Seat front latch removal

Hi

Getting to know my new to me Silver Wing and done all the basic servicing and a rear tyre change.

One job I completed was replacement of the the seat gas strut. This was fine however the strut pushes up slightly the seat when closed showing a gap.

I have found that the front latch wasn't working and holding the centre of the seat down. Removed engine top cover. On investigation I could see the latch spring was only on at one end. Removed the spring but not enough space to use long nose pliers to reapply it. ideally I need to remove the latch to work on it.

Took out the latch mounting bolts but found the mountings appear to be sandwiched between the cross strut and the luggage compartment surround. It looks like a big job to remove the whole luggage compartment but is this the only way to remove the latch.

Thanks for any advice

David

I took a good hard look at taking the latch out. I also thought about tearing the seat apart and removing the U-bolt that latches in. Finally, I just took a metal cutting saw and cut the bottom of the U off. No more fears about the front latch not working. And really, it was a little bit of overkill on the part of the Honda engineers to put a front latch on the seat. The seat stays closed and latched with only the back latch.

This post is for the benefit of future readers who are struggling with the front latch not working properly.  

Mine wasn't engaging properly and before I started fiddling with it, I decided to remove the entire top/seat plate holding the "U" latching catch.  After all, our Burgman AN400 only had a rear locking mechanism.  

After removal of the plate, it made no difference to the operation of the seat's closing and locking capabilities so I just bagged, labelled and stored it away in my SWing parts box.  It's 100% intact so totally re-attachable if needed and I have a a backup plate should the rear one pooch for some reason.

sonuvabug wrote:

(Snip)…,I decided to remove the entire top/seat plate holding the "U" latching catch.  After all, our Burgman AN400 only had a rear locking mechanism.  (Snip)

Did you remove the vinyl seat cover and foam padding to remove the latch? If so I suppose you have access to a pneumatic stapler. Damn impossible to get staples to penetrate the seat pan using a manual stapler.

I too have trouble with my front latch. I loosened the U-bolt but think the permanent solution is to cut or remove it. Thanks for the tips.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

sonuvabug wrote:

(Snip)…,I decided to remove the entire top/seat plate holding the "U" latching catch.  After all, our Burgman AN400 only had a rear locking mechanism.  (Snip)

Did you remove the vinyl seat cover and foam padding to remove the latch? If so I suppose you have access to a pneumatic stapler. Damn impossible to get staples to penetrate the seat pan using a manual stapler.

No I didn't Tim.  I didn't have to as my plate bolts are in plain sight and easily accessed.  

It just dawned on me, I have a Corbin seat and the "U-bolt" plate bolts are simply sitting in the open. On re-reading the above posts, it reads like the stock seat's mounting bolts are hidden "inside" the seat below the bottom surface.  My bad for not picking up on this.