Saddlebag Conversion - Tourer to IS / IS to Tourer

[Disco]

FYI, from the TX Board.

Last weekend, a couple of us DFW VRCCers swapped saddlebag/lid parts.  Stretch has IS bags and wanted them to open like Tourer bags.  I have Tourer bags and wanted them to open like IS bags.  Here are the results.

Stretch's IS Saddlebags/Lids now have Tourer hinges and my Tourer Saddlebags/Lids now have the IS Lid Stopper Stay & Saddlebag Lid Hooks.  These parts are interchangeable.
Stretch's IS bags/lids also have the Tourer Stopper Cables.  My Tourer bags/lids have no Stopper Cables - the lids detach from the bags.   

The significant difference between the Tourer and Interstate Saddlebag assemblies is the inside of the Lids. 
1. The Tourer Lids have one attachment point for the Stopper Cable.  The Interstate Lids have two attachment points for Stopper Cables. 
2. The Tourer Lids have no attachment points for the Stoppers (the rubber-covered metal pieces that rest against the bag when the lid is opened and hanging on the Stopper Cables).  The Interstate Lids have two attachment points for the Stoppers.

Bottom Line:
1. If you want your Tourer's Saddlebag Lids to completely detach when open, all you need are the Interstate Lid Stopper Stays & Lid Hooks (hinge replacements). 
2. If you want your Tourer's Saddlebag Lids to hang outboard of the Saddlebag when open, you need Interstate Lid Stopper Stays & Lid Hooks, Interstate Stopper Cables, (2) of the little brackets that attach the rear cable to the bag, the Interstate Stoppers that keep the lid off the bag's side, AND Interstate Lids. 
3. If you want your Interstate Saddlebag's Lids to open and hang forward like Tourer Lids, all you need are Tourer Hinges and Stopper Cables.

Hope this helps,

DFG

[StrikingViking]

Bottom Line:
1. If you want your Tourer's Saddlebag Lids to completely detach when open, all you need are the Interstate Lid Stopper Stays & Lid Hooks (hinge replacements). 
Hope this helps,

DFG

This is an older thread, but rather than re-hash all this good info I thought I'd first try and verify what has already been said.  More and more people have multiple Valkyrie's these days, so this should be easy-peasy for someone with an Interstate and a Tourer to just look and compare the two. 

I am mounting an I/S trunk to my Tourer.  I have the trunk, now I just need to modify my saddlebag lids in order to access the saddlebags.

This post states that all I need are the Interstate Lid Stopper Stays (part #27 & #28 on Bikebandit's microfiche), and the Lid Hook (part #29).

I don't have an I/S bag & lid to compare anything to, so I only have this old post to go by... but it would seem to me that as I am completely removing the Tourer hinge that I would also require the Saddlebag Lid Catch (part #30 that attaches to the bag itself) to 'receive' the Lid Hook.

Can anyone confirm or deny this? Please and thank you?

[hubcapsc]

I have a 97 Tourer, so this is hearsay...

Pre-Interstate bags don't have some of the Interstate
lid-holder stuff molded into their inner lids (or something
like that)... so maybe there's some interchangeability
problems with some bags/lids... ?

-Mike

[Bagger John - #3785]

I have one of each type of bike and an extra set of lids. Will mosey out to the garage and have a look inside them in a bit.

[Jess from VA]

I did a detailed post in the past few years on the parts for this job (by the part numbers).  It has the schematics and all necessary parts identified.

A lot of little bitty parts.

These are some of the most confusing parts schematics for the valk.  But if you go and compare 97-8 tourer to any interstate, you need all the parts for interstate that are not existing on the tourer.  Divide it into 1) parts that mount to lower bags, and 2) parts that mount to lids.

And Mike is right, the 97-98 valk tourer lids do/did not have the internal bosses (screw holes) necessary for mounting the interstate cable ties, or for mounting the interstate stand off bracket  (with rubber feet) that hold the lid off the bag paint when hung over the bag sides. 

If you have the (wraparound) bag rails, you can dispense with the standoff legs, as the lids when open hang down onto the rails and cannot touch the bag paint anyway.  And if you're careful, you really don't need the standoff legs anyway.  They can make closing the lids on fully packed bags difficult.

The 99 interstate started all Valk lids being set up to take interstate cable hardware, but I have never discovered if 99 tourers got these lids or if they had earlier year (97-8) tourer lids left over they kept using (for all or part of 99 production).  For 2000-2003, all lids sold on all Valks were all 99 interstate lid design. 


 

[Bagger John - #3785]

... I have never discovered if 99 tourers got these lids or if they had earlier year (97-8) tourer lids left over they kept using (for all or part of 99 production).

