My VL8 Has been Treated today

Well i got on the infamous Bidding site that begins with   and Purchased a new set of Pannier Bars, Saddlebags and the correct Sissy bar complete with rack, got to be done for Camping eh ! As and when parts arrive i'll update with pics. All that'll leave me to sort out is the Screen then I think i''m pretty much Fully Dressed.

Glad your going to take your girl out fully dressed    Looking forward to the update  

  Sounds good Ian, I'm looking forward to the pics  

It's not quite a Bike modification as such but also built her a nice new shelter to sit under ! will get some better pics tomorrow.




 Shelter has been extended at the front to she has 12' X 5' of covering above her !

Nice job Ian    I hope you give her a hot water bottle in winter    Looking forward to your updated modding pics  

Nice one Ian, nothing better to treat to a few gifts. The bike gets better & better & you get the benefit.  

Cheers Guys ! Had notification of despatch of the Leather Panniers  today so should be here Thursday, Can't fit them till the Support bars get here sometime next week but will post pics of them in situ on the Bike ( which by the way hasn't been named yet ! )

Iaan wrote:

 Bike ( which by the way hasn't been named yet ! )

The bike with No Name!  

Sounds like a Clint Eastwood film to me so "Clint" it is !  

Iaan wrote:

Sounds like a Clint Eastwood film to me so "Clint" it is !  

Clintruder?

Nice !  

Hope your nuts and bolts don't come every which way but loose

Truders, GOOD, not BAD & certainly not UGLY 

& it will defo make your day  

lol ! keep 'em coming eh lads ! on a serious note, just got back in from a trip down to Kent and what's lying on my doorstep ? Yep a missed parcel Note by My Hermes and it'll only be one thing and that's my new Leather Panniers ! Got to wait till Monday now for re delivery.  Bummer !

smart wrote:

& it will defo make your day  

Will it? Well! will it? punk! ......... sorry, couldn't resist lol I watched it last night (again)  

Well as i been sitting in all that glorious sunshine yesterday, i most certainly couldn't be Called " The Pale Rider " !

Well a few parts were waiting for me when I got home from work today.







Still waiting on the Pannier Bars so they'll have to wait to be fitted. Had a Gunstock to finish this afternoon ( Another Hobby I make and sell Gun stocks for Crosman brand of air rifles ! ) but in between I managed to get the New Sissy Bar & Rack fitted.

Before:





And After:



Will update as Panniers are fitted !

Bling Bling! Nice goodies   Sissy bar and rack looks much better   

Very smart mate. Did you pack out between the sissy bar rail and the fender rail, or just have them a snug fit....? I'm sure there's no wrong of right way, just interested

What an imporvment on the mod done with the sissy bar   

Cheers Guys, yes big improvement to what it was ! @bigmal, due to the way the previous sissy Bar had been fitted the Fender rail has some rust Pitting on them so just fitted direct !

........ in all the confusion ..... I kinda forgot how many parcels I ordered .....

......do ya feel lucky ?  ...... Go ahead delivery man ...... Make my day !!!   

Looks like you got it all Ian  

Got the Panniers on this afternoon, still waiting on the Pannier Bars to arrive but for now here she is ! ( Just polished too ! )




Do you think they should be sitting higher ? turned the rear Floorboards also as the were sitting under the panniers, the Mrs now has a bit more comfort under foot.

all I would say is watch your clearance on the exhaust side, so the heat doesn't damage them . On mine I rested a piece of probably 2" thick wood on the exhaust then used that as a spacer to set the height. Don't  think there's any hard and fast rule! Looks good  

Nice panniers Ian, Bikes looking sweet!  

Cheers Guys, Yeah was a little concerned about the exhaust heat ! think i'll re tie them so the sit up a little further away from the heat !

 Ian the bikes looking really good m8   , panniers & sissy bar look the mutts nuts 

Ian on my Intruder I have large bags similar to yours & put some engine bay heat resistant stick on matting underneath but the heat still got through & warped the internal stiffening plastic board so much that some tie wraps I had in there melted to the plastic!   
The only thing I could do was to tie them up a lot higher away from the silencer but it still sags towards the pipe. I was unsure what to do but now I'm away from our holiday periods I may alter the alloy 'hangers' I put on the back of the bags lower so it keeps them up higher than now so that's a simple job & a bit of tape will seal the small holes in the bags.
I would suggest probably making some simple alloy 'Z' brackets to fix to the rear of the bags to stop them hanging into the brackets too heavily as I have done. 
I used some 1-1/2mm thick by 50mm wide by aprox' 60mm deep alloy sheet simply bent at 90 degree angles per 20mm & a strip inside of 50mm by 30mm & drilled through the bags & pop riveted the parts together with some rubber strips glued inside so they don't mark the hanger rails. I put one at the front, one at the bottom & one at the rear. I put the bags on without the seat & with a marker pen marked the inside rail onto the bags so I had an idea of where to put the brackets once made up & painted black.
I do have 'square' rails by the way & have to twist the bags to release them when needed to take them off but it is not a problem once you realise how it works.
Took me an hour or so to do but they ensure the bags don't escape if they should come unzipped/laced & are'nt seen from the outside at all, simple & cost me nothing except my time & ingenuity to do it, simple's!!!
I think something similar has been done before & may be on the 'done to my bike' section somewhere so if it is then I apologise for repeating how I did mine ok.

Thanks for the comments Guys ! Peter I'll take note of what you've said and keep a close eye on the right hand pannier. mine do have Tie down straps on the rear of the Panniers but if required will look into your suggestion ! My Bars are of the " Round Bar ! type so my be able to just bend if necessary.

Just to add, purchased some " Shiney ! for the H/Bar cables. Need to get some larger Diameter for the Brake line ect.

Bling Bling! looks good  

Way Hey ! Pannier Bars have just arrived from China !   Pics will be up shortly !

Not really much to see but.





And with the panniers fitted at their highest have Appx 3 1/2"

  Ian,  

Loverley  lookin ....  

Ian my bars are also round but are of a square design I meant to say sorry.    
Your bags will have no problems at the height you have them though where as mine may be deeper possibly?  

Your bike is looking really good, nice add ons to it making it really stand out