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Wolf's Home-Grown Saddle Bags
Components:2 x Voyager V1205 cabin bags - black ($64.80)
8 x 1.5" male/female adjustable plastic quick release clips ($8.00)
4 x 1.5" plastic friction slides ($1.40)
1m nylon webbing strap, 1.5" wide ($1.20)
2x reflector strips - red (yet to be purchased)
800mm x 800mm plastic "sale board" (yet to be purchased)
Knowing you made your own custom saddle bags for less than the price of a smaller commercial set: Priceless!
Total Cost: $75.40 so far...
Capacity: >32 litres
Voyager V1205 Cabin bag.
The first step was to get the bags into a state where they could be joined.
The hand straps on the Voyager bags are simply lengths of 1.5" nylon webbing looped over and stitched to the sides of the bag.
The middle few centimetres of each has been folded so the edges meet and the edges have been stitched together to narrow and thicken the strap.
The strap on the side that is to be closest to the bike has a square of heavy-duty nylon stitched to the middle of the strap - this fastens around the other strap with Velcro to form a hand grip.
The first step was to cut the "outer" strap in the middle.
The stitching that joined the edges together was then cut and the ends sealed with a cigarette lighter to prevent fraying.
The straps closest to the bike need only be long enough to accommodate the female clips to attach to the webbing straps so I cut the hand grips away and discarded them.
The ends of the straps were then sealed with a cigarette lighter.
Joining Hardware. Top: two 50cm lengths of 1.5" nylon webbing with the ends sealed and male quick-release clips threaded on. Middle: two female quick-release clips and two friction slides. Bottom: Male and female quick release clips.
The outer "cinch straps" were easily completed by sliding the adjuster of a male quick-release clip onto each strap.
The straps closest to the bike required a little more work:
First I slid a female quick release onto the strap - this is for the cinch strap.
Next I passed the strap through the friction slide.
Then the strap was passed through a second female quick-release clip and finally threaded back through the friction slide to hold the end in place. The second female clip is to join the bag to one of the webbing straps that passes over the back of the bike.
Rear straps completed.
Completed saddle bag. The cinch straps are now clipped into position to hold the zips closed under pressure and vibration.
Both bags joined together by the two adjustable webbing straps.
Of course I had to have a quick test fitting even though the bags are not completed and the pannier frames have yet to be made for the bike.
The most difficult part of the construction is completed and took around 10 minutes per bag. I still have to make up a couple of rectangles of reinforced sale board to stiffen the sides of the bags closest to the bike and it would be nice to fit a couple of reflectors.
Stay tuned for the completion of the project...