Maximum opening angle of OEM saddlebag?

[Tarkus]

Hey guys, the bike I bought about six months ago included the factory bags, but the internal cord system that keeps the bag from opening too far was replaced by the previous owner and the bags only open about 60°. Am I correct that a 90° opening is possible without straining the hinges?

[Grum]

Here's a picture of my 8gen pannier fully open, pretty close to 90deg. Would imagine the oem 6gen to be similar. The hinges are just pins, so guess you could open to any angle that suits, even greater than 90deg if you wanted, perhaps even up to 180deg!

If you are able to detach the cord you'll soon see how far they can open without causing any strain on the hinge.

 

 

[rhoderage]

My 6g probably only goes to 60, not near as flat as Grum's

 

Thats a great idea for the bags to lay flat like that.  I bought mine secondhand though and they had been re painted so its possible the retaining straps aren't in their original state

[Dash]

The hinges have hard stops just past 90 degrees IIRC. With the bags off the bike, I temporarily remove the cords for packing and unpacking, being careful not to stress the hard stops.