Cicada Audio 14HDRING8 8″ Saddlebag Mid-Bass/Woofer Mounting Kit (2014–2023 Harley Touring)

Complete 8-inch saddlebag mid-bass mounting kit for 2014–2023 H-D® Touring – the structure, seal and finish a CMB8.S4 cut-in needs

The Cicada Audio 14HDRING8 is a complete 8-inch mid-bass/woofer saddlebag mounting kit for 2014–2023 Harley-Davidson® Touring models. It includes cut-in mounting rings, ABS moulded grilles with powder-coated metal grille inserts, form-fitted rubber moulded gaskets, a painted stainless steel stabilising brace, a pre-cut aluminium-backed damping mat and stainless steel hardware. The 14HDRINGT template kit is required to complete the install, and the HDPORT3 3-inch port is strongly recommended – both sold separately.

The 14HDRING8 is the 8-inch version of the 14HDRING10. Both kits use the same construction – brace, gaskets, damping and grilles – and both are cut using the same 14HDRINGT template, which carries traces for either driver size. The difference is the driver you're building around: the 14HDRING8 is matched to the 8-inch CMB8.S4, while the 14HDRING10 suits the 10-inch CMB10.S4 and CMB10.S4NEO.

Who This Is For

Builders adding a proper mid-bass stage to the factory saddlebags on a 2014–2023 Street Glide®, Road Glide®, Electra Glide® or Ultra Limited, using a pair of Cicada Audio CMB8.S4 drivers. Choose the 8-inch kit when you want a serious step up in low-end output from the bags while giving up less of the bag's interior to the driver and its mounting – it's the right size for touring riders who still need to pack the bags. If maximum output is the goal and luggage space is secondary, the 14HDRING10 with a 10-inch driver is the better call. If you'd rather not cut your factory bags at all, the 14HDXBAG10LID8 extended saddlebag system arrives with the bag cutouts already done.

What This Is Best For

• Turning a factory saddlebag into a speaker enclosure – a cut-in ring on its own leaves a thin, flexible bag panel carrying a high-output driver. The painted stainless steel stabilising brace stiffens the panel around the cutout so the driver's energy goes into air movement instead of into the bag shell flexing with every bass note.
• A sealed speaker-to-bag interface – the form-fitted rubber moulded gaskets close the gap between ring, driver and bag. An enclosure only works when the air inside is controlled; a leak at the mounting face lets the back wave escape and robs the bottom end the driver was chosen to deliver.
• Controlling saddlebag resonance – a large plastic bag panel rings at its own frequencies when driven hard. The pre-cut aluminium-backed damping mat adds mass to the panel and stops it buzzing along with the music, so the bass you hear comes from the cone, not the bag.
• A ported build with the HDPORT3 – the 14HDRINGT template includes guidelines for cutting the HDPORT3 3-inch right-angle aero port alongside the driver. Porting the bag tunes the enclosure for deeper, more efficient low-frequency output from the same amplifier power – Cicada's recommended configuration for this kit.
• A finished look from outside the bag – ABS moulded grilles with powder-coated metal inserts cover the cutouts and protect the drivers from road debris and gear packed against them, and every fastener is stainless steel to stand up to weather and wash days.

The Bottom Line

The 14HDRING8 is everything that goes around a CMB8.S4 to make a factory 2014–2023 Touring saddlebag perform as a speaker enclosure – bracing so the panel doesn't flex, gaskets so the enclosure seals, damping so the bag doesn't resonate and grilles so it looks finished. Pair it with the 14HDRINGT template, two CMB8.S4 drivers and the HDPORT3 port for a complete 8-inch bag stage. For maximum output with a 10-inch driver, see the 14HDRING10.

Fitment

What's Inside the 14HDRING8

The cut-in mounting rings give each CMB8.S4 a rigid, flat mounting face on the curved saddlebag panel, set to the cutout located by the 14HDRINGT template. On the road: the driver sits square and secure in the bag, so it stays sealed and rattle-free over rough surfaces and expansion joints at highway speed.

The painted stainless steel stabilising brace ties the panel around the cutout together from the inside, drilled to the alignment guides on the 14HDRINGT brace templates. On the road: when the system is pushed, the bag panel holds its shape instead of flexing with the cone, so the mid-bass stays tight rather than turning boomy and loose.

The form-fitted rubber moulded gaskets seal ring, driver and bag together. On the road: no air leaks at the mounting face, so the enclosure behaves as designed and you don't get whistling or chuffing from the cutout at high volume.

The pre-cut aluminium-backed damping mat is shaped for the bag panel rather than cut to fit by hand. On the road: the bag stops ringing in sympathy with the music, and less road and exhaust vibration reaches the driver through the shell.

The ABS moulded grilles with powder-coated metal inserts and stainless steel hardware finish the outside. On the road: the drivers are protected from stones and from whatever gets packed against them, and the hardware won't corrode through Australian summers, coastal air or wet-weather riding.

Why the Bag Needs More Than a Ring

A factory saddlebag was designed to carry luggage, not to be a speaker box. The moment an 8-inch mid-bass driver is cut into it, the bag becomes the enclosure – and an enclosure's job is to stay rigid, stay sealed and stay quiet while the cone moves. A thin bag panel flexes and resonates, and a poorly sealed mounting face leaks air; both waste amplifier power and smear the bottom end. The 14HDRING8 addresses each of these with a dedicated part: the brace for rigidity, the gaskets for the seal and the damping mat for resonance. Adding the HDPORT3 then tunes that sealed, rigid bag as a ported enclosure, extending low-frequency output from the same power. That's why Cicada sells this as a complete kit rather than a ring and grille alone.

Kit Contents and Compatibility

In the Box

• Cut-in mounting rings
• ABS moulded grilles with powder-coated metal grille inserts
• Form-fitted rubber moulded gaskets
• Painted stainless steel stabilising brace
• Pre-cut aluminium-backed damping mat
• Stainless steel hardware