Was in Forth Worth and stop by the HD for a look around [like to see different showrooms and such] anyways there is this great looking 1200 custom setting there all tricked out for cruz'in. Windshield, hardbags, solo seat, and trunk with back rest. I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam. Ask the Stealer if I could set on the scooter. No problem he says. Well no problem was getting on, with trunk mounted behind solo seat you had to fold your leg up like an accordian to keep from hitting or scraping anything. Set down on the seat, not to bad but even with the forward controls my knees it seemed like were above the tank [they weren't]. The whole set up seemed to me very ackward and would be uncomfortable for a extended time. Now this was a full HD setup all HD goodies. Liked the hard bags, position of the trunk sucked, saddle was comfortable but did seem to push you to far forward with the back rest. Was an outstanding looking scooter made you want to buy it for cruz'in until you fork a leg over it. Think I'll just stay with my throw overs

The Sportster Tour-Pak rack requires using a solo seat, and places that trunk right where a passenger would normally sit. I just won an auction on eBay for a vivid black tour-pak mounted on a detachable Softail rack ... which sticks it out back where one would expect a cycle-trunk to be located. I know the Softail rack won't fit my docking points, but I'm eager to cut, weld, reinforce that rack as needed in order to make it work. Will sandblast the chrome off, and paint the rack black. I'll post pix in my album later.

The Sportster Tour-Pak rack requires using a solo seat, and places that trunk right where a passenger would normally sit. I just won an auction on eBay for a vivid black tour-pak mounted on a detachable Softail rack ... which sticks it out back where one would expect a cycle-trunk to be located. I know the Softail rack won't fit my docking points, but I'm eager to cut, weld, reinforce that rack as needed in order to make it work. Will sandblast the chrome off, and paint the rack black. I'll post pix in my album later.


Cool! Looking forward to seeing this setup!

Received the tour-pak and Softail rack, both in great condition. I've taken a lot of measurements, and considered two different methods to make this rack fit my '06 1200R docking points. Decided on splitting it down the middle (needs to be about 1-1.2" wider) so I can insert some 1/8" thick plate or flatbar and a very short length of steel tube to make it wider. I also need to relocate the rack's rear docking tabs, which are about 1-3/4" closer together on the Sporty, and bring them further forward. Starting cutting on it this evening.

Well, the first attempt to split the rack down the middle had a pitfall, and I wound up reverting back to Plan A. The pitfall was a foul with the lids of my hard saddlebags. This wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't already mounted the bags closer to the bike versus using the unmodified "stand out" spacer kit that provides a LOT of clearance for accessing the rear docking points with detachable goodies.

Going back to Plan A meant fitting the already cut halves back together, welding, and grinding ... lost two days doing this. Plan A keeps the top portion of the rack intact, and spreading the lower portion about 1-3/4 inches to fit the Sporty's docking points. All the fit-up is complete, and the trunk has been test-fit on the bike ... see my gallery link below. Remember, this rack was made for a Softail.

http://xlforum.net/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4565

All that's left now is to finish-weld some areas that are only tackwelded, sandblast off all of the chrome, spray some enamel primer and black paint, then bake it in the oven for a few hours to harden the paint.

One thing of interest is that I found most of the joints on this rack were brazed together, and not welded. The only welds I found were used to attached the two 1/8"-thick top plates to the tubing.

Looks like all your hard work payed off. The setup looks like it was make for your bike. Oh yea, it was - by you. Nice looks. Will the passenger position be effected at all?

Looks like all your hard work payed off. The setup looks like it was make for your bike. Oh yea, it was - by you. Nice looks. Will the passenger position be effected at all?

Thanks! Passenger position was the key reason for modifying a Softail rack versus getting a Sportster Tour-Pak rack. The Sportster rack positions the Tour-Pak where a passenger would sit. Besides, you have to use a solo seat with the Sportster rack ... no room beneath it for a two-up seat.

http://xlforum.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/12179/cat/500/ppuser/4565

Looks great. What saddlebags are those? They look bigger than the Sportster saddlebags I've seen.

Thanks

Looks great. What saddlebags are those? They look bigger than the Sportster saddlebags I've seen. Thanks

Thanks! They're the standard HD hard saddlebags ...
http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_product.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444204877 3&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374309127736&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374309127736&bmUID=1154381298529&bmLocale=en_US

Outstanding!! Looks great man.

Hoowasat, If you don't mind, what are the dimensions of those bags (h x w x d)? As usual, H-D is pretty short on info.

Hoowasat, If you don't mind, what are the dimensions of those bags (h x w x d)? As usual, H-D is pretty short on info.
They're roughly 19" long x 11" wide x 13" deep. That may sound spacious, but their curvature is such that while a ream of 8-1/2" x 11" paper will fit easily, you'd be hard pressed to fit a ream of legal-size paper in one of them. Conversely, my half-helmet fits inside nicely.