Lost a sidebag and its not what you think

[TheAxeman]

Saturday night as I was on my way to Mr and Mrs. COTA's house for a scrumptious dinner I hit a pretty serious hole in the road and next thing I heard was a loud scraping/bouncing-down-the-road noise. As I looked in my rearview mirror I could see the reflective stickers on my right sidebag as the bag was tumbling, bouncing, and sliding down the road. [SIZE=18pt]WTF!!!![/SIZE] Of course my first thought was that the lock had fallen out because of loose screws but I knew that I had definitely permatexed them when I first got the bike and had checked them numerous times afterward. After pulling over and realizing my flashlight was in the bouncing bag, I had to search around a little bit on this pitch black country road using passing car headlights to find it. What I found was a severely rashed bag with the lock intact and the bag closed. Since putting the bags on last, the bike has been from NY to NH, CT, RI, and MA at all speeds on all manner of roads without a problem. We had done the RIDE TO THE ROCK ride earlier in the day without issue. COTA , who lives in RI, was gracious enough to hook me up with a set of hitch pins which I installed in his driveway this morning and I then proceeded to put another 200 miles on the bike going to Cape Cod and then back to Long Island without a problem. Now the question.....How could the bag simply fly off the bike with the bag latched? Has it happened to anybody else? Anybody want to speculate? Its getting to the point where it wouldn't be an FJR ride without some sort of drama.....

 

[Hit the Road Jack]

Edit: re-read your post. Am I to understand that you did have the hitch-pins installed as below? Wow, that is bizarre!

I can only guess that you either had in excess of 20 lbs. in the bag, or were exceeding 80 mph, both expressly prohibited by Yamaha on the placard inside the bag.

 

[Geezer]

Sorry that you scratched up your side case. On the bright side, the mounting hooks didn't break off while it was bouncing and sliding.

I suggest that you remove the hitch pins and try to force the bag off to see how it could happen.

 

[Zorlac]

I suggest that you remove the hitch pins and try to force the bag off to see how it could happen.

Have you done this test and found that it's possible to dislodge the bag on your FJR when properly secured as designed?I've checked mine pretty vigorously after attaching them and they've stayed put so I kinda thought the hitch pin was overkill, maybe not?

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

How could the bag simply fly off the bike with the bag latched? Anybody want to speculate?

Check the amount of engagement of the moveable tongue at the rear of the bag -- does it travel sufficiently far into the frame to secure the bag?

The inner mechanism (worked by the handle) has been known to slip a tooth or two...

 

[Bungie]

I've never had a bag come off, but I still did the pin mod. Our roads up here just suck and its a real possibility of losing a bag.

That being said, I have noticed that my bags have loosened up quite a bit since I got bought the bike in May of 08.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

That being said, I have noticed that my bags have loosened up quite a bit since I got bought the bike in May of 08.

FJRs came new (in the crate) with several shims to adjust the lower front mount for fit.

 

[Motorad]

That being said, I have noticed that my bags have loosened up quite a bit since I got bought the bike in May of 08.

FJRs came new (in the crate) with several shims to adjust the lower front mount for fit.

charasmatic,

Please elaborate about these adjustable shims. So there is a setup step that is supposed to be performed by the dealer? Can we check the adjustment?

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

charasmatic,Please elaborate about these adjustable shims. So there is a setup step that is supposed to be performed by the dealer? Can we check the adjustment?

There comes, with the luggage (so, I guess they're not in the bike crate? -- or, at least, weren't years ago...) 4, IIRC, stainless steel rectangular shims -- each with 2 holes through which the fwd. mt. attaching bolts pass. The shims (if used) would be installed between the lower front luggage mount and the frame piece (rear footpeg mount).

The dealer (usually) mounts the luggage.

I think the operative terms would be: "Shim as necessary."

Well, I can see now -- that this only applies to Gen Is.... :huh:

 

[Constant Mesh]

'06 and later probably don't have shims. For the earlier models the lower mounting bracket was installed with two bolts and had shims available to make small in/out adjustments in the bracket position.

 

[Bungie]

FJRs came new (in the crate) with several shims to adjust the lower front mount for fit.

