StratTuner
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I was talking with someone on the boards who pointed out that Walmart has very nice "coolers" ($20) that may be used as Saddle bags. I've been very fond of the Nelson Rigg CL855's (see [HERE]), but I've been thinking maybe I could do this for a little less money. The Walmart bags seemed a perfect candidate.
I left the PVC rack the same. That design has proved durable and useful. The new bags from Walmart are the Ozark Trail 36 can bag with hard liner. It's the hard liner that got my attention. It gives shape to the bag, and it affords me a structure that's easy to attach straps to. Before I knew it, I was making another set of saddle bags!
The Nelson Rigg bags are first class, but they we designed to strap to eachother and drape over the passenger (pillion) seat. That's a problem on the NC since I need to lift that seat to gas up.
It would be better if each bag could hang from the grab rail by straps. This would put the weight on the grab rails and less on the PVC brackets. The new bags (Walmart Ozark Trail 36 can cooler bag) could be made to do that via nylon strap quick release straps.
The plastic inner liner resembles a simple waste paper basket, but it fits neatly in the nylon bag and gives the bag it's shape. I cut four verticle slots in the back of the bag and threaded the nylon straps through these. The inner liner is made of fairly sturdy plastic, but it was easy to cut the slots with a box cutter. The nylon straps go into the bag and back out and the quick release fitting makes it simple to strap the bags on to the grab rails. I also made sure the straps went around the first two horizontal supports on the PVC rack.
Cut the slots, thread the straps, and DONE! ... with that part anyway.
Here's the bag I used: Walmart "Ozark Trail" 36 can cooler... grey and black ($18).
The plastic liner inside the nylon bag looks exactly like a common waste paper basket. It's meant to be removable, but I thought it would make the perfect anchor for the straps.
I used a box cutter and cut four slots in the back
The quick release straps go in through the top and out through the bottom. This leaves the plastic quick release ends exposed on the back of each bag so I can go around the PVC frame. (NB: I had to remove the plastic quick release fittings first, then thread through the bag and plastic liner, then put the QR fittings back on.)
It's a simple idea: the bag hangs on two straps suspended from the grab rail so that the grab rail bares most of the weight. The quick release fasteners close between the grab rail and the seat. once closed, the fasteners can be snugged to make sure more of the weight goes to the grab rail.
The Nelson Rigg bags have two quick release fasteners on the bottom of the front/back side of the bag. These I had clipped to the PVC frame to keep the bag from sliding forward or backward. This seemed like a good idea, so I duplicated that on this new effort.
I made two holes on the side of the bag that faces front and on the side that faces behind very close to the bottom of each side.
I used a phillips screw driver and my arm to drill these right through the fabric and the plastic liner at the same time.
I put a single zip tie in horizontally. This gives me something secure to attach the quick release strap to.
Here's that strap that holds the bottom of the bag close to the pvc frame.
the strap on the PVC frame took some work. I made a loop at one end of that strap and then put the strap around the pvc tube and then threded the quick connect through the loop I'd made. It takes some work to get the length correction, but this strap holds the bottom of each bag to the frame so that the bags don't swing out at the bottom in a turn.
Having the freedom to put the quick connect straps exactly where I wanted made this an easy project. The Nelson Rigg bags are still excellent choices, but the quick release fittings aren't exactly where I'd like them to be. With the cooler bags, I could put them exactly where they needed to be.
Here's the finished bags:
I hope I haven't left much out. Thank you for reading.
I want to remove the carrying strap and change it to quick release fittings as well. Right now, the carrying shoulder strap just sort of gets in the way.
I left the PVC rack the same. That design has proved durable and useful. The new bags from Walmart are the Ozark Trail 36 can bag with hard liner. It's the hard liner that got my attention. It gives shape to the bag, and it affords me a structure that's easy to attach straps to. Before I knew it, I was making another set of saddle bags!
The Nelson Rigg bags are first class, but they we designed to strap to eachother and drape over the passenger (pillion) seat. That's a problem on the NC since I need to lift that seat to gas up.
It would be better if each bag could hang from the grab rail by straps. This would put the weight on the grab rails and less on the PVC brackets. The new bags (Walmart Ozark Trail 36 can cooler bag) could be made to do that via nylon strap quick release straps.
The plastic inner liner resembles a simple waste paper basket, but it fits neatly in the nylon bag and gives the bag it's shape. I cut four verticle slots in the back of the bag and threaded the nylon straps through these. The inner liner is made of fairly sturdy plastic, but it was easy to cut the slots with a box cutter. The nylon straps go into the bag and back out and the quick release fitting makes it simple to strap the bags on to the grab rails. I also made sure the straps went around the first two horizontal supports on the PVC rack.
Cut the slots, thread the straps, and DONE! ... with that part anyway.
Here's the bag I used: Walmart "Ozark Trail" 36 can cooler... grey and black ($18).
The plastic liner inside the nylon bag looks exactly like a common waste paper basket. It's meant to be removable, but I thought it would make the perfect anchor for the straps.
I used a box cutter and cut four slots in the back
The quick release straps go in through the top and out through the bottom. This leaves the plastic quick release ends exposed on the back of each bag so I can go around the PVC frame. (NB: I had to remove the plastic quick release fittings first, then thread through the bag and plastic liner, then put the QR fittings back on.)
It's a simple idea: the bag hangs on two straps suspended from the grab rail so that the grab rail bares most of the weight. The quick release fasteners close between the grab rail and the seat. once closed, the fasteners can be snugged to make sure more of the weight goes to the grab rail.
The Nelson Rigg bags have two quick release fasteners on the bottom of the front/back side of the bag. These I had clipped to the PVC frame to keep the bag from sliding forward or backward. This seemed like a good idea, so I duplicated that on this new effort.
I made two holes on the side of the bag that faces front and on the side that faces behind very close to the bottom of each side.
I used a phillips screw driver and my arm to drill these right through the fabric and the plastic liner at the same time.
I put a single zip tie in horizontally. This gives me something secure to attach the quick release strap to.
Here's that strap that holds the bottom of the bag close to the pvc frame.
the strap on the PVC frame took some work. I made a loop at one end of that strap and then put the strap around the pvc tube and then threded the quick connect through the loop I'd made. It takes some work to get the length correction, but this strap holds the bottom of each bag to the frame so that the bags don't swing out at the bottom in a turn.
Having the freedom to put the quick connect straps exactly where I wanted made this an easy project. The Nelson Rigg bags are still excellent choices, but the quick release fittings aren't exactly where I'd like them to be. With the cooler bags, I could put them exactly where they needed to be.
Here's the finished bags:
I hope I haven't left much out. Thank you for reading.
I want to remove the carrying strap and change it to quick release fittings as well. Right now, the carrying shoulder strap just sort of gets in the way.
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