Does your Saddlebag need to be slammed to latch?

[Ages]

I've had a side bag come open while on the freeway once before. Caught it before anything was lost. Since then, I have always given the side bag a medium rap with the heel of my hand to make sure it's latched. Only once since then have I found one not completely latched. I've done it so many times now that whacking the side bag door has become a habit. A safety habit.

I have to do that with the rear compartment.

When closing my saddle bags, I give em a 'gentle' nudge with my hip, and they close and latch right up.

That works on my other side compartment. Now that I know how to adjust for better closure, I'll make sure that I don't heavy hand it.

 

[VitoNam]

When I lubricate the side-box latches I make it a point of using Dry Lube. That way dust won't stick to the mechanism making things worse.

 

[chipveres]

A drastic but workable solution: Remove the stock cables entirely. Clean and lube the latches. Wrap a piece of fishing wire leader around the place where the Bowden cable went to the latch. Bring the wire straight out through a small hole in the bodywork. Put a ring on it for finger pull. It works for us.

 

[Ages]

Well, I went to the dealership, fully expecting to be told it would be a while and that I would have to leave it if I wanted them to fix it. I walked up to the service counter, there were two people there, one left and the other asked if he could help me. I had just started explaining the problem to him when a manager stepped in and asked the guy to follow him. A few minutes later this guy who I later found to be a mechanic, sees me, walks up, and asks if he could help me. So I explained everything to him, including what I had learned on this forum. He could tell I was a bit miffed. I asked him if they could fix the latch and I was hoping it would be covered by the warranty. He got this chuckling smile on his face and said "we may not need to do that, would you mind if I try to see if I can get it to close properly. I told him, "hey man if you are willing to take a look at it, by all means, please do. But I don't think you're going to be able to get it to close."

We went out the door, where I promptly removed the bungee cord that I had holding the door partially closed. This guy had to be a whole 5'4" and couldn't have weighed more than 125 pounds soaking wet. He walked alongside the compartment, put his hip pretty close to where the pin closest to the front meets the latch, and give it a soft hip bump. He looked up at me and said, "it works fine". I told him "there is no way that door is secure." He said "well, let's see." He reached down, lifted the release handle, it clicked, and the door opened. I was amazed! He said you have to bump the sweet spot and it will close with ease every time.

To make a long story short, lol, he made sure I was able to do it myself before he left. I told him he was a God-send and that I wanted to give him a tip. He said that's not necessary sir. I made him take it and left, a very happy man, and impressed with the dealership. You know, this crow really isn't that bad!

 

[johnv50]

I am on my 4th F3 and I find that if I carefully close the bag and wiggle from side to side until the latch lines up, a gentle push will the allow the bag to latch. Slamming it shut is not good for the bag or latch.