I've been waiting for a set for my 2015 N1K since late October -- the new color black-on-black model. They're supposed to be shipped the first week of January ...finally. Kawasaki has taken its sweet time producing these. There are lots of green-trimmed and blue-trimmed bags available, but not the new metallic black color. How hard is a simple color change for the trim?
THEY FINALLY CAME! The OEM KQR 28L bags ordered for my bike arrived at my dealer last week! I had them installed on Friday, just in time to ride today (Saturday). It took about two hours. The original grab handles on the tail are replaced with handles that are designed to accommodate the saddlebag mounts. And, yes, two holes have to be cut in the rear tail facia where the new handles/bag mount is bolted into the existing sub-frame structure. It's genius. Kawasaki has scored on the engineering for this. The dealer's staff did a masterful job with the install. And the re-keying of the bag lock to the bike's ignition key was done right there by the installer. Easy peasy.
I rode 265 miles today, down through the Lake Mead Recreation Area on a really great road with curves that keep on coming. The bags do not affect handling, but I added one-half a turn on the pre-load to handle the extra weight. I felt no wallowing in tight, high-speed (80 mph) corners. An unexpected benefit is that the bags' lower mount point works to dampen footpeg vibration at highway speeds (75-95 mph), working much like bar weights for the handle bars.
The trim pieces for these bags didn't ship with the bags. They should arrive this coming week. They're be the sparkly black color to match the 2015 black-on-black color, but a part of me kind of wishes I'd gone with the Kawa green accent trim to match the Ninja logo. The bags are well designed, but look plain-jane in stock appearance. I'll be adding reflective decals and perhaps some other accents over time to give them some eye candy appearance -- tastefully done, of course.
I am enjoying this bike more and more every time I go riding.