Ammo box saddlebags

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Sep 8, 2008
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Bartlesville Ok
This is another post from the other motorbike site I wanted to share.

I wanted some stainless 5/16" X 10-24 J-bolts (6) to hold (2)30-cal. ammo boxes on the sides of a carrier on the green monster. Not to be--The best nut and bolt place in Tulsa said there isn't such thing. I found a piece of 3/16" stainless rod left from my model boat racing/building days. WOW- There are my J-bolts. Then I uprooted my milling vice and installed a 4-jaw lathe chuck sans the backplate on a rotary indexing table with vertical/horizontal base on the mill. . Then came a short 1" square key stock into which I ran a 3/16" mill the 5/16 and withdrew 3/32" for half the diameter and then rotated 180 deg. leaving me a bending form. Didn't work worth a (darn). Hammered a 5/16" bolt into a partially bent rod and completed with the vice. OK ! Chopped to length and tried to thread. GEEEZ ! OK then I figured "Hey- I am creative-resourceful-inventive, 'cause it says so on my resume. Spotted a pile of 1/4" U-bolts and grabbed one. put nuts on it and forced her little legs apart with a cold chisel and stuck in a 5/16" stud and beat it to shape and squeezed. VICTORY ! Chopped off one side and now all I gotta do is 5 more. I completed the job yesterday with the boxes painted Hunter Green to match the bike and it works great. The lip on the lids next to the carrier had to be trimmed on the chop saw to about 1/4" long so it would close. The ammo boxes are rubber gasketed and should be waterproof for tools and likesuch. It does look a bit cobby like early Brit M/C's but that's OK for a utility vehicle.
 
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I was thinking about using ammo cans as saddle bags aswell. Let me know how it turns out!
 
Ammo cans will sweat & the condensation inside will rust items stored in them. I was in Vietnam for a year, & you don't want to know what some ammo looked like when we opened a can.
 
Maybe the ones made in the '60s, but I have been keeping my personal ammo in a 7.62 mm box since 1991 and I have never had any problems.
 
I'm w/hough on that. Use a pack of silica gel beads (found in new sneakers). You can dry them out in an oven and reuse! I actually thought of using the cans to hold batteries and going electric before seeing this site!
 
Hey William, i like where your headed with this, the 50 cal cans should add some SERIOUS storage capacity.

I have a couple of the thinner 7.62mm cans, i have been thinking of putting the 12v battery to my lights in one, and my tools in the other.

I've been playing with this idea for a few months now and i think its time for me to just do it already... Besides, I've been looking for an excuse to get a larger box and more ammo for some time now lol :13:

Post pics when your done, I'll do the same.
 
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