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Thomas Steele

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    2003 V11 Lemans

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Didn't mean to annoy you, which is why I apologized at the beginning. I'm not sure who else was annoyed or why it was annoying, but I needed an answer and I got different answers on different subforums. Although that's not an excuse, it actually helped me solve the problem. Regardless, I will not cross-post again and I do not advocate it. But I also realize different people inhabit different subforums.
  4. Fair question. Answer is: Tried it. Also tried smacking seat while turning key, etc. There were some other suggestions in the other forums that I will also try. Thanks for the ideas.
  5. Thanks. I'll try this. If my battery is under 9 volts, obviously I need to change it or get it fixed. That's one reason why I'm trying to get the seat off. I could jump start it using the starter motor method.
  6. 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!).
  7. Dang! Didn't work. I put a little WD-40. I also tried a little Mobile-1 on the key. My hands are stinging from smacking the seat every which way. I've also tried prying the seat with a large screwdriver, though too much leverage is going to crack the plastic. Still nothing. And still open to ideas....Thanks!
  8. I tried smacking it. I tried prying it - though without breaking any of the plastic. Still not working....
  9. Got me on that one. I've never heard of it.
  10. 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).
  11. Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this (I also posted to the technical forum) 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).
  12. 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). --- Thomas Steele
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