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K1600 Grand America saddlebag lock is stuck!

18grandam

New member
Took my GA for a ride yesterday after getting it back from the transmission recall. loaded my gear in the saddlebags, went for an all day ride, and when I returned home, I couldn't open the right side saddle bag. The push button lock won't release the latch. I fussed around with it for a good half hour, and finally got it to release the latch. I went to the extent of removing the saddlebag from the bike, disassembling the plastic to expose the latch & lock mechanism. I couldn't figure out how to disassemble the lock/latch mechanism, and since it's under warranty, I didn't want to break anything. The best I can see, is that nothing is broken, the electric lock works fine, but pushing on the lock button doesn't slide the latch mechanism to release the latch. If I slide the latch release slightly by hand, and push on the lock button, it will work, but something is preventing it from working normally without assistance. I cleaned the entire mechanism and lubed with silicone, and I actually got it to work several times, but then is stopped working again. I'm trying to contact my dealer to discuss.
My question is, have other people had saddle bag latch problems on these Baggers?

Thanks
Kevin
 
Problem resolved (for now at least)

I called my Dealer yesterday afternoon and he said he hasn't had any service issues with the K1600B saddle bag locks, and asked me to swing by so he could see what the issue was. Since everything I tried wouldn't free up the lock mechanism, I decided to try one last lubricant that I have recommended by Gunsmiths for gun mechanisms called Ballastol.
After a couple of sprays using the Ballastol, the lock mechanism freed up and worked normally again. I recently bought Ballastol for my gun cleaning but have never used it for anything else until now. After reading the can, it sounds like some type of miracle lubricant, and I have to admit it appears to have solved this problem. I checked my bike again this morning and the lock is still working just fine. I think I'll be throwing away all of those other lubricants and use Ballastol from now on.
Kevin
 
Nice!
I have heard of that product but don’t think I have ever ever seen it for sale (locally).
OM
 
Kevin -

Glad things worked out. Haven't heard of the lubricant before. I've had good success with Tri-Flow...I think it's popular in the bicycling community.
 
That's interesting stuff, and the manufacturer has an interesting history.
 
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That's interesting stuff, and the manufacturer has an interesting history.

Yup. I looked in several places and couldn't find it for sale anywhere, so I mail ordered some a few months ago. It works excellent on my gun actions and stocks so I figured I'd try it on my bike saddlebag locks. I'm sold.
 
I had something similar and my dealer suggested that I may have forced the connection to lock once when I had the bag off. He recommended that I be careful when reattaching the bag and not to apply any undo pressure. Thinking back I had to agree with him that I may have wrangled the latch to close earlier
 
Wish I could remember what bike it was, but they were having a similar issue with their switch gear on the grips and WD40 fixed it right up and apparently was a known fix.

JJ
 
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