denim color of the '09 Dyna Street Bob we have in our possession. After talking with the H-D brass, we both decided that the Distressed Brown Leather Low Profile Solo Seat and matching Passenger Pillion Pad would be a good choice. But why stop there? Especially when matching brown leather saddlebags are also available. We would be fools not to order those as well, so we did.

When the parts arrived, we got started with the project. Installation was relatively easy and we only needed the basic tools to give the Street Bob a different look.

1 The Distressed line of leather goods was designed with the old WWII bomber jackets in mind. The Low-Profile Solo Seat ($339.95) provides that old-school look with modern comfort. It features a deep bucket design that measures 12 inches wide and fits '06-later Dyna models. The matching Passenger Pillion Pad ($199.95) measures 5 1/2 inches wide and is the perfect accompaniment to the brown solo saddle and fits '06-later Dyna models. The Distressed Brown Leather Saddlebags ($599.95) are rigid mounted and feature a total of 2,380 cubic inches of storage capacity.

2 To get started, we removed the stock seat and disconnected the negative battery cable.

3 Then we unplugged the turn signal harnesses from the taillamp assembly underneath the fender by removing the plastic plug holding the wires in place. The male ends were unplugged and the pins from the plugs were taken out to slide the stock chrome turn signal mounts off since they won't be reused.

4 For this application, you'll need the Turn Signal Relocation kit ($84.95 for '09 FXDB, pricing varies by model). The kit repositions the turn signals farther back with the two black relocation brackets, new fender support brackets, zip-ties for securing the wiring to the relocation brackets, and hardware.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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).

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!

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!