since im holding off till winter to buy my honda hard bags, i went ahead and got some firstgear soft bags for now, since im going on a week trip in july. i hate the way soft bags mount. the flap, never stay where you need them, and sometimes cant get the straps under the seat. well i decided to go get some 3/8" round stock, and some 1/4" plate stock and see what i could come up with. and here are the results.. a nice soft saddle bag solution. the brackets stay in place, and the bags can come off by 3 wing nuts. im no welder by any means, but all in all the brackets came out pretty good.. i got one side completely finished, the other side is about 80% there. i modified the bags, with some aluminum structure on the inside, ran a bolt through them, silicon for water tight, put a piece of sheet metal on the outside, and put a nut on it.. so now you just have a threaded portion showing.. stick threaded portion through mounting tabs on the bracket, put wing nuts on and your off. i still have to edge the sheet metal on the back of the bag with something to keep the sharp edges from cutting something, or me, but its coming along well. what do you all think?