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After pricing good waterproof saddlebags (panniers) that would fit my 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD, I just decided to do it myself and save some bucks. Have you ever tried to find good waterproof storage for your motorcycle? Did you find that they were a wee bit expensive? Well, either you've done something similar to this instructable or you've sucked it up and threw your cash at some vendor.
What to do? I found out that one of my hobbies helped with this - Geocaching.
Originally, I was going to put a few good caches around my area in ammo cases. They're waterproof and if painted right, can be hard to find. Since I was behind in putting the caches out there, I thought that ammo cases would be a great place to store small stuff on my bike.
Here is a picture of my '06 Vulcan 500.
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I used a standard case for 7.62mm rounds. They measured about 7in. x 3 ½ in. x 10 in.
What to check: rubber gasket inside lid, rust, and latch. Rusty, ok - just more work. Rubber gasket must be intact and pliable. Latch must work. I think I paid $7 a piece for mine from a local Army Surplus store - and they had a ton of them.
Different sizes may work, but these seem to fit my motorcycle without hampering a passenger.
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use a piece of innertube rubber for the underside of the handle to keep the rattling down to a dull roar. same thing for the grab bar on the lock.
use rubber washers surrounding a stainless washer for additional space and scratch resistance on the fender supports (fender strut, rubber, stainless, rubber, can, rubber, stainless, bolt)
Adding pinstripes or led lights on the back will make it seem less utilitarian, and taking off the handles will help that as well. use a bolt cutter to cut the handle attachments.
plastic grocery bags work nicely as bag (box?) liners add a bit of additional waterproofing, not to mention make it easier to keep your gear clean and easy to get out!
great job!
One other thing I'd like to do - add a piece of steel bar 1/8" x 3/4" between the mounting bolts on the inside to stiffen the box. Maybe even 1/8" x 1".
As far as making it look less utilitarian, I was thinking of adding the Vulcan logo or for more visibility, adding a big stick-on reflector.
Hmmm... if I could find Candy Fire Red I could checkerboard them ;)
Cheers,
Red
bent the bars straight, limped it home and put on the stock ones. back to riding again!
if anything i would make a way to keep it out of the spokes in the event of a laydown, the bars to "stiffen" the boxes i think is a bit overkill.
I think the next time i use these (i have a wicked 'fighter project coming up) ill put on some small red or amber LED lights for turnsignals and brake lights like the harleys use.