Side Cases Flying Off?

[MCML]

"It's a beaut." "No, it's a mound." "Right purdy, too."

"It's our sacred mountain." "That's okay, it's our sacred antenna."

We're all bozos on this bus.

Hand me the pliers.

 

[wheatonFJR]

This is the funniest thread evar!

 

[beemerdons]

This is the funniest thread evar!

Mark, it does rank right up there with ShinyPartsUp's Rotella Oil Thread; it just may surpass it for "The Funniest Thread Ever" Award! Wait for FJRBluesman and Neil in San Diego to jump in here! SOUP SANDWICH!

 

[RadioHowie]

Humorous? Those accurate descriptions of the ways of the physical universe?...

Certainly not funny, this is the way the world works in 'beam's garage. There are other strange forces at work too. The last time I ever uttered "so what else can go wrong..." within seconds I was looking for a compression gauge, terrified at my engine having just started to crank way too fast :glare:

Hey.....I recognize that symptom! :****:

You missed the most frightening universal truism of them all, the dreaded "Top Gear Mantra".......

[SIZE=12pt]"How Hard Could It Be?"[/SIZE]

 

[Patriot]

Humorous? Those accurate descriptions of the ways of the physical universe?...

Certainly not funny, this is the way the world works in 'beam's garage. There are other strange forces at work too. The last time I ever uttered "so what else can go wrong..." within seconds I was looking for a compression gauge, terrified at my engine having just started to crank way too fast :glare:

Hey.....I recognize that symptom! :****:

You missed the most frightening universal truism of them all, the dreaded "Top Gear Mantra".......

[SIZE=12pt]"How Hard Could It Be?"[/SIZE]

didn't matter what it is...but sayin' "self, let's do that one more time and then call it a day" (worst experiences was flying model airplanes and the dreaded "one more flight before going home")

 

[Khunajawdge]

This is probably a hijack?... but it IS related to this thread.

I was riding with a buddy of mine a couple of years ago. HE was riding a BMW RT 1100. I was on my Feej. We crossed a bridge over a creek and stopped at the major highway intersection before splitting up and heading to homes. I look at his bike and I say "Hey, isn't there something missing?" He looks at it and says "yeah, I'm missing my right side bag".

We go back to the bridge we had crossed and look everywhere, no BMW side bag in sight?

I say " Maybe you lost it before, when was the last time you opened it?".

He says " I didn't open it at lunch?".

Funny thing is, I always remember following a symmetrical configuration and his bike was symmetrical (OK, besides the one muffler), for as long as I could recall on this ride?

So, we continue on our own paths to homes.

A couple of days later, HE calls me and says "I got a replacement for my bag from the Highway Patrol Office".

"Really?", I says.

"Yes, and guess what? They had had 3 of them for RT 1100's at the CHP headquarters" He says.

"Huh?" I says :blink:

He says, "they asked me <"what was in yours, or were there any identifying characteristics?"> ...and I (He) said, "Nothing was in or on my bag to distinguish it!".

"So, they let me have one of the right side bags with no markings or contents" He said?

Now, the funny thing is, the CHP use BMW RT 1100'S and my buddy was told that they also lose them ALL the time? :blink: (OEM replacemement value was over $500).

I guess there are some good SAMs out there who find and turn in lost luggage to the local authorities and the items get stored in the Lost and Found?

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

'Struth...

I have a friend who had an old BMW touring bike and it happened so much (to her and reported others) that she glued her business card to the inside of the saddlebag lids.

Sure enough, one day she lost one -- and, she heard from the finder and got it back.

 

[FJRGuy]

Yes, twice, but file in Missing Category - "Yes, but due to other laws of physics"Screws Loctite'd

Pins purchased but not yet installed

Which "other law of physics" are we talking about?

My thoughts exactly... But well enough explained now

Who said anything about scientific? I'm just curious...

Griff

Really...I thought YOU did. ...

...

... I think you'd want aspire to solid, scientific, accurate, usable data.

...

... when people here did the hard work of collecting real data.

...

... attacking the issue instead of a company or agency.

