Stuck Seat

[Thomas Steele]

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this and I admit it's been a long time since I've posted anything (sorry...), but I have a problem and I know this is the group to help me.

 

In the cold weather we've been having and all the snow and ice, I had to park the beast ('03 V11 LeMans) for a couple weeks. When I went to restart the battery was too low and I couldn't start it. I put it on the trickle charger and a couple days later, no better. Now I need to take the battery out so I can have it looked at. Problem is, I can get the bloody seat off. This is an old problem that I have ignored for about 18 months. I turn the key and can hear the mechanism move but the seat will not budge. I have no idea what is blocking it and I cannot get it to come off.

 

Any suggestions?? I'm tired of having my wife drive me the 20 miles to the ferry each day to get to work (and I really don't want to take the bus).

[jrt]

My bike has a similar behavior. The seat isn't stuck, but it doesn't come off easily.

What I do is engage (disengage?) the lock...ok, I turn the key... then push forward pretty strongly while lifting the back of the seat. Basically, I grip it right underneath the cowl. If it is really sticky, I give the cowl a glancing forward blow with the palm of my hand. Not enough to damage anything, just to jar it a bit.

Hope that helps.

Jason

 

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this and I admit it's been a long time since I've posted anything (sorry...), but I have a problem and I know this is the group to help me.

 

In the cold weather we've been having and all the snow and ice, I had to park the beast ('03 V11 LeMans) for a couple weeks. When I went to restart the battery was too low and I couldn't start it. I put it on the trickle charger and a couple days later, no better. Now I need to take the battery out so I can have it looked at. Problem is, I can get the bloody seat off. This is an old problem that I have ignored for about 18 months. I turn the key and can hear the mechanism move but the seat will not budge. I have no idea what is blocking it and I cannot get it to come off.

 

Any suggestions?? I'm tired of having my wife drive me the 20 miles to the ferry each day to get to work (and I really don't want to take the bus).

[mznyc]

Thomas,

Do you know about the fast idle/seat spring swap?

[Thomas Steele]

Thomas,

Do you know about the fast idle/seat spring swap?

 

Got me on that one. I've never heard of it.

[Thomas Steele]

My bike has a similar behavior. The seat isn't stuck, but it doesn't come off easily.

What I do is engage (disengage?) the lock...ok, I turn the key... then push forward pretty strongly while lifting the back of the seat. Basically, I grip it right underneath the cowl. If it is really sticky, I give the cowl a glancing forward blow with the palm of my hand. Not enough to damage anything, just to jar it a bit.

Hope that helps.

Jason

 

I tried smacking it. I tried prying it - though without breaking any of the plastic. Still not working....

[mznyc]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the help.I got it open by gaining access to the latch mount through the rear fender,Removed the half fender underneath,loosed the nuts holding the latch mount from underneath and the latch gave loose right away!

Thanks,

Another fix for all!

Michael

This is how I fixed mine,later on I realized I was trying to unlock it with the helmet lock! Duh!

There is a belief here that the factory switched the fast idle spring and the seat release spring.Many people here have flipped them and have had no problems since.

Here;s some links that should help,

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...p;hl=seat+latch

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...p;hl=seat+latch

[Skeeve]

There is a belief here that the factory switched the fast idle spring and the seat release spring.Many people here have flipped them and have had no problems since.

 

I don't know if "belief" is the correct term: when the fast idle lever returns to off on its own, and the seat latch lock is soooo stiff to turn you can feel the key about to twist off in it, well, you decide...

 

Push down on the back of the seat directly above the actual latch mechanism while turning the key; it will take pressure off of the latch so that twisting the key retracts the latch pin instead of just stretching that long cable. I find this is still necessary for ease of use even after making the spring swap. So, "press on back of seat, twist key, pull up on rear seat edge, release key, pull seat back & off" is the sequence that works for me.

 

And thanks to everyone here for telling me where the seat latch release was back when I first came to v11LM.com: I was trying to unlock the helmet latch at first too!

[Thomas Steele]

This is how I fixed mine,later on I realized I was trying to unlock it with the helmet lock! Duh!

There is a belief here that the factory switched the fast idle spring and the seat release spring.Many people here have flipped them and have had no problems since.

Here;s some links that should help,

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...p;hl=seat+latch

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...p;hl=seat+latch

 

Thanks. I will certainly do the spring swap as soon as I figure out how to get the seat off. It will fix two of the most frustrating tings on my bike at once. I've made no mods so far on my bike. Maybe it's time to start. I've only had it 4 years/40K miles (or so: frankly, the speedo died over three years ago at 11,300!).

