If you ever owned a Harley with hard bags....

The older style Harley hardbags which were stock on the Electra Glide, Street Glide and Road Glide had a hinged pivoting latching system which was designed I believe by a descendant of the Marquis de Sade.  The older system was never what you could call user friendly, you had to lift the hinge plate, lift the inner cover edge, pivot the outer section up while pulling the inner section back to clear the lock plates, then flip the top outward and let it hang. 

In 2014 Harley came out with the a new design, it is operable with one hand, allowing the driver to reach back and open the lid while riding to put something in or take something out of the bag. In my opinion it is one of Harley's finest improvements.

 Can you order them for an earlier model bike? I was told no by three different dealers. They say the new bags are an entirely different design from the older models and will not mount.

This is one hundred percent correct, I know this because My Ultra Limited (2012) was parked next to a 2016 Ultra Limited. So I stole a bag off the new model while the owner was getting us a beer and placed it on mine. The lower support bar is the same and the bag fits snugly to it, the bag has the same clearances as the older bag and it fits into position perfectly.

The bag, like the older on uses the same twist pin securing pins to hold it in place. Here's the difference, the front pin is located in the same position, goes through the bag hole and locks the bag in place as it should. The rear pin is about a inch further forward and off height from the older bag mount holes.  That appears to be the only difference. 

So it looks like if you wanted the new style bags, you could have them, it would require sealing the rear pin hole and drilling a new one. The lock pin washer may need to be trimmed since it is closer to the catch than the original would go.