(quote edited for brevity)

Iggy, you're reading way to much into this! Why would anyone put in any "hard work of collecting real data" until they believe there is significant enough of an issue to pursue? And who is "attacking... a company"?

Lock-titing lock screws, while a sound practice, has no effect on this issue as it has now been shown how these bags can come off with the latch securely latched and locked. In my opinion, 'pinning' the sidebags, besides being a royal PITA, is an entirely unnessecessary safety measure given my current knowledge of the latching mechanism. That said, I very well may drill the holes and have pins in my tool kit in case I develop the issue that I believe is the cause of the lost bags (when not operator error... Cuz I'd never do that! :-D)

 

[Ignacio]

And who is "attacking... a company"?

I'm concerned as of late with what I believe to be a demonizing of entities with the way this thread was headed....and the ground spider stuff. I just want to make sure it doesn't go that way.

As for this thread about attacking...you're right....I take that back. Nobody's attacked anybody here. I was reading into it from some other unhealthy threads and posts.

Sorry, cancuklehead. I hope you can get the data you want.

Ig

 

[cota95]

I heard it could happen, so I pinned mine. They couldn't fly off now.

Same here. I saw the results of with two other riders losing theirs

 

[RadioHowie]

I take that back.

^^^^^^^^^^

:rofl:

 

[El Toro]

I didn't read all of the posts here, so if someone else shared this, I apologize for sharing it again.

I'm pretty sure that I read in some Yamaha corporate stuff that the saddle bags are rated for 80 mph. I wonder if the small percentage of folks who are losing their bags are cruising above this guideline for longer periods.

Its no negative on Yamaha because I've seen the same spec (80 mph rating) from Triumph for the Rocket III Touring, and from Honda for the ST1100 (other baggers I've personally owned). I tend to spend quite a bit of time between 80 and 90 because traffic tends to stay in this range on I-40, one of my major ruts. I never had any trouble with any of the bags on any of these bikes. Of course I am never a long term user on any bike.

The only marque I've seen with higher rating for the bags is that three letter Bavarian marque that is so popular here. They're rated at 180 kph, which computes out to 112 mph. Haven't had any trouble with their bags either.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

And who is "attacking... a company"?

I'm concerned as of late with what I believe to be a demonizing of entities with the way this thread was headed....and the ground spider stuff. I just want to make sure it doesn't go that way.

As for this thread about attacking...you're right....I take that back. Nobody's attacked anybody here. I was reading into it from some other unhealthy threads and posts.

Sorry, cancuklehead. I hope you can get the data you want.

Ig

No worries... like I said, I'm just curious.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Iggy, you're reading way to much into this! Why would anyone put in any "hard work of collecting real data" until they believe there is significant enough of an issue to pursue?
Lock-titing lock screws, while a sound practice, has no effect on this issue as it has now been shown how these bags can come off with the latch securely latched and locked.

Sorry...I haven't see the proof yet. I may not have been born in Missouri, but I live one state away. I like to SEE the proof.

I would think....that if you really believe that the bags come off with the locks properly attached. The only scientific evidence you would need is to set up a video camera and stand by the bike and remove one of the cases whilst it is on the centerstand. No survey required...just a simple video showing that the locks were securely affixed, the video showing the bag come off and HOW it came off whilst securely attached.

Post it up on youtube and send an email to Yamaha with a link to the video.

Post up a link to this thread when you're done as well.

DONE.

I'm not saying it isn't happening...I'm saying that I have not seen the proof and I don't count "hearsay evidence". I just see this as a MUCH more effective way of convincing Yamaha...than a poll.

 

[Yambone]

Well, I posted a rant about this and its now on the NERPT side. But it was over the top to make a somewhat satirical point, and maybe Iggie is referring to it.

Guess everybody on the forum reaches a breaking point of Never Ending Tales. For me, it is issue # 1: lost side cases due to loss of the lock due to lack of loctite on the lock screw. It has been mentioned every year, multiple times since 2003. You'd think the dealers (and the owners) would have got the memo by now. So after hearing yet another incident I had to vent.

