Topic: Hondaline Hard Bags

[welnamark]

Here is my CB550K with Hondaline hard bags!  Embedding an image is not working for me....so here is a link for now.

https://picasaweb.google.com/welnamark/CB550KHondaline?feat=directlink

[TwoTired]

Sweet!

[Bankerdanny]

Very nice, I always prefer luggage like bags on a smaller bike.

[Deltarider]

Not my taste. Handling will be affected at speeds above 110 km/h.
One of these days I'll hope to post a picture of the solid leather sidebags that have served me over 30 years. I got them secondhand after they had served for years on a friends Jawa. I believe the bags were also from behind the iron curtain. Incredible good quality. I still hope to find a crafsman that can copy them, if he could ever find such thick leather.

[welnamark]

Not my taste. Handling will be affected at speeds above 110 km/h.
One of these days I'll hope to post a picture of the solid leather sidebags that have served me over 30 years. I got them secondhand after they had served for years on a friends Jawa. I believe the bags were also from behind the iron curtain. Incredible good quality. I still hope to find a crafsman that can copy them, if he could ever find such thick leather.

Ha.  Handling concerns on a 550 over 110 kph is kind of a moot point!  Especially two up with a weeks worth of camping gear.    My primary concern is to keep the gear dry on long tours.  Your leather bags do sound nice though..............

[fatmatt650]

Very nice!

[mjstone]

Where's your rear turn signals?

MJ

[fmctm1sw]

Not my taste. Handling will be affected at speeds above 110 km/h.
One of these days I'll hope to post a picture of the solid leather sidebags that have served me over 30 years. I got them secondhand after they had served for years on a friends Jawa. I believe the bags were also from behind the iron curtain. Incredible good quality. I still hope to find a crafsman that can copy them, if he could ever find such thick leather.

Ha.  Handling concerns on a 550 over 110 kph is kind of a moot point!  Especially two up with a weeks worth of camping gear.    My primary concern is to keep the gear dry on long tours.  Your leather bags do sound nice though..............

I think 110 kph is actually under 70mph...  But I'm no speedster either.  A long ride with a couple of changes of chothes would be such fun....   Ah, some day..

[chickenman_26]

Those are really useful bags. I have the same set on a '76 Wing. Watch for splitting in the corners. You can patch that from the inside with sheet ABS and ABS cement.

Stu

[Gaither]

Man, that is a sharp 550!!!

The bags and trunk look good, too. Sounds as if you're gonna put 'em to good use.

I like to see everybody have their bike/s "dressed" just to suit their own taste. To me, that is a great part of the pleasure and what it is "all about".

I'm running NOS, white Shoei's on the 550F.

To each his own - -

[bollingball]

Delta a good saddle maker should be able to help you save money now

[welnamark]

Thanks fatmatt650!

Where's your rear turn signals?

I just mounted the bags up to see if they'd fit.  Haven't had a chance to put the signals on yet.  Maybe today.

Those are really useful bags. I have the same set on a '76 Wing. Watch for splitting in the corners. You can patch that from the inside with sheet ABS and ABS cement.

Thanks for the tip!  There is some minor cracking in one of the corners......i'll try this method for repair.  Is your 76 GL1000 yellow or red?  I'm actually looking at a sulfur yellow in the next couple of days.  The 550 gets a little squirrely with two up and all that gear.

Not my taste. Handling will be affected at speeds above 110 km/h.
One of these days I'll hope to post a picture of the solid leather sidebags that have served me over 30 years. I got them secondhand after they had served for years on a friends Jawa. I believe the bags were also from behind the iron curtain. Incredible good quality. I still hope to find a crafsman that can copy them, if he could ever find such thick leather.

Ha.  Handling concerns on a 550 over 110 kph is kind of a moot point!  Especially two up with a weeks worth of camping gear.    My primary concern is to keep the gear dry on long tours.  Your leather bags do sound nice though..............

