Russell Seats taking a stance... (my rant)

[PopCycl]

We received our Russell Day-Long seat the other day and and immediately notice a problem. The "wings" on the passenger seat interfere with the operation of the saddlebag latches. When we brought it to their attention we were told that would be considered a "modification" and not an "adjustment." We would have to pay for it to be fixed. They contend the pics we sent with the order did not have the saddlebags on and they are not going to fix it. I contend every pic they show on their website shows the FJR with bags on it and they should know whether a bike has stock bags or not. I paid almost $800 dollars for this seat combo and would not expect a company of this reputation to quibble over an issue such as this. Plain and simple, the seat interferes with the function of the stock bike.



We have traded pics showing the issues and they refuse to pony up and make the change. I am not expecting this to resolve our situation but I want people to know what they can expect if they do business with Russell Seats.

This issue has been resolved 8-7-09. Please read my last post on page 4 for more info if you wish.

Pop

 

[Rick_W]

Good luck!

This is the first time I've heard of a problem with a Russell seat on a FJR (or any bike for that matter) as far as interfering with saddlebags.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Wow

That sucks.

 

[becoyote]

Wow
That sucks.

I just got my 6th Russel and 1st for the FJR. Absolutely perfect and customer service has been top notch.

Can you open the bag by pushing a little or does the seat need to come off?

Sucks either way and I am shocked that they are not taking care of it.

Really should have had it set up the way you ride it for the pics though.

 

[Ignacio]

They contend the pics we sent with the order did not have the saddlebags on and they are not going to fix it. I contend every pic they show on their website shows the FJR with bags on it and they should know whether a bike has stock bags or not.

First issue I've ever heard of with Russell.

Curious why you sent them pictures to begin with. If you sent pictures why didn't you include side bags as you run it? That seat looks particularly custom--especially with the passenger seat.

Something just doesn't seem to add up here..... :glare:

 

[Gerry.GEG]

Yes, that doesn't seem right. I paid $700 for my Rich's Custom Seat in Seattle (granted I did it in person although, FJR is a common bike and any seat maker should know it has standard bags). I would definitely be unhappy if my high-end seat maker was going to blame me for him not knowing about stock/standard side cases.

Good luck and keep at it. Squeaky wheel usually gets the oil.

 

[Bokerfork]

Maybe I'm just not fussy enough, but that hardly looks like a problem from your pic. Assuming the seat is as comfortable as it looks, I'd use my free thumb to push that seat in a millimeter or two. For as often as I would have to get in or out of my side bags, it hardly seems worth it.

Conversely, I'm surprised they don't just eat the small cost of the adjustment, especially since we aren't talking about an aftermarket alteration. Bags on or off in the original pictures really shouldn't have mattered. Had this been a BMW I'll bet they would have made allowances for it.

Just my two cents.

Mark

 

[Draggon Rider]

Is there a difference between Gen I and Gen II bags?

My lock is in the center of the handle not off to the side.

Are those stock bags?

It sucks either way, espcially since we are looking at a group buy...

EDIT: Never mind I just went and looked at my bags, I was thinking of the truck.

Now I have to take new pictures with the bags on.

 

[YukonG]

I'm wondering the same thing, can you push on the seat enough to open the latch?

Additionally, how close is the other side?

 

[Hudson]

Something's not right with your setup. I also have a 2008, and my latches have 2" of clearance in the same position as your picture.

Russell is a good company, they make a good product, and given the many FJR seats they've done here, this has to be an outlier.

In your picture, either your bags are too high or the wing is built much wider than normal. Even if the seat was lower by a few inches, it would not impact clearance.

Did you specify a wider wing, or is the body size of the passenger requiring a larger seat? Take a bird's eye picture from the top so we can see the size of the seat.

 

[user 213]

I also have a Russell seat, and had a pillion Russell seat that I bought used, which fit w/o any issues at all. It looks a lot like you asked for the passenger seat to be lowered significantly. Usually something they don't suggest. That's usually the only time they balk at adjustments, when you asked for something they didn't really want to do in the first place. Is this the case? Or did you just take the standard side pics with rider/passenger on the bike and send them in?

 

[PopCycl]

The only thing we specified was a request to minimize the wings on the passenger seat and we sent the "standard" pictures (3 without bags *cleaning* and 1 with the bags). We were told they have a formula they use based on the size/weight info supplied on the order form and it will be what it will be. My wife and I are not small people but can both ride the stock seat pretty well. As for the bags being moved, I don't know how I would go about doing that. They are completely stock. In all of my research I never heard or saw of this type of issue and I do not believe Russell or myself could have seen this coming but I do believe they have built enough seats for the FJR and being experts should have basic info that could have prevented this.

