| Author | Message | ||
     Brubry |
Looking for bags for my 99 S3 and have a few questions....From various other posts, It seems S3 bags were improved over S2 bags and it sounds like any 98-02 S3 bags will fit BUT... Is any particular year better than the others between 98-02? ie, at the locks, hinges, mount tabs? I have one inner half w/round knobs(inside) that turn the locking tabs but I've seen others that had a more of a tilt lever(inside)to lock the tabs.. Any advise would be appreciated and I'm in the market for a set (both deep and narrow). Thanks, TB | ||
| Xl1200r |
S2 and S3 bags are surely different animals and not interchangeable. I wasn't aware that the latch handles on the inside changed, but they may have - can you post pics of yours? The hinges did change, though I don't recall what year that was. You need to make sure that the inner and outer bags have the same hinges or else they won't work together. Do yourself a favor and reinforce whatever you buy with fiberglass before mounting them. If they aren't cracked with you get them, they will eventually if you don't do this. | ||
| Blks1l |
The hinges are different but either of the hinge types can be put on either bag, you just have to drill new holes to mount the different hinges on the different bags. | ||
| Yo_barry |
There was a set for sale a couple of weeks ago on this board. Look for "trouble_enabler" in the messages below. I bought his narrow lids. They were off a 98, but worked on my 01 after swapping hinges. All of the S3T bags I've seen have the tab cam mechanism for mounting. They work without problems. The inner shells have a tendency to crack in the mounting areas. I repaired mine with fibre glass cloth and ABS cement. They have been fine since that repair. If you have a choice, get bags from the last years (01-02) as they would have any product improvements. Good luck on finding them, they are pretty rare. | ||
| Court |
>>>>S2 and S3 bags are surely different animals and not interchangeable. Completely different. At one time someone had a kit to convert them I think. >>>>I wasn't aware that the latch handles on the inside changed, but they may have - can you post pics of yours? Latching and locking systems are completely different. Here are some typical S3 bags parts . . none of which appear in the S2. Somewhere I have all the technical sheets but you can find exploded diagrams in all the Parts Manuals.  | ||
| Brubry |
Wow, wish my parts bins were that organized Court. To be more clear, I know S2 and S3 bags are not interchangable- I get that....And I know about the inherent cracks+busted locks.. I guess my question should have been: Is there a particular year S3bag, between 98-02,I would hope to find-because its better? Theres a story behind it but my S3 came only with the left inside half bag, and the right outside deep bag half. Yo B, I dont have a pic but the 3 mounting knobs(inside) look like a 1 inch round chrome knob which rotates the tab on the back. | ||
| Court |
The "tab on the back" is shone in the 2nd bin from the bottom, left side above. There were two systems. One was a know that rotated and drew the flat tang shown above in against the mounting bracket. The other used a "flip tang" sort of arrangement. It's not as organized as it looks . . . I've got about 30 of those trays and, like that one, they aren't really (you see the turn signal stand offs, commingled above) very well organized. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Bru - your latches might be S2-style. The S3 style puts some spring tension on the mount, hence the folding handle. Court - any chance I can buy one of those wire forms in the middle of the second row? Mine broke... | ||
| Xl1200r |
Completely different. At one time someone had a kit to convert them I think. I think the kit you're thinking of was a new bracket to mount S3 bags on an S2, not to make S2 bags fit the S3 mount - though I could be wrong. | ||
| Court |
>>>>There was a kit to retrofit S3 bags to the S2 because of the less-than-stellar design of the S2's. I **think** that is correct. >>>Court - any chance I can buy one of those wire forms in the middle of the second row? Mine broke... No problem. Send me your address and I'll get it on the way. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Court, PM sent. Just read this: The "tab on the back" is shone in the 2nd bin from the bottom, left side above. That must be an earlier mounting tab - If all it is is a knob you turn, I'd guess it's not as secure as the later tang style. The way they mount to the bag inner is different as well, so you'd likely have to drill and/or enlarge some holes if you're going from one style to another. Normally I'd not advice drilling extra holes in a saddle bag, but these are already not very waterproof, lol. | ||
| Court |
>>>but these are already not very waterproof, lol. Charlie (I call him "Chuck") Smallman put the coolest little rubber flaps on tap of the "latch wells". | ||
| Davegess |
The S3 bag was a big improvement because there was an actual budget for some, not much, tooling. Everything on the S2 except the glass had to be off the shelf form somewhere. A lot of the S3 stuff was also off the shelf but enough money was available to tool the most problematic items. This reflects one of the problems the early tube frames faced, very low volume cause many quality issues. | ||
| Xl1200r |
The S3 bag was a big improvement because there was an actual budget for some, not much, tooling. Everything on the S2 except the glass had to be off the shelf form somewhere. A lot of the S3 stuff was also off the shelf but enough money was available to tool the most problematic items. I often wonder why they decided to build these things from scratch rather than graft something like a Givi Monokey case on - the mounts wouldn't have been hard to make to take these cases, and would suffer none of the issues with the factory bags (aside from, possibly, the looks department). | ||
| Easy_rider |
aside from, possibly, the looks department And that's exactly why I first bought an S3. I had been a Buell fan for a number of years, but the clincher was that it was the best looking of the sport tourers when the slim bags were on! The knobs were for the '97 and '98 years. The latches were '99 on. The hinges also changed in '99. I sometimes think the latches allow you to over-tighten and speed up the cracking process. I can't say that I prefer one over the other. The older hinges tend to let the outer lid slide off too easily, which becomes a real pain when you're trying to load them up. | ||
| Brubry |
Thanks Easy, the one inner half I have definately has knobs that turn,so it must be an early version. I've seen and passed on a few sets on ebay from '98's lately. I guess I'll keep looking for the later years. Has anyone put or seen Uly bags on an S3? I know the brackets would be different but I think it'd look pretty cool without all the S3 probs.. |
