Ok, I thought I'd share something that I learned about saddle bags...

We all know how easy the orange locking jaw snaps off... and the only way to fix this is to order another entire lock system. 

A few things... the left and right are interchangeable...  so when I was on eBay I found a brand new right one for $120... of course, I needed the left.
Isn't that always the case... lol  Brand new from Kawi they quoted me $325!!!!

So, I saw it included a new key and lock.  Bummer, I thought, now I need to carry 2 keys.

Well, the new lock came and the key and tumbler were separate.  That's how new ones come from Kawasaki.

I was about to install the new tumbler into the lock when I decided to take my time (rare case, right?) and analyze how it's made.



By looking at the tumbler, I realized the very last tumbler on the keylock is the one that holds the entire tumbler in the lock.  And that if I could get the old tumbler out of the old
lock, I could re-install it into the new lockset and retain using the single original key.

So I tore the old unit apart....



Once you get the plastic cover off, you have to bend down a large piece of metal... to get to the key set.  It's very soft and easy to do...

Then grab the keyset with your pliers and snap it off...



Once you snap it off, turn it over and you will see the bottom of the tumbler.



Take a small flat blade screwdriver and push the bottom tumbler in while pushing the lockset out of the lock assembly.  This is where humans need 3 hands... it took me 10 min to do this.



Once you have this original tumbler out, the next step is CRITICAL...  stop and look very carefully at the lock hole that the tumbler goes into....

There is one side of the hole that has a taper and a wider slot for the tumbler to go in... if you force it into the lock hole the wrong way you will mess up the whole thing.


Now if you put a right side lock into a left side bag or vice versa, here's what will happen.  The locks won't be on the same end of the bags... to me, I didn't care.



Hope this helps some of you guys on here...

PS  THE ONLY reason I came back on here was due to Maxtog helping me greatly, and I wanted to hang with him and some of the other guys that welcomed me.  If other users plan on being ugly,
I'll will simply ask a mod to block them from my posts.

To Maxtog, the ZX-14 tank fit perfectly, as did the ZX-14 seat.  The ZX-14 tail also fits with just a tad of trimming once I removed the passenger grab handles.  Thanks to you and I am customizing my bike to work for me and my riding style.  Can't wait for the CopperDawg Sport Screen to arrive.

Good info.

I did something similar to this, once, under the direction of a friend.  It wasn't too hard- I think it was a simple 4 cyl lock and each pin had only one of 3 sizes.  Just a matter of having enough pins (top and bottom) to match the desired key (and without losing any of the tiny springs while working on it.

Oh hey Maxtog... I posted this because of all the help you gave me... 

The ZX-14 tail also fits with just a tad of trimming once I removed the passenger grab handles.

Please, man, please! put pics... I really want to see what it looks like 

Thanks!

You may want to check out these two threads, you're reinventing the wheel...

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=13325.msg164074#msg164074

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=14862.msg182508#msg182508

the ZX-14 tank fit perfectly, as did the ZX-14 seat.  The ZX-14 tail also fits with just a tad of trimming once I removed the passenger grab handles.

That is amazing, glad it is coming along.  You will need to come up with a name for this hybrid at some point, maybe a Zoncours, or a CZ-14 or something

You have a lot more energy than I do.  To think that I am too lazy to finish the few comparatively simple mods I have left I want to do.  I can't even blame age, since you are a lot older than I am!

Just as an aside, I have not heard of any orange locking tabs snapping off? This was a recall by Kawasaki where the red locking tabs, that did break, were replaced by the orange ones which are much stronger and have not failed to the best of my knowledge.

I was involved in a minor accident a short time ago where I was struck mainly in the left saddlebag, hard enough to knock the [latched and locked] bag off the bike..... and the latch did not break, bend or fail in any way.

Could you perhaps be mixing up the older saddlebag latches with the newer ones?

Brian

Ok, I thought I'd share something that I learned about saddle bags...

We all know how easy the orange locking jaw snaps off... and the only way to fix this is to order another entire lock system. 

<snip>

Thanks for the links Conrad, but his method was much harder than mine... no special tools need to be fabricated and no drilling by my method.  Pretty simple actually.

That is amazing, glad it is coming along.  You will need to come up with a name for this hybrid at some point, maybe a Zoncours, or a CZ-14 or something

You have a lot more energy than I do.  To think that I am too lazy to finish the few comparatively simple mods I have left I want to do.  I can't even blame age, since you are a lot older than I am!

The ZX has a much more narrow tail with the rear brake light built in... I'd like to run that as well but the subframe gets different back there, so I need to either fabricate a light system to go into
the rear of the GTR tail, or find another bike that has something that might easily fit in there...  I'm still undecided if I will retain the GTR mirrors or run ZX, but I see no reason the bike won't do at least 190mph.  Might need some spray if it won't do it naturally....  Waiting on the Speed Screen to paint the rest of the bike.  Muzzy exhaust should be in this week.  I'll post pics once it's painted.

For all the rest of your that were supportive to a new guy, I say thanks.  Let's get to building some cool sheeeit!!!!  And ride.  Oh, sorry so many of you live up in the tundra, you can always trailer your machines down to Arizona and ride here...     Love to show any guys coming this way great roads, ghost towns, etc...

so I need to either fabricate a light system to go into the rear of the GTR tail

http://japan.webike.net/products/9523173.html

 

AGAIN?

come on guys, why don't y'all just lay 'em on the table and measure.  Jim will be here soon and start deleting again.  I, for one, try to learn something new from every thread, and this mess doesn't add to anything.  Feels like troll work not member participation. 

 

Has anyone ever heard of an orange C-14 bag latch snapping off? This was a recall item that was address and I am not aware of ANY orange latches breaking. Anyone?

I suggest everyone do his / her own research on this matter because I believe this is incorrect information.

Brian

Ok, I thought I'd share something that I learned about saddle bags...

We all know how easy the orange locking jaw snaps off... and the only way to fix this is to order another entire lock system. 

<snip>

Most of the cases simply bounce off the bike regardless of color of latch, but I haven't heard of an orange latch breaking.

Well, I do not think I would say most C-14 cases bounce off the bikes. But the ones that do do not seem to be related to the latches in any way, just excessive slop in the entire mounting (Easy Boys!) system. If the system is shimmed it seems to eliminate all saddlebag problems on this bike.

Brian

Most of the cases simply bounce off the bike regardless of color of latch, but I haven't heard of an orange latch breaking.

They shouldn't have to be shimmed, pinned, or require the addition of Zbars to assure the rider that they'll (side cases) stay on the bike and not act like a depth charge.  This is a sore point with me and Kwakers.

Agreed. But that is not the situation we have nor is it likely to be fixed at the manufacturer's level, which leaves us all do deal with this problem on our own. Not the ideal situation but it is an imperfect world.

But in any event, the point of my posting in this thread was to address the "fact" that 'we all know' how easily the orange saddlebag latches break. I have never heard of one breaking yet.

Brian

They shouldn't have to be shimmed, pinned, or require the addition of Zbars to assure the rider that they'll (side cases) stay on the bike and not act like a depth charge.  This is a sore point with me and Kwakers.