Unless Russell Seats takes at least partial ownership and helps with this issue I will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want us to pay and have lead me to believe the repair will void the comfort warranty. My wife is going to talk with them again later today to see how we can get this issue resolved.

Oh, and yes I can push on the seat and open the bags. The seat is brand new and still full form. As we ride the seat will become compressed and increase the interference. We are not asking for a huge change. Just enough to allow free operation of the bag latches. If the bags were aftermarket I could see their point but they should make this right.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

To be fair to Russell, maybe you should post the photos of your wife sitting on the bike.

I looked for a photo of my bike showing the passenger seat and side bags, but this is the only one I could find:

 

[FJRocket]

If it was me, I'd probably just take a dremel and cut 1/4 inch off the end of the saddlebag latch. That is unless I couldn't pop up the latch to just let the bag open as it is. At any rate, I think there's enough meat in the latch to shorten it and then leave the seat as is. Your pillion would probably prefer the full formed seat over a stock latch.

 

[Fred W]

You mention that you are big people. Did you request (or did they install) the "heavy weight" support system in the passenger seating? That may explain the added girth of the seat compared to some others shown.

I'm also a bit confused by your posts. Russell says that you didn't send them a picture with the bags on the bike, you later say that you did. So which was it? If they knew the bags were a part of your bike from the picture that you sent, whether it was the one with you and your wife seated on it or a separate one, then the fix should be on their dime.

But if you can get the bag latches open by pulling up on the seat wings a bit, and the seat is comfortable for your pillion as it is, I would just live with the interference. Think of it as a saftey system to keep the latches from opening while underway!! :lol:

 

[PopCycl]

You mention that you are big people. Did you request (or did they install) the "heavy weight" support system in the passenger seating? That may explain the added girth of the seat compared to some others shown.
I'm also a bit confused by your posts. Russell says that you didn't send them a picture with the bags on the bike, you later say that you did. So which was it? If they knew the bags were a part of your bike from the picture that you sent, whether it was the one with you and your wife seated on it or a separate one, then the fix should be on their dime.

But if you can get the bag latches open by pulling up on the seat wings a bit, and the seat is comfortable for your pillion as it is, I would just live with the interference. Think of it as a saftey system to keep the latches from opening while underway!! :lol:

The picture of rider and passenger was without the bags installed. The pictures of the rider alone was one WITH bags installed and one without!! The most recent (LAST) picture they requested was the one with the bags installed. They've had the pictures for 2 months and we've talked to them several times.

The SIZE of the passenger should not take precedence over making sure the product that they manufacture will STILL allow the stock motorcycle to function properly!

We are most concerned about damaging the expensive seat with constant opening of the bags. ALSO, they state that any change would void the warranty. How can a manufacturer make a product that hinders the operation of a STOCK vehicle and refuse to own up, fix the problem and allow the warranty to stay intact? FUNCTION - one of the big draws for the FJR are those gorgeous saddlebags and their functionality!!! We take a lot of trips and love those bags!

 

[Fred W]

OK, if they had all of these pictures before the seat was originally made, I would say that you are correct, that they do have a responsibility to ensure that the seat works with the bag latches. You can pursue that if you want. It will depend on how much aggravation you are willing to take on. It does sound like you are pretty upset already.

You didn't answer my question about whether your seat includes the "heavy weight" supports. I'm betting that they said that any structural modification would void only their seat comfort warranty, not the entire warranty. For instance, you can order a dual seat with the pillion setup for an "average size passenger". This voids any comfort warranty for the rear seat but you still get a regular warranty on the seat.

And finally, based only on the picture that you provided above, which may not show the full extent of the interference, it does not appear to be enough to cause any long term problems with the seat material.

Maybe what you should ask for is written assurance that if the latches rubbing during use does cause any cosmetic issues with the seat in the future that this would be covered under their warranty?

 

[SnowAviation]

I tend to agree that it's an odd problem for an manufacturer who makes lots of seats for lots of bikes to have.

They should own up to the problem, that said I also like Fred W's viewpoint: "Think of it as a saftey system to

keep the latches from opening while underway."

Hard to say which way I'd go.

 

[BobOdenweller]

I have a 1/2" of clearance between my seat and my latch. I think for what Russell charges, they ought to fix this.