new owner of 97 rt 1100. What forum best for me to learn.

Hello to the group. Am having trouble removing the seats from the bike. What's the trick here. I know the key under taillight but the seat won't pop off.

I typically need to push the rear edge of the rear seat down while turning the key to get the catch to release. I think this is primarily because I have a large tool roll in the cave under the top box that pushes up against the seat - I need to really push the rear edge down to get it to latch, so the catch is under compression when latched. Pushing down on it counteracts this.

Seat

Fiddle with it push down as stated but may also have pull up to get latch to open. Dry graphite lube in lock can't hurt after seat off lube latch and other moving parts

442bmw said:

Hello to the group. Am having trouble removing the seats from the bike. What's the trick here. I know the key under taillight but the seat won't pop off.

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This is the right forum. As others already said, push down while turning the key. Once you have the rear portion off, look at the latching piece and make sure there is nothing poking up that puts the seat under pressure.

Add your location to your profile - put your bike model in your signature. This will help others identify what bike the question is for (yes you identified it in the thread title this time) and your location might prompt folks who are near you to offer help at your side.

While Kurt, rightly, shunted your thread to Oilheads, Airheads is always a good place to start.
Now then, carry on.

Seat removal

Finally was able to pop the rear seat off and I'll lube up the latches when I get back to the garage. Thank you.

442bmw said:

Hello to the group. Am having trouble removing the seats from the bike. What's the trick here. I know the key under taillight but the seat won't pop off.

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Sounds like you got your issue solved. I ride an '02 R1150RT and have found that my seat lock gets a little sticky at times too. As you said, a little bit of lube and you should be all set. This is a fantastic forum and I assure you that without question, you've come to the right place. The folks on here are very friendly, knowledgable and willing to offer their opinions, experience and assistance. I bought my RT used about a year ago and the people on here were great in offering me advice, tips and suggestions on what to look out for. My last BMW was a '94 K75s and for the past 13 years I have been riding mostly Harley's (2 Ultra Classic's) so coming back to BMW was a bit of a change for me, especially because I hadn't even ridden a boxer powered BMW before, much less owned one. Armed with the knowledge I learned from this forum, I bought my current bike and I couldn't be happier. Welcome to the forum!

You may also be able to slightly "fine-tune" the latching by moving the little bar under the seat that the latch hooks on to. Adjust it so that it takes "some but not a whole lot" of downward pressure on the rear of the passenger seat to permit the key to turn.
The key should only be turned clockwise, a bit less than 1/4 turn to release the latch. If you've turned it counter-clockwise, you may need to slightly re-align the mechanism.
Since this is a "dirty" area, don't use oil - use a little graphite or Teflon lube.

As this bike is new to you I'd like to send you a cautionary note you may not have received elsewhere (though it has been on the forum lately) - When you mount the side bags be double-sure you have properly engaged the tab-and-slot arrangement on the frame and lower front of each bag. It is possible to lock the bag in place without this being correctly seated but you are likely to lose the bag, especially if it is loaded.

442bmw said:

Hello to the group. Am having trouble removing the seats from the bike. What's the trick here. I know the key under taillight but the seat won't pop off.

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Another forum where you will find help is the BMW Sport Touring http://bmwsporttouring.com/ .

Thank you,,read up on hall sensor

rhaines said:

Another forum where you will find help is the BMW Sport Touring http://bmwsporttouring.com/ .

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Planning to check the hall sensor over the winter and reading up on it. Already in contact with the master repairer. I read that you really need to remove to see if wires are brittle behind the plate.

442bmw said:

Planning to check the hall sensor over the winter and reading up on it. Already in contact with the master repairer. I read that you really need to remove to see if wires are brittle behind the plate.

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You don't really need to remove it. If it hasn't been rewired and it's a 97, it MUST be fixed. Less than a month ago, I took mine off and thought it was fine. However, close inspection revealed that the insulation (especially behind the HES plate) was crumbly brittle. It's a failure waiting to happen, and you will be left wherever it fails.

Replacing or having the original rewired is a real necessity. I ride out in the boonies of Nevada, no cell phone coverage. Even though my bike had only 20K on it, it was replaced just for the piece of mind and the elimination of a dead in your tracks failure.