This other issue: Latch teeth disengaging has my interest now. I think Fred W might have a good angle on that: those that install and remove cases often would be more at risk, as the failure would likely occur during install. The more often you do it, the more likely it could hang up and slip a gear.

I probably move cases on/off 20 times a year, for cleaning or garage storage. During install, I listen for the movement of the latch tongue and make sure not to apply any excess force while pushing down on the case lever. Those cases are pretty darn sweet, but they are plastic bits and they do have to be lined up so that any resistance has to be avoided.

After install, secure the lock and give the cases a shake. If you do that, I don't see how they could fail. I doubt the tonge thingie could retract itself from the keeper after a shake test.

 

[Geezer]

Sorry...I haven't see the proof yet. I may not have been born in Missouri, but I live one state away. I like to SEE the proof.

I saw it at CFR. The bike in question had one bag that you could easily lift out of the top mounting holes with the hsndle all the way down, latch closed and locked. This bag was tried on another bike with the same result, and another bag was tried on this bike and latched correctly, so it was the bag and not the mount points on the bike.

As it turned out, the latch had slipped one tooth and that prevented the mechanism from holding the bag securely on the bike.

There were several people there witnessing the problem and diagnosis.

 

[slowpoke]

The only time I ever saw a side case fly off was when some guy was lane splitting... :lol:

 

[wheatonFJR]

I saw it at CFR. The bike in question had one bag that you could easily lift out of the top mounting holes with the handle all the way down, latch closed and locked. This bag was tried on another bike with the same result, and another bag was tried on this bike and latched correctly, so it was the bag and not the mount points on the bike.

THAT'S GREAT actually for your guys' cause. They should youtube a video of it and send to Yamaha Corporate....WITH link to this thread, so they can see how many claim to have had this same problem.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

I saw it at CFR. The bike in question had one bag that you could easily lift out of the top mounting holes with the handle all the way down, latch closed and locked. This bag was tried on another bike with the same result, and another bag was tried on this bike and latched correctly, so it was the bag and not the mount points on the bike.

THAT'S GREAT actually for your guys' cause. They should youtube a video of it and send to Yamaha Corporate....WITH link to this thread, so they can see how many claim to have had this same problem.

Not sure there's a 'cause' involved Wheatie ... only a half-dozen or so incidents hardly indicates a trend, and in any case the data gathered here is about as useful as a Cosmo poll for telling anything significant, although it might have pointed at something that needed a more thorough investigation.

Unfortunately, I fixed it without taking video of the before and after. In hindsight, I should have. Did get video and photos of the bag, the mechanism etc and a simple fix, in case anyone else encounters the issue (posted up under the "side case surgery" thread HERE!.

I know of at least one other person who had the same "not locked in position" issue, although it was discovered AFTER the bag departed the bike, so no way to tell if the skipped teeth were present before or were knocked off during the rough landing the bag took after it departed at speed.

Again, the few instances noted here hardly merit getting excited about. I was curious if there's more here than a few random examples, and it would seem that (apparently) there aren't. Case (pardon the pun ) closed. And locked.

Griff

 

[Ignacio]

I saw it at CFR. The bike in question had one bag that you could easily lift out of the top mounting holes with the hsndle all the way down, latch closed and locked. This bag was tried on another bike with the same result, and another bag was tried on this bike and latched correctly, so it was the bag and not the mount points on the bike.
As it turned out, the latch had slipped one tooth and that prevented the mechanism from holding the bag securely on the bike.

There were several people there witnessing the problem and diagnosis.

I've had that happen! And it wasn't a Yamaha design issue...it was my ****-up plain and simple.

I had a full side bag and closed, but I could tell it wasn't cleanly closed....one of the perimiter points was binding up a bit. But, I muscled the latch harder...and heard & felt a distinct "Pop". I knew in my gut that wasn't right and had forced it. It still seemed to be OK, but a few days later I was thinking about what might have happened and moved the bag around a bit...and could see one or both attachment points were at risk. The slide that locks it into place wasn't fully extended...because of the slipped gear.

I could imagine it easily coming off while riding.

I had to have the bag replaced. It was covered under YES, knew it was my gorilla handling, but didn't advertise it. Now, I'm careful to not force the latch closed.