Well, I'm a bit embarrassed at this one but here it goes:
About 6 weeks ago I removed my body panels and seat to service the battery and to examine the starter relay as possible sources of my bike not starting. Well, long story short, haven't had time to replace the starter relay, which I'm pretty sure is the issue, so I put the seat back on to keep dust from collecting underneath but I do so without putting the panels back on. The seat is now locked in and I can't get it off cause the key/unlock mechanism is affixed to the body panel, you know, that wire that gets pulled when you turn the key that disengages the lock and allows you to lift up the seat. I tried poking around the lock mechanism under the seat to see if I could unlatch it but to no avail. Has anyone ever done this b4?? What did you do to get the seat off? Thanks
ive pulled on the cable affixed to teh cylinder, ( after removing cylinder/mechanism) that worked for me
Try the "bent screwdriver trick" mentioned in THIS OLD THREAD (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=10614.0). I could have sworn that somebody posted a picture with a screwdriver back then, but it must have been in a different thread.
I've managed to do the screwdriver trick with just a small straight watchmakers-type screwdriver. You have to push quite hard because you need to kink the cable (it cant slide in the sheath obviously because the lock is on the other end!)
"Today on 'THIS OLD THREAD' we'll be discussing...."
Sorry having a " Bob Villa" moment.... now to go around annoying people that actually do the work by asking dumb questions.....Just like Bob...
Ok I'm fine now...
I never took a pic of it Kerry.. I guess I could but the description is pretty easy to go by... The shaft of the screwdriver I think was maybe 9-10 inches long and the bend was probably 3-4 inches from the business end of the screwdriver...maybe a 10- 15 degree bend....
If I get bored I'll get out in the garage and take a pic...
Well guys, that was a lot easier than I thought. Last night when I realized the seat was locked in, it was dark, I only had a little bit of light in the garage and it was difficult to see the part that had to be finagled. When I went out this afternoon, with the help of Kerry's pictures in the OLD THREAD he gave, I simply approached from the right side (rear brake side) of the bike with a screwdriver and pushed the circular plastic piece (the piece that the cable normally pulls on when you use the key) to retract the plungers that lock in the seat. It was too easy. I totally panicked over an extremely simple thing.
I did not need a bent screwdriver as someone in the old thread mentioned b/c I did not have to maneuver around the side fairings as they were not on the bike, only the seat was. It was literally as simple as bending down to look underneath the seat, locate the piece, and push it. That was it.
Thanks again for your help, and, though I totally would've understood if you had, for not laughing at me and this simple problem. Cheers all! :cheers: You guys are great!
I've done it once too! Nothing to be ashamed of, I think. We all have "bad days"
I took the rear fender off (6 screws) and got to the locker system form there. Took me about 10 minutes. Next time, hopefully there will be none, I'll do it the way you did it. From the rear brake side using screwdriver.
cheers
KaMeL
Almost did that myself.. Reassembyling the entire bike and had swapped out the front forks for kat. Had to have a new key made for the triple. misplaced the old key . Put the seat on and almost locked it when i realized the key i had wouldnt unlock it..Searched the house and three hours later found where the gf had moved it too. :mad:
If the screwdriver method doesnt work you should be able to unscrew the lock mech from the bike frame which should then allow you to pull on it to unlatch it.
I realized this morning that I couldn't unlock my seat because I had disconnected the seat lock cable the last time I was working on the taillight. I tried taking out every bolt I could find in the vicinity and still couldn't get the lock in a position that I could unhitch it. I even called the stealership to see if they had suggestions (of course they said that I should bring it in and leave it with them...). Thank God for this forum though! I did a search, found this thread, and Kerry's suggestion helped me pop the lock in no time! (I used a wire coat hanger). :cheers:
I would FEEL dumb too.