I think 110 kph is actually under 70mph...  But I'm no speedster either.  A long ride with a couple of changes of chothes would be such fun....   Ah, some day..

Yeah....about 68.5 mph..  Still about the most i will ever go when loaded up for touring!

Thanks for the comments guys.  I'd like to see pictures of the bike with the Shoei bags Gaither.

[Gaither]

I'll try to post a pic or 2 just as soon as I get time to figure out this "new to me" camera!

[chickenman_26]

Those are really useful bags. I have the same set on a '76 Wing. Watch for splitting in the corners. You can patch that from the inside with sheet ABS and ABS cement.

Thanks for the tip!  There is some minor cracking in one of the corners......i'll try this method for repair.  Is your 76 GL1000 yellow or red?  I'm actually looking at a sulfur yellow in the next couple of days.  The 550 gets a little squirrely with two up and all that gear.

My '76 is the LTD model  - the Candy Brown pimpmobile with the gold anodized wheels and spokes. SWMBO and I take it cross country a lot with all that gear. It's not squirrely at all cruising around 70 to 75 mph. But I use a big T-bag instead of the trunk, because it holds a lot more stuff.

Stu

[welnamark]

Stu......that's a gorgeous bike and i love the tailbag.  We won't use the trunk for touring either so we can strap all kinds of things to the luggage rack. 

[Goofaroo]

You might be interested in these. They're called Bungee Buddies and you just drill holes in your bags or trunk and it enables you to strap things on top. I carry folding chairs, my tent, my canopy, and my sleeping pad on top of my bags. It leaves me a lot of room to haul everything else on the rack. They're really handy if you find yourself short on storage space. Of course it makes it hard to open the bags so I keep items that I need while I'm on the road in the tank bag. You can see them installed on top of my bags in the picture. By the way, beautiful bikes. The 550 and the Goldwing look like great touring rigs.

  http://www.aerostich.com/bungee-loops.html
 

[welnamark]

You might be interested in these. They're called Bungee Buddies and you just drill holes in your bags or trunk and it enables you to strap things on top. I carry folding chairs, my tent, my canopy, and my sleeping pad on top of my bags. It leaves me a lot of room to haul everything else on the rack. They're really handy if you find yourself short on storage space. Of course it makes it hard to open the bags so I keep items that I need while I'm on the road in the tank bag. You can see them installed on top of my bags in the picture. By the way, beautiful bikes. The 550 and the Goldwing look like great touring rigs.

  http://www.aerostich.com/bungee-loops.html
 

Thanks for the tip!  The bungee buddies look like an excellent way to tie more gear down and i'm always looking for that.  I like the Concours.  The connie was in the running for a touring bike before i fell in love with the sulfur yellow GL1000.  I'll probably end up getting a Concours eventually.  I REALLY don't like the look of having a Vetter on the Honda's and my backs getting too old to fight the wind.

[Goofaroo]

I like the handlebar mounted fairing you have on there now. I think the fairing along with the bags is a classic look. I've had a few bikes set up like that. You could find a larger one than what you have on there and maintain the charm without hurting your back. As for the Connie, I'm just finishing up my first riding season with it and I have really enjoyed it. It far exceeded my expectations. It has been great for the fall/winter riding season but this summer it will get parked. Riding it on a hot day is very similar to being on fire.

[chickenman_26]

I like the handlebar mounted fairing you have on there now. I think the fairing along with the bags is a classic look. I've had a few bikes set up like that. You could find a larger one than what you have on there and maintain the charm without hurting your back.

It's a Slipstreamer Hellfire. Actually, it needs to be about 3" higher to keep the buffeting off the helmet. I think I'll stick that one on the CB500 and get their Sport Shield for the Wing. I once used their big bat wing shield on a bike, and it made the steering really squirrely, especially in windy conditions.

Stu

[Gaither]

Stu

Is that "Stu" as in Wing World "Workbench"? If so, I'm impressed! I've read a lot of your "solutions". Great job! (A "wing guy" shares the mags with me.)