My Tourer is a '99.

Will check on this is in a bit.

[StrikingViking]

Thanks for the info and feedback so far everyone.  And Bagger John, if you are able to make a direct comparison that would be fantastic.  No rush... "mosey" is an acceptable pace

I did a detailed post in the past few years on the parts for this job (by the part numbers).  It has the schematics and all necessary parts identified.

I will search for it... thanks!

If you have the (wraparound) bag rails, you can dispense with the standoff legs, as the lids when open hang down onto the rails and cannot touch the bag paint anyway.  And if you're careful, you really don't need the standoff legs anyway.  They can make closing the lids on fully packed bags difficult.

My thoughts, too.  The bag rails are on my purchase list, so I think I will go that route as a means to protect the finish.  Ironically, I bought a brand new '97 Tourer off the showroom floor in '97 that I sold years ago, and had a brand new set of Hondaline bag rails still in the box (that I also bought in '97), that I sold 2 years ago, prior to getting the '98 Tourer that I now own.  Had I just held on to the bag rails a couple years longer.... lol.

[Jess from VA]

Well, the good news is that you don't have to pay large money for hard to find Honda OE bag rails (I paid $650, and was glad to find them); there are good quality knockoffs going for around $200 or less.

https://www.ebay.com/i/122572978789?chn=ps&dispItem=1

What you don't want is the MC Enterprises bag rails 

[StrikingViking]

Well, the good news is that you don't have to pay large money for hard to find Honda OE bag rails (I paid $650, and was glad to find them); there are good quality knockoffs going for around $200 or less.

https://www.ebay.com/i/122572978789?chn=ps&dispItem=1

What you don't want is the MC Enterprises bag rails 

Back when I sold my OEM's those knock-offs weren't available, to the best of my knowledge.  When I first saw the ones you linked (about a month ago) I thought they were OEM, but thought for that price they couldn't be... but was impressed with the quality.  Of course, one would have to do an actual side-by-side comparison, but from the photos they look pretty much identical.

[Jess from VA]

I have not actually seen any up close, but the write ups have been very good.

Even the OEs, you have to bolt everything up extremely loosey goosey and then go around snugging stuff up once it's all together. 

[Stick]

i am pretty sure i have a complete interstate hardware set

Well, the good news is that you don't have to pay large money for hard to find Honda OE bag rails (I paid $650, and was glad to find them); there are good quality knockoffs going for around $200 or less.

https://www.ebay.com/i/122572978789?chn=ps&dispItem=1

What you don't want is the MC Enterprises bag rails 

Back when I sold my OEM's those knock-offs weren't available, to the best of my knowledge.  When I first saw the ones you linked (about a month ago) I thought they were OEM, but thought for that price they couldn't be... but was impressed with the quality.  Of course, one would have to do an actual side-by-side comparison, but from the photos they look pretty much identical.

[gordonv]

To change your lid opening to an IS model, all you need is those 2 parts, 29 & 30. The rest are extras. Extras you want, or can make do with making your own.

It wasn't till the IS came out that those mods to the lids came out to accommodate the extras. But you wont find them on ALL tourers from 99', only till they ran out of the old stock.

I did swapped out the hinges on my 98' ACE Tourer, which was the original IS bags, before the IS came out in 99'. All I swapped was the hinges and the cable stays, so I wouldn't loose the lids. It was very costly on my old GW GL1100 when I lost one.

If you don't want to spend the $, either it was on the HSATF or here, that someone took the tourer hinges and cut them with a dremel cutting wheel, so they could come off of the hinge.

[John Schmidt]

They're correct...the early Tourer bags didn't have the extra extrusions inside the lid like the I/S had later. When they came out with the I/S, per a plant employee I chatted with during a Honda Homecoming, they decided to just produce one style of bag lids and mount the retaining cables necessary for the model it was going on.

If you could make the swap of just the cables and attachments, it's due to the Tourer being of late enough manufacture. My '98 Tourer wasn't and I had to round up a set of I/S lids for my switch.

[StrikingViking]

i am pretty sure i have a complete interstate hardware set

Haha... that figures.  In my ignorance, when I bought your trunk, I didn't realize I'd have to adapt the manner in which the lids open.  I'm pretty sure the hardware would have also fit in that BOX!

I'll PM you, Dale... thanks!

[StrikingViking]

To change your lid opening to an IS model, all you need is those 2 parts, 29 & 30. The rest are extras. Extras you want, or can make do with making your own.

It wasn't till the IS came out that those mods to the lids came out to accommodate the extras. But you wont find them on ALL tourers from 99', only till they ran out of the old stock.

