Help please: Problem... Seat release cable broken?

[Stayfree]

​My wife was driving our 2014 RTS today and stopped for gas. When she couldn't quite figure out how to operate the seat release I went over to show her how it works. (She is new to the pilot seat and some of these things are new to her.)

As I was demonstrating how to push in the key and turn it to release the seat it suddenly 'gave' and was loose as though it has a busted cable or other mechanical failing. (Naturally I was in the process of cautioning her to be very careful and if in doubt to never force it but to back off and try again in order to keep from breaking anything.)

Since we were only about a mile from the house I followed her home and started checking to see if I could find some way to release the seat until we can get it to the dealership for repairs. Visual searching was unsuccessful so I jumped on the forum here and started searching... no luck. Went to YouTube and had no luck there either.

Interestingly enough I found lots of threads about getting into the frunk, (which still works), but nothing about manually releasing the seat in case of a cable failure.

I am hoping someone has either found a solution or can offer some suggestions.

Many thanks,

Max

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

My wife was driving our 2014 RTS today and stopped for gas. When she couldn't quite figure out how to operate the seat release I went over to show her how it works. (She is new to the pilot seat and some of these things are new to her.)

As I was demonstrating how to push in the key and turn it to release the seat it suddenly 'gave' and was loose as though it has a busted cable or other mechanical failing. (Naturally I was in the process of cautioning her to be very careful and if in doubt to never force it but to back off and try again in order to keep from breaking anything.)

Since we were only about a mile from the house I followed her home and started checking to see if I could find some way to release the seat until we can get it to the dealership for repairs. Visual searching was unsuccessful so I jumped on the forum here and started searching... no luck. Went to YouTube and had no luck there either.

Interestingly enough I found lots of threads about getting into the frunk, (which still works), but nothing about manually releasing the seat in case of a cable failure.

I am hoping someone has either found a solution or can offer some suggestions.

Many thanks,

Max

For this to work you have to BRAVE .... you need a strong flash light & a thick/sturdy coat hanger.... cut and straighten the hanger ... with pliers make a 100 degree bend at one end ( like a semi hook ) . Now this is going to make you nervous , but the seat flap in the front is quite flexible & STURDY ........you need to bend it back so you can see the LATCH mechanism ........it will be visible from where to seat contacts the glove box at the Bend ...... the seat latch goes forward ( towards the front of the bike ) you need to pull it forward .... a very thin screwdriver might work better ..... Joel the Biker just posted about wanting an electric SEAT opener .... I devised a cable release ...read it on His thread .......... At SPYDERQUEST on the last Day I was taking my vendoring stuff down , when a lady approached me, saying someone there had told Her to find me and ask about getting Her FRUNK open because her purse WITH HER KEYS were locked in Her FRUNK .... She had the old frame RS Spyder .... I reached under the handlebars by the steering column on the left side and yanked on the cable and the FRUNK latch released, she was ................... Mike

[cptjam]

Take a long thin screwdriver, release catch. Remove post.
IMG_0601.jpg
Bronze screwdriver is touching release catch. Pry up side of seat, touch catch, raise seat. Now, press in on key and turn. If no action, cable is broken. Press and turn the other way, see if Frunk opens. If not, ignition key assembly is shot.

[youngers]

hey guy , did you get into the seat area ?

[Stayfree]

BLUEKNIGHT911 & cptjam,

Thanks for those replies. Bravery is not a problem since I have wrenched and welded for the last half century or so.

I have, since day one, thought there should have been a better release mechanism design on these things but every time I think about looking into it... well, crap, I just go riding instead.

I have to work today but I'll bring home a welding rod to shape into a release tool and get into that thing. You are right about how flexible that seat pan is, I have 'tested' it when I had it up to put on the back rest and was surprised at how much it will bend.

cptjam, thanks for that picture. After all this time I, for some reason, was thinking the seat latch was on the right side, but when I saw the picture I realized just how close it is to the filler neck.

Next farkle will have to be an external gas cap door, (which I have been putting off for way too long), and some manual release cables.

Thanks a lot and I'll post the results soon.

Max

[Stayfree]

When one removes their head from there ass....

After looking for the latch I went back to the picture and sure enough the latch is on the right side and behind the oil filler and not the gas filler. Duhhh, I knew that, I swear I did. (It just looks different depending on which way one is looking at it.

I lifted the seat far enough to find the latch, took a long screwdriver and put forward pressure on the mechanism, tapped harshly on the seat cushion and the seat popped loose.
I removed the latch post for now and will reinstall it after the repair work.

Since I have the extended warranty I'll have the wife call the local dealer and see if they have the parts in stock. If it ain't covered or they balk I'll get the parts and fix it myself.

Interesting that my Champion sidecar has an electric latch with a cable pull back up in case of failure. This thing will soon have a cable pull back up release and so will the frunk.

Further checking and the seat latch doesn't operate when I turn the key and now the key won't turn in the other direction to release the frunk. I'll tackle that later and it sounds like the key assembly is shot.

My wife says "THANK YOU!!". Now she can ride again.

Again, my thanks for the help.

Max

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

When one removes their head from there ass....

After looking for the latch I went back to the picture and sure enough the latch is on the right side and behind the oil filler and not the gas filler. Duhhh, I knew that, I swear I did. (It just looks different depending on which way one is looking at it.

I lifted the seat far enough to find the latch, took a long screwdriver and put forward pressure on the mechanism, tapped harshly on the seat cushion and the seat popped loose.
I removed the latch post for now and will reinstall it after the repair work.

Since I have the extended warranty I'll have the wife call the local dealer and see if they have the parts in stock. If it ain't covered or they balk I'll get the parts and fix it myself.

Interesting that my Champion sidecar has an electric latch with a cable pull back up in case of failure. This thing will soon have a cable pull back up release and so will the frunk.

Further checking and the seat latch doesn't operate when I turn the key and now the key won't turn in the other direction to release the frunk. I'll tackle that later and it sounds like the key assembly is shot.

My wife says "THANK YOU!!". Now she can ride again.

Again, my thanks for the help.

Max

Glad it worked for you ..... if you saw my other post on this, there is any easy way to attach a cable , so you no longer have to use a KEY ..... Better push very,very hard on the dealer fix thing ....that lock ( if broken ) is pretty expens I also know how to do a FRUNK cable release ............. Mike

[irvin48]

i made secondary hidden latch pulls for the seat and frunk right after i got mine.
wasnt waiting for a problem. i think mike had talked about them.

[Highwayman2013]

You can put a pull wire on the catch or just remove the part from the bottom of the seat that goes into the catch. PS. put a pull wire on the frunk catch while you are at it.