Saddle Bag Mod

Happy Trails Rack

  The bags I bought 8 years ago are still going strong. They are inexpensive bicycle bags, bought on sale in the winter for something like $45. All the bike bags are designed similarly with 2 metal hooks on the top backsides then at the bottom there is usually a hook system on elastic cord.

What I did was take the hooks off and replace them with 2 - 2 inch wide nylon straps each about 24 inches long. Attaching through the hard plastic backing of the bags with 2 small bolts with self locking nuts and large flat washers. Double the nylon strap where you melt holes through with a hot nail or soldering gun. Buy 2 - 2 inch plastic buckles and attach the female side of the buckles to the bag with the bolted on strap of about 24 inches of length. On the other bag do the same attaching process except this time to the male side of the buckle and doubled. The male buckle should be
attached as closely to the bag as possible using only about 8 inches of strap looped through the male buckle, so that when the bags are slung over the seat the buckle will be over to one side of the seat, that way you will be able to slide back and forth on the seat without the buckle irritating your butt.
When slung over the seat you can attach the 2 top straps in 2 ways. one way is to have just the front strap over the seat and the back strap routed under the grab handles so that if you have to pick the bike up after dropping it the grab handles are easily accessible to do the lift. Or you can route the back strap over the backs of the grab handle which works well but does not allow as easy access to the grab handles. The hooks on the elastic cord that come with the bicycle bags then attach to the metal loop that is the guard behind the passenger foot peg. This prevents the bags from flopping in the breeze.

To guard the bags from the hot exhaust pipe and the fury of the rear wheel, Happy Trails OSR Racks are the strongest and most complete coverage for both sides.