[Guest ratchethack]

Thomas, I had the same seat release problem about 5 years ago. I reckon I've noticed at least a half-dozen posts of the same thing since then.

 

2 things I found were 100% effective and reliable in my case:

 

1. To get out of your current fix, reach underneath the rear of the right-hand side cover where it meets the muffler/pillion peg hanger, where you will find the cable shroud for the seat release. While turning the seat release key full counter-clockwise as you normally would, pull the cable shroud down about an inch or so. This will give the cable a few mm more travel, and release the seat. Since this takes both hands, you might need someone else to push down and pull up gently on the rear of the seat at the same time for it to work.

 

2. To ensure this never happens again, you can attach a small wrap of a bit of sheet metal about 3 mm long around the cable end at the seat release to make a little "sleeve", effectively shortening the cable by ~3 mm, which will in turn, give the latch ~3 mm more movement in the release direction. If this works as well for you as it did for me, you won't ever have another problem with it.

 

NOTE: The World Famous Skeeve Spring Swap is truly a Thing of Beauty and a Joy Forever.

[mznyc]

If RH's method doesn't work for you,..

 

"Thanks. I will certainly do the spring swap as soon as I figure out how to get the seat off."

 

[size="5"]QUOTE (mznyc @ Nov 12 2006, 03:28 PM) *

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the help.I got it open by gaining access to the latch mount through the rear fender,Removed the half fender underneath,loosed the nuts holding the latch mount from underneath and the latch gave loose right away![/size]

[Thomas Steele]

I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions and I want to officially apologize for anyone I annoyed by crossposting. As it turns out, I received different responses on each of the subforums, so it really did help me.

 

Here is what I finally did to resolve the problem, as well as all the things that did not resolve the problem.

 

1) I greased the latch release lock and key. This did nothing.

2) I pushed, pounded, and abused the seat while holding the lock open - with the kind assistance of the lovely wife. Nothing.

3) Same as above while wiggling and prying the seat. Nope.

4) I disassembled the lock mechanism and pulled on the cable with pliers to release the latch. This had the same result as above.

5) I removed the rear fender assembly to access the latch mechanism but was unable to budge the latch.

6) I swore and kicked at the bike, but I really had little hope in this one working.

7) Finally, I pried up the seat enough to see, with the aid of a flashlight and my son's strong muscles, the latch mechanism. It sits high in the rear and you can see the cable end from peering through the lefthand side. I took a long screwdriver and pushed the cable end toward the latcha dn was able to free the latch. This was the solution that finally worked.

 

After gaining access, I switched the latch return spring with the fast-idle return spring (which was suggested many times here) and added a zip tie to the end of the cable between the cable end cap and the latch mechanism. This takes up the slack in the cable. My guess is that the cable had worked its way loose out the the forked end of the latch mechanism, so all I was doing with the key was moving the cable in the housing. The cable must have been loose (I can't verify that because I may have pushed it loose with the screwdriver). I also closed up the forks a little so the cable could not work itself loose again.

 

Once again, thank you for all the suggestions and help and forgive me for the crosspost.

[mikev]

This happened to me right after I bought my guzzi.  The former owner and I started to take the back end apart and wasted a lot of time without success.  I somehow found this forum post and based on all the responses, I solved the problem.  Thanks Everyone!  Like many others here, the root cause is the spring fell off the release latch.  I have a fiber optic probe which I stuck under seat toward the very back on left side of the bike.  The probe light illuminated the latch assembly.  I slid ice pick in and triggered the latch to release.  Once seat was off I wired the spring onto the latch to stop it from sliding off again.

 

[po18guy]

Since the seat is applying upward pressure at 90º to the latch, I give a good push down on the seat at the strap (or the passenger section if the cover is off) and then turn the key. Once the load is removed, the mechanism can ("should") work as intended. As to springs, I switched the idle spring out, but I think I used one of the stainless springs from my collection. I never throw a spring away. All pump bottles, from medication to hand soap to shampoo, have stainless springs in them.

[worthyperformance]

ratchethack's 11-JAN-2009 post worked for me:
"1. To get out of your current fix, reach underneath the rear of the right-hand side cover where it meets the muffler/pillion peg hanger, where you will find the cable shroud for the seat release. While turning the seat release key full counter-clockwise as you normally would, pull the cable shroud down about an inch or so. This will give the cable a few mm more travel, and release the seat. Since this takes both hands, you might need someone else to push down and pull up gently on the rear of the seat at the same time for it to work."
However, rather than employing his long-term fix, I simply bent the latch arm a bit (+/- 3mm) so the latch completely opens when I turn the key (counterclockwise). My latch arm was bent a bit the wrong way anyway so the cable angle is ever-so-slightly better now too.