Sddlebag Rattle

Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,108
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
One of my side cases seems to be loose. Both fit on the tab on the lower frame and the slotted part fits over the lugs at the top, but one side fits tightly with no play, and the other has maybe 1/8" of vertical play. When I go over bumps it rattles audibly. I've considered putting some kind of shim material over the bottom lug to take up the space (like a thin piece of rubber).

Anyone else have this problem? The bags both seem secure, and nothing has fallen off (yet).
 

Andrew Shadow

Site Supporter
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
5,069
Location
Montreal
Bike
2009 ST1300A9
You did not mention which side is looser but I would bet that it is the right-hand side. I have the same issue on my ST1300. After I determined the cause I have checked several other ST1300's and they all have the same issue to varying degrees and it is always the right-hand saddlebag that is the looser of the two. If you look at the saddlebag lower retention tab on the under-side of the saddlebag you will see that it is not smooth. It is ribbed. These ribs concentrate the force applied to the lower saddlebag support boss on the aluminum foot-peg frame. These ribs wear in to the aluminum boss and cause excessive play. Of every ST1300 I have checked the right-hand side, even if it is not very loose, is always worse than the left-hand side. I plan on building the aluminum back up with aluminum epoxy. I am also considering building up the plastic saddlebag tab with plastic epoxy to make it uniformly smooth along its length to eliminate the ribs to more evenly distribute the force.

See the below pictures of my saddlebag support bosses on the aluminum frame to illustrate what I am referring to. The first picture is the right-hand support boss and is considerably more gouged than the left-hand side.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Joined
Jun 3, 2006
Messages
3,512
Location
British Columbia
Bike
2021 RE Meteor 350
Never realized the pannier stays were another problem found on the 1300 model. A case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", since the 1100 system appears to have worked very well.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2015
Messages
1
Location
BRISBANE
Bike
2003 ST1300
I had a similar thing happen I just put a piece of garden hose on cut to fit and no more rattle :)
 
OP
OP
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,108
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
Never realized the pannier stays were another problem found on the 1300 model. A case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", since the 1100 system appears to have worked very well.
Evidently, Honda 'fixed' an 'ain't broke' feature when they 'improved' the bike.

You did not mention which side is looser but I would bet that it is the right-hand side. I have the same issue on my ST1300. After I determined the cause I have checked several other ST1300's and they all have the same issue to varying degrees and it is always the right-hand saddlebag that is the looser of the two. If you look at the saddlebag lower retention tab on the under-side of the saddlebag you will see that it is not smooth. It is ribbed. These ribs concentrate the force applied to the lower saddlebag support boss on the aluminum foot-peg frame. These ribs wear in to the aluminum boss and cause excessive play. Of every ST1300 I have checked the right-hand side, even if it is not very loose, is always worse than the left-hand side. I plan on building the aluminum back up with aluminum epoxy. I am also considering building up the plastic saddlebag tab with plastic epoxy to make it uniformly smooth along its length to eliminate the ribs to more evenly distribute the force.

See the below pictures of my saddlebag support bosses on the aluminum frame to illustrate what I am referring to. The first picture is the right-hand support boss and is considerably more gouged than the left-hand side.
Thank you! I'd not considered looking at another bike. I check the bag before every long ride, and so far wear has been pretty much imperceptible, but next winter I will either build it up the frame lug with said epoxy or plastex the side case.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
7,062
Location
Arizona
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300A
You may not be having the wear issues that you think you are having, if you remove the bags and inspect them, you will find there are several rubber bits (looks like corks) on the back and bottom side of the bags. These wear down and then allow the bags to tilt, thus causing the wear and the rattle. Check out the parts diagram and replace these rubber parts and your bags will stop rattling.
.02
 
Top Bottom