Hmm.... four of those may be in my future.
Yes, I think one per side would work fine. I used two per because I tend to stuff them and wanted the extra security. And, yes, they come in locking versions. The quality of the latch is equal the the cost of the latch. The cheap ones have locks that can be defeated with a screwdriver. The expensive ones are like bank vaultsHmmm, is one latch per side good enough, since I don't stuff the bags? I need a latch with a lock as I will not use the oem system. It sometimes jam so you can't open the cases, which would still put me in a bad situation.
I just ordered 4 of those that Charlie B gave us the link too. Had some problems with the website going totally black when I clicked on the drop down to select product with my mouse. Was able to work around it by using the keyboard (tab then down arrow). I am running Windows 8 and using IE 10. Just wanted to give a work around if anyone else has problems.Hmm.... four of those may be in my future.
Yes, I did. Nickel plated steel of some sort. I tried to find some marine grade stuff but it was all too ugly (IMHO). If you live in a more himid/rainy area I'd encourage you to look at brass or exterior grade hardware. Again price and looks were a factor for me.Did you consider corrosion? What are the parts made of?
Nah. I have 3 sisters and they don't ride. I live way down in Southern Chester County. I've opened and closed them a ton of times and even dropped it once in the garage. I lock my helmet, tank bag and gloves in the left bag and pants in the right every time I go in somewhere. Then I put what I got in when I leave and open them up to get that out when I get home. I would think I would have had some slight issue by now.Trust me, I wish you no bad luck, but it will happen, unless you don't open and close them at all. The system is that bad. My first problem was jamming, the mechanism has completely broken off the second time.
Point of interest. I have never seen another NT700v on the road and I did 12,000+ miles last summer coast to coast. I sometimes ride with a guy in a local riding group who has a Vulcan 900 and is named Ivan. He said his brother has a NT700V. Could that be you?
I'm pleased and proud to say that I'm the next guy who gets to use Charlie's good work. My experience with factory luggage has been pretty good actually - Other than a Vettered up '78 Gold Wing, I've only travelled on an ST1100 and an ST1300. Both bags were oddly shaped but big enough to hold a lot and boy, did I stuff them fill. Once I even pushed the bike over on its side because I thought that clothes bag wasn't that big. Both had very different types of latches but I never had a problem getting them to latch if I could manage to lever them shut. The 1100's bag went flying off on the road once but that was my fault.I have not had an issue with the bag latches on mine either. A lot of riding and a lot of use, including stuffing them a lot. So much stuffing that on trips I would sometimes put "safety straps" around them to make sure they didn't pop open on the road. And that was with the small lids.