I did swapped out the hinges on my 98' ACE Tourer, which was the original IS bags, before the IS came out in 99'. All I swapped was the hinges and the cable stays, so I wouldn't loose the lids. It was very costly on my old GW GL1100 when I lost one.

If you don't want to spend the $, either it was on the HSATF or here, that someone took the tourer hinges and cut them with a dremel cutting wheel, so they could come off of the hinge.

Cutting is a little extreme for me; I'd rather be able to switch things back to original stock if/when necessary.  I will find the parts.

Thanks for the info... my '98 Tourer lids only have the single cable boss, so I may figure a way to create a second one if I can do it cleanly.  While not as expensive as a GL1100 lid, I would not be a happy camper if I lost one of mine at 110kph! 

[Steel cowboy]

One more difference between the tourer and interstate bags was the removal of the seam on the lower half. If you look from the back the interstate bag has no seam riding up to the lid.

[RonW]

Back when I sold my OEM's those knock-offs weren't available, to the best of my knowledge.  When I first saw the ones you linked (about a month ago) I thought they were OEM, but thought for that price they couldn't be... but was impressed with the quality.

Of course, one would have to do an actual side-by-side comparison, but from the photos they look pretty much identical.

The shape of these knockoffs are identical to the Oem saddlebag rails, and also the size of the tubing is identical. That said, the welding isn't top notch ..... especially at the joint where the 2-inch vertical pieces meet the horizontal chrome members. They probably couldn't find a good enuff welder. Given, the factory probably used a welding robot to weld those circular joints perfectly, but the knockoff people could at least have filled the pin holes at these joints before chroming the rails.

Also, the 2-inch vertical pieces on the knockoffs have flat spots which show up bad when chromed. You'd think the rods used for the 2-inch vertical pieces are relatively cheap, so why they weren't more selective I dunno. True, from far away you're not gonna notice the discrepancies, especially if you've never owned the Oem versions, but they could have done a better job with a smidgen of effort.

[Jess from VA]

To change your lid opening to an IS model, all you need is those 2 parts, 29 & 30. The rest are extras. Extras you want, or can make do with making your own.

It wasn't till the IS came out that those mods to the lids came out to accommodate the extras. But you wont find them on ALL tourers from 99', only till they ran out of the old stock.

I did swapped out the hinges on my 98' ACE Tourer, which was the original IS bags, before the IS came out in 99'. All I swapped was the hinges and the cable stays, so I wouldn't loose the lids. It was very costly on my old GW GL1100 when I lost one.

If you don't want to spend the $, either it was on the HSATF or here, that someone took the tourer hinges and cut them with a dremel cutting wheel, so they could come off of the hinge.

Cutting is a little extreme for me; I'd rather be able to switch things back to original stock if/when necessary.  I will find the parts.

Thanks for the info... my '98 Tourer lids only have the single cable boss, so I may figure a way to create a second one if I can do it cleanly. While not as expensive as a GL1100 lid, I would not be a happy camper if I lost one of mine at 110kph!  

A single cable tie would probably hold the lid from departing the bike, but if it ever came loose, it might be flopping around in the wind pretty hard, and it might be dragging the low unsecured end on the pavement.

If you can find a place to attach a 2d cable to your existing lid, a longer home made cable can always attach to (be wrapped around) a front or rear latch hardware screw.

Just so you know, the way my lids ended up flying off, the front attaching clip latch hardware (interstate clip, vs tourer hinge) got a bit crooked, so the clip latch was only 3/4 closed/secured.  When I hit a big bump at freeway speed, that lid clip unhooked entirely, the wind got under the front of it, and it took off sailing on its own (even though I think the rear latch was properly secured, it unhooked from brute force).  The lid would almost never come loose (or off) from the rear latch not being securely closed.  It is the forward clip you have to watch out for.

[gordonv]

You might want to research these also.

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9503

[StrikingViking]

You might want to research these also.

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9503

Nice...

[Paladin528]

I put a trunk on my old VT1100 Shadow ACE Tourer (same bags) I replaced items 29 and 30 on your list so I could remove the lids.  Worked like a charm.
you also need to add the second cable from the bag to the lid but you will not be able to do this on the bags that have the seam (pre 99) those bags were designed before the need for the second cable and do not have the required attachment points.

[StrikingViking]

I put a trunk on my old VT1100 Shadow ACE Tourer (same bags) I replaced items 29 and 30 on your list so I could remove the lids.  Worked like a charm.
you also need to add the second cable from the bag to the lid but you will not be able to do this on the bags that have the seam (pre 99) those bags were designed before the need for the second cable and do not have the required attachment points.

Which is exactly why this product that Gord mentioned is so slick!

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9503