I have a Slipstreamer S-08 on the 550. I found I had to raise it high as possible and change the angle to prevent buffeting. And, that just barely did the job. I like the looks of it (doesn't dominate the bike).

[DavePhipps]

This reminds me that I need to fab some mounting brackets for my wixom saddlebags. Hoping mine turn out as nice as yours.

[chickenman_26]

Stu

Is that "Stu" as in Wing World "Workbench"?

Guilty as charged.

Stu

[Gaither]

Stu

Man, you do a really great job! I enjoy your column a lot. (Terry Adkins gives me the mags.) You really know those Wings.

[welnamark]

Stu....I'm getting a 76 Sulfur next weekend!  I'm really excited.  I want to get the Hondaline saddlebag mounting rig for the GL1000 so i can just swap the hard bags back and forth between bikes.  Do you have a picture of the bag mounting bracket on your LTD without the bags on?

Do they look anything like these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380321973365&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

To me these look like the ones on my 550.  The GL1000 bag racks look taller to me because they hold the bags lower on the GL1000 than on the CB550 / 750.

Thanks,

Mark

[chickenman_26]

Stu....I'm getting a 76 Sulfur next weekend!  I'm really excited.  I want to get the Hondaline saddlebag mounting rig for the GL1000 so i can just swap the hard bags back and forth between bikes.  Do you have a picture of the bag mounting bracket on your LTD without the bags on?

Do they look anything like these?

Nope. Those are for the GL1100. It's possible you could tweak them to fit, but unlikely. Just a quick reply here to keep you from pulling the trigger on those. I'll take a pic and post it for you a bit later today.

Stu

Edit: Here's the mount. I can put more pics in your PM box if you like. I don't know if Honda ever made a mount specific to the '75 - '77 Wings. This one was for the '78 - '79. To relocate the turn signals, I installed a fender and tail light from a '78.

[Tom in Newcastle......Ontario]

Set of bags fore sale east of Toronto Ontario(Canada) ........no idea if he will ship them .....................not mine

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-motorcycle-parts-accessories-Hondaline-Detachable-Saddlebags-Padded-Rear-Box-and-Frames-W0QQAdIdZ270377422

[welnamark]

Thanks Stu.  On the Hondaline rack i am using on my 550 there is a place to mount the turnsignals.  I can see this is not the case on the GL1000 rack.  I will start shopping for a fender and tailight off a 78.  Will the turnsignals from the 76 mount up to the 78 fender? 
Mark

[chickenman_26]

Thanks Stu.  On the Hondaline rack i am using on my 550 there is a place to mount the turnsignals.  I can see this is not the case on the GL1000 rack.  I will start shopping for a fender and tailight off a 78.  Will the turnsignals from the 76 mount up to the 78 fender? 
Mark

Mark,
You might find a mount kit specific to the '75 - '77 that has signal mounting brackets. But if you end up with the kit for the later GL1000 like I did, then you'll need the later fender/tail light. The '78 tail light assembly has integral turn signal mounts. Just remove the signal bodies from your grab rail, and mount them on the '78 tail light. I can send you better pics if you need them.

Stu

[welnamark]

Thanks Stu.
I think I remember reading that 78-79 was the first year Honda manufactured the Hondaline hard luggage for their bikes.  I am watching ebay for a nice rear fender and tailight bracket.  Are you on the NGW club site as well?
Mark

[chickenman_26]

Thanks Stu.
Are you on the NGW club site as well?
Mark

I'm a registered member, but I haven't been on the site in a long time.

Stu

[faux fiddy]

Here is a set that has been on my watch list, re-listed over and over.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120533589650&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

[Honda!]

I don't have any pictures, but my dad runs GL1000 Hondaline bags on his '83 GL1100.  I know that it wasn't a direct bolt on, and he had to make some sort of bracket to get it to work, but it will fit.  With some tweaking, couldn't the opposite be done?  I'm no expert, so feel free to call me out.