Hard Bag Top Rails from ebay - review

[jandreu]

OK, I just received a set of the top bag rails that have been on ebay. These are the ones being sold by "kazumi837". I "won" the auction for $82 plus $25 shipping so the cost came out to $107. While these were much less expensive than the Kaw Fire and Steel Rails you do get what you pay for! I have not seen a set of the Kaw rails and for a saving of over $150 I guess I should be happy but I wanted everyone to have an idea of what to expect as most of the reports I have seen on the forum indicated that these were first rate items. I'm not intending to blast anyone as everyone has a different idea of quality. All I'm saying is don't expect these to be top notch. Just my 2 cents!

These parts are light weight metal tube not solid steel rod. On one of them the standoff mount is not welded on straight, none of the welds were cleaned after manufacture very well and the chrome around the welds is very thin. The welds in general are poorly done and uneven. In a few places the slag from the weld is showing thru the chrome. I'm sure it will not take long to start rusting, especially in the salt air environment I live in. They do appear to fit well except for the standoff that is a little crooked.

They came with screws and rubber O rings. I'm not sure if the rubber O rings go inside the bag under the screw head to make the hole weather tight or if they are intended to go on top the bag under the mount. I does make more sense to put the O ring in the bag under the screw head. I think I will experiment with some SS washers on both the inside and the top of the bag to provide more support for the mount.

Again, just my 2 cents!

[ringadingh]

On my F&S rails there is a SS washer on the outside of the bag under the post. Im not sure if there is an O ring underneath as Ive never removed the rails.

[Cajunrider]

James, I have the same set and have been having them for well over 1 year. No rust. I have the same post that is a little crooked. Go to Lowes and purchase a pack of faucet washers to use instead of the stock o-ring gaskets. They go between the rail and the top of the bag. They don't hold up but a year or so. They begin dry rotting and start crumbling. If you mount the rails with these you will have a difficult time going with the thicker faucet gaskets. Because of the curvature of the bag top, the hole(s) alignment is off as the rail is further from the bag. In order to get mine to line up, I had to make one cut on the gaskets from the center hole to the outside. This let me start the screws and tuck the gasket beneath the posts. You can barely see the cut and I put the cut on the down side of the post to keep water from dripping inside should the cut open a little. Haven't had any problems. The chrome is still bright. Mine were pretty heavy. I think they are solid bar. I don't remember who I purchased them from on Ebay but he always had a couple of sets of top rails and bottom rails on auction. A good idea to mark and drill the 3 mounting holes for each rail is to remove the bags and bolt them together through the factory mounting holes. I didn't do it this way but it should make lining them up for marking the holes much easier. Mine are right on but it took me a while moving them around on the masking tape until they were perfect. Good luck.

[jandreu]

Cajunrider, Thanks....that's a good idea to bolt the bags together to make both sides the exact same. Also like the rubber washer idea. I will try a SS washer and a rubber washer on top. Should look good also. I had not thought of the alignment issue with the washers due to the angle. Very good tip, will save me a lot of headache.
Wish these were the solid steel rod instead of tubing. There are two different people selling these on ebay but they are probably the same item. Again for less than half the price of the Kaw units I guess I can't complain!

[Cajunrider]

James, just remember to put everything you intend to put under the posts before tracing the circles on the masking tape. Just the SS washer will throw the hole alignment off significantly. I attached pictures I took after mounting the rails.

[cactusjack]

Mitch,

That left rail looks a little farther forward than the right one.

[Cajunrider]

Damn, you noticed it too? :-[

[hammer]

http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/de...sic&model_id=0

These look great and are made for this type of application. You can find these in other places too and I highly recommend these for the top of the bags. You can get the exact sized rubber washers from Lowes or Home Depot. These are used a lot by the Goldwing crowd and these are under my saddle bag rails and my trunk rack.

Go get yourself some wide masking tape to protect the bag and mark out where you will be drilling.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Cajunrider

Damn, you noticed it too? :-[

No, they look fine. Just having a little fun with you.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Thanks Bubba for letting us know. Yes there are many times you get what you pay for. That is one draw back about buying off eBay you can't actually see and feel what you are bidding on.

[clayton]

As per the alignment...due to the ARC/radius created by the contour of the bags on top, when you get ready to attach the rails it will seem that the holes are off slightly.
You will need to start one of the bolts on one end and then do the same on the other end until you have them all attached otherwise you might pull your hair out trying to attach the rails and in turn possibly scratching the paint on the bags themselves.
Mine came with the Stock Kaw rails and and if I just lay them on top the holes they are off by almost 3/32nd's.
Now in my case maybe Kaw screwed up the drilling of the holes but in any case be careful and be patient.

[Netnorske]

Bubba,
Don't put them on backward like that one guy.....single mount point to the front...double mount point to the rear.... ;)!

I used the gaskets that come on roofing nails. They are thick as hell and really made a great seal....but as stated....make sure you measure with the gaskets in place! I too bolted my bags together when measuring to make sure the rails are equally spaced. Good luck!

[Jared]

Have you compared them to the fire and steel rails? I don't think they are solid either.

[billyboy]

+1 for the faucet washers. I put them between the rails and the saddlebag top AND on the inside between the washer and saddlebag to cushion the attachment points.

Also make sure to allow for the slight difference in hole alignment caused by the thicker washers. Use masking tape on the bag tops.

Here's what I did. I think the front mount is one bolt if I remember correctly. I drilled that first and attached that end with the faucet washer. Now I was able to tweak the rear mountings and eye them up because the rails will swivel on that single front mount. Then slip the faucet washers under the rear mounts and trace the outside circumferences. Find the centers and drill.

It's also easier if you remove the bags from the bike! With the bags side by side, it's easy to transfer the front mount point location.

[jandreu]

Rails are mounted and look good. Thanks for all the suggestions as I used them all and it made the job much easier. A little humbug getting the two sides to match but they are good enough for the girls I date!