Locked out of seat!

[ihorwill]

While fitting a rear rack in preparation for a top box, dropped a washer so took off the plastic moulding, including removing the seat lock cable from the lock and... forgot to reconnect it before replacing the seat. So now I can't take the seat off.

Found this video

which suggests using a coat hanger, but can't find a decent photo online of the under-seat area so that I can go fishing in the right place. Seems to be pretty close to the rack bolts but if someone can point me to a decent pic that would be a great help.

Update: posted too soon. Should have checked other videos as well as images. This one has a good shot:

I'll update you on how I get on.

Thanks,
Ian

[grumpy]

Good luck mate, sounds like it's going to be fiddly! 

[ihorwill]

Correct! Fiddly, but... successful (eventually) 

[grumpy]

 

[Rucifa]

  well done

[david]

I dont know if I should laugh or cry... same thing just happen to me...
Thank you for posting this because like you, I could not find anything with a good view of the locking mechanism...

[Umoth]

This made me smile, for about 3 weeks ago I was almost in the same situation.
I had taken a lot of bits of trim/fairing off so I could wire in a second brake lamp. Having just 1 bulb seems to me not only poor design but dangerous. Cars have at lest 3, and some have 5, brake light bulbs. Bikes? One, and no bulb-failure warning(on this bike.)

IF the bulb blows while riding you only find out when you get rear ended.
the last thing to put back was the seat, and as i went to click it in place i saw the cable for the lock... OPS! Let's put the cable back in the lock before i put the seat back on....

[Robell]

A lot of newer bikes have LED rear lights, which gets around the problem of a single bulb.

The trouble with modern cars with an array of rear bulbs, is that the idiots don't know how to use the handbrake, dazzling everyone behind at every red light 

[Umoth]

So very true.

[Pickwick]

I realize this is a very old post but this seemed the best place to put this.  I have a GW250F so my covers may not be the same as for a GW250.

I had removed the rear surround trim piece to access the connector that you jumper to debug FI codes.  And of course forgot to reconnect the seat latch cable before installing the seat.

I removed the front bolts of the cover and flexed it downward as much as I dared. (Pic is the wrong side but same concept.)

There's a 1/2" wall on the top edge of the cover that extends up behind the edge of the seat.  I used a rotary saw--specialized bit for a Dremel tool--to cut away about 8" of this wall.  As it turned out that was more than I needed but I wasn't sure.

I was able to use a spring hook to reach the black plastic loop that opens the latch.

Now that it's all back together you can hardly see what I did.

Sorry the pics are out of order but I couldn't figure out how to fix it.