Saddlebags
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Here is the piece of big-bike strut welded to the Sporty strut.  You can see the hole is partially cut through but it is still better then nothing.  I considered welding a flat plate between the two mounting holes so the Sporty strut would press against the saddlebags the whole length of the mount but I figured it wasn't really necessary and would ugly-up the Sporty strut when you looked down on it in the installed position.  I figured better to take advantage of what little chrome was still shiny on the strut,
This is the big-bike strut welded to the Sporty strut from behind.  I melted through the Sporty strut flange a little but no one will see since it is now on the inside.  Notice that all that work to round off the big end of the Sporty strut is mostly wasted, it too is covered by this new piece.  Oh well, inspiration makes pain too.  The angle of the end of the big-bike strut was cut so it would match the angle of the shocks when mounted on the bike.  I got it pretty close, but not perfect.  The point is that if it really bothers me or when I decide to make a show bike out of my '62 I am still better off with this set of mounts already made because I can use them as a template to make a prettier set.
The final magilla with the crash bar mounted.  Another shot taken after the mounts were done so the little bracket to mount the bags at the bottom rear is already on.  Another look into the future.  Note also that I have flipped around the way the Sporty strut mounts to the bag.  At the beginning of this adventure I had the open part of the strut pressing up against the bag.  When I started cogitatin' on the front crashbar mount it became evident that it would be better to have to closed side of the flange mounted towards the bags so that the big-bike pieces would both be welded onto the Sporty strut in the same fashion.  It will look a little worse mounted on the bike because you will be able to see the open side of the rear big bike struts if you peer in between the bags way down low but it makes fabricating the mount a lot easier.  The swichero was easy-- what I had intended to be the right mount was now the left one and vice versa.  Then I welded on the little piece of the big bike strut in the front and the little bracket top mount the bags at the bottom rear and I was in business.
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