Hey, thats great, but mine hasn't seen the inside of a crate in 6 years

It's on my list of stuff to take care of over the winter.

 

[Wee Willy]

Here's an idea: if the pin holds the bag high by supporting some of the bag's weight, it would sit higher than if its full weight were supported by the top hangers alone...the design condition. This would leave some possibility the top hangers could come free under load. Plastic and metal flex under load and the result may be enough to free the top hangers.

If that's what happened, the next question is why did the pin not keep the bag attached to the frame? And when did it quit working? So, where was the pin? Was it gone? With the bag? Was there any failure of the plastic around where the hole was drilled in the bag? In the metal around the hole in the frame support? Put some pictures up.

W2

 

[TheAxeman]

How could the bag simply fly off the bike with the bag latched? Anybody want to speculate?

Check the amount of engagement of the moveable tongue at the rear of the bag -- does it travel sufficiently far into the frame to secure the bag?

The inner mechanism (worked by the handle) has been known to slip a tooth or two...

I'm beginning to think that was the case because after reattaching the bag I wasn't able to pull it off even after yanking on it pretty vigorously. The handle has never made an audible "click" when securing the bag and now doesn't rest fully flush with the bag but it does seem to be engaged. The setup that HIT THE ROAD JACK shows above are the exact pins that COTA set me up with. There is absolutely no way they can come off now. After closer inspection of the bag, there is about a 1 1/2" hairline crack in the lid on the top right edge where it seals. The bag only had a rainsuit, an extra pair of gloves, and some tools in it so there wasn't any real weight to it. I rarely remove the bags so I'm not sure what would cause wear on the internal mechanism but when I compared the three teeth of the gear on the lower left side of the handle with COTA's '07 they do appear worn or "shorter".

Forget the crap inside the bag that you might lose, I'm just thankful that it didn't come flying off earlier in the afternoon when we were in heavy traffic doing 70 mph on the interstate. The way the thing was bouncing down the road there is a real possibility that it could go through someones windshield and kill them....I would encourage everyone to add the pins as extra security. It took all of about 5 minutes to drill each side and I'm sorry I waited until it was to late to do so.

 

[cota95]

How could the bag simply fly off the bike with the bag latched? Anybody want to speculate?

Check the amount of engagement of the moveable tongue at the rear of the bag -- does it travel sufficiently far into the frame to secure the bag?

The inner mechanism (worked by the handle) has been known to slip a tooth or two...

Forget the crap inside the bag that you might lose, I'm just thankful that it didn't come flying off earlier in the afternoon when we were in heavy traffic doing 70 mph on the interstate. The way the thing was bouncing down the road there is a real possibility that it could go through someones windshield and kill them....I would encourage everyone to add the pins as extra security.

I know what you mean! I had to take a run down to my office Sunday afternoon. I started to put my helmet on then it hit me-holy crap, my bags are not pinned on anymore, I gave you my pins! I found some heavy duty tie wraps so I did get my little ride in without endangering the motoring public. :yahoo:

 

[TheAxeman]

Oh, those were the pins off your own bike! I thought you had found your surplus supply of them as you were boxing up your stuff for the move. Go find the finest pair available on the market today and I'll gift them to you for Christmas.

 

[Fred W]

+1 on the use of these pins. I just got mine (cheap) from the local true value hardware store. They are just zinc plated. They have them in those drawers with all the other hardware.

I'd love to find some made from stainless steel, but the ones I have aren't rusting so I guess it's fairly moot. I did have to replace one once. It came loose somehow after having removed the bags for some maintenance (probably due to operator error). Probably worth having a few spares around.

 

[cota95]

Oh, those were the pins off your own bike! I thought you had found your surplus supply of them as you were boxing up your stuff for the move. Go find the finest pair available on the market today and I'll gift them to you for Christmas.

All set Chris, already replaced them. You were the guy that a couple of hundred miles to go to get home.

 

[garauld]

Yup, great idea - I bought a pair today on my way home from work...

 

[mtnhigh]

I have noticed that the bags seem a little loose lately, so I'm adding the pins to the winter service list.

Sorry about the scratched bag. that sucks! Hopefully it still waterproof.