| Author | Message | ||
     Irelage |
My clasp broke when closing my side luggage bag. The bags are only 3 days old. Has anyone else had a problem with the Buell side luggage clasps? They are really flimsy. | ||
| Wademan |
Lots of people have, do a quick search and you will find it. Buell has a 'kit' now for broken latches. | ||
| Irelage |
I found the last two discussion that cover the topic. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/254090.html http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/179107.html?1141138851 | ||
| Dano_12s |
Gene, it's important to make sure there is no "objects" in the seal area.Covers should close very easily.Hope this helps once you get the new latches. | ||
| Irelage |
I tried to be careful. This thing broke way too easy for it to be considered touring luggage. When I first put them on the bike I realized that they were under engineered so I carried extra straps just in case. I was right. The clasps are a major weak point. I recommend that people not buy these bags until the clasps can withstand reasonable exertion and that includes stuff accidentally sticking out the sides while trying to latch it closed. I am going to see if I can return the bags and get a set of Caribous. I am really insecure about these bags now. Do you realize how thin the brittle plastic is at the hinge point? It isn't a matter of if they will break. It is when. | ||
| Irelage |
Found one at a dealer 45 miles away. They exchanged my broken one for free. I am ordering a spare. | ||
| Crusty |
The latches are covered by the two year warranty on your bike. I've had no problems with my latches yet,and I've had some pretty damn big loads in them (both bulky and heavy), but I'm pretty careful about how I close them. However, I am really impressed by the Caribous. If I didn't already have the H&Bs, I'd be putting a set on ASAP. | ||
| Gtmg |
Has anybody noticed that Happy-Trail.com now makes a rack they claim can accommodate Givi luggage? They also have some top load aluminum available. I personally have never been enamored with rectangular bags. Looks like a low cost solution to having some hard bags. Still side load but my experience with Givi in the past is that they are well made. Anybody got any thoughts? | ||
| Irelage |
Just got back from my 750 mile weekend trip. I dropped my new bike standing at a street corner. Bike was to tall for the circumstance I was in and had to let her go down. It landed on the right side new bag and I thought it would pop. The bag held! It ended up with some road rash but still good as new. The latches suck but they are really strong otherwise. I guess I won't be taking them back now. I was very careful loading and closing the bags and had no problems. I love the bags they hold a lot and are easy to work with. | ||
| Jmhinkle |
Looks like you have to pull the grab handles and beaver tail for the Happy-trails kit. Would be great to have Givi luggage, but not like that. Looks like a great option for those who pulled the rear end apart all ready. | ||
| Gtmg |
Looking at the picture. I think they remove the beaver tail to accomadate a top case rack. I really don't see why the handles have to go except if they interfere with the luggage. In any even I have sent them an email to ask the questions and will respond with the answer here. Never noticed the beaver tail issue because I really only wanted some side cases. | ||
| Gtmg |
According to Happy Trails neither one has to be removed to do the side case rack. Looks like another option if you are not interested in the top case. And I would think a good one. I have never heard of Givi cases breaking clasps. | ||
| L_je |
Just broke the latch on my topcase. It could be that these latches suck, or it could be that the latch gave up after my wife rammed the garage door handle into it for the third time! d'oh! It wasn't really her fault. Because we have a few too many bikes in the garage, my Uly was parked just a bit too close to the garage door, and since I accidentally left the latch open after retrieving some keys ...well, yup, we had a minor interference issue Ok, here's the deal....I was planning on loading my topcase with a bunch of camera equipment, and heading on over to the AMA races at Barber, over in Alabama. So, will I get the replacement latch in time? | ||
| Crusty |
Send an E-mail to Court. (be sure to mention Buell in the Subject). He can either get it done, or tell you who to call. | ||
| Irelage |
I can't believe it. I broke another latch. I am going to take the bags back. I ordered the Caribou Case System. http://adventure-motorcycle.com/store/?name=Catalog&mode=i&item=000066 (Message edited by irelage on April 20, 2007)http://adventure-motorcycle.com/store/?name=Catalog&mode=i&item=000066 (Message edited by irelage on April 20, 2007) | ||
| Buelet |
 These latches do suck on an otherwise pretty nifty set of cases. What a crappy latch design. You would think that for what they cost, that there'd be a better mechanism. Even if they were more durable (heck, indestructible!), they're still somewhat clumsy. I don't exactly have a jailers key-ring going on, but with the bike key, bag key, one other XB key and a Craftsman key fob garage door remote, it doesn't take much to have "a lot" going on in a small space. What a PITA! I was always mindful of the potential problem (thanks BadWeb!) and figured it happened because people were less-than-careful, but after breaking my first and thinking, "How did that just happen?!", I now understand. Then with a break in progress, I REALLY understand!  The first replacement showed up in around a week or so. (Thanks, Court!) The one I need now has been on order for around 3 weeks. <sigh> At least the latch that I'm replacing isn't completely broken, but it's somewhat disheartening to see a 1/4" crack creeping across the latch-half. Just venting.  Hey, maybe for all of our troubles and for being stuck with a design flaw on our current bags, H&B could offer current Uly bag owners a decent discount on the newly available H&B hard bags for the XBS & XBRs!(Assuming a lesson learned.) | ||
| Chinook |
One of my latches broke while the baq was sitting closed. I had a small bag of clothes and a sleeping bag inside a compression stuff stack and shut the bag with my leg and carefully closed the latch shut. About 5 minutes later, i heard a loud pop! Hard to believe that small amount of pressure from inside the bag broke it. The plastic bar cracked about 60% through. I wrapped a strap around the handles and got it secure. When I got home 5 hours later and started to unpack, it completely snapped. Darn good thing I had bungees and a strap to secure the bag closed ---- now mandatory trip gear! | ||
| Irelage |
Welcome to the club of which I no longer belong. I returned mine to the dealer who took them back with no questions asked. I ordered the Caribou luggage system which will not fail on the trail! It is a shame about the faulty latch because I loved the size of the bags. | ||
| Iugradmark |
Buelet, What new H&B bags are you referring to? Thanks, Mark | ||
| Buelet |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/271834.html Scroll down, Cityxslicker posted the picture. Good luck! | ||
| L_je |
11pm Monday night, my wife breaks the latch on my topcase with the aid of our garage door. Tuesday morning, I sent Court an email, per Crusty's advise... 10(ten) minutes later, I get a phone call from Court, outlining the procedure to get a replacement latch. Friday at lunch, I went over to my dealer to pick up the replacement latch. While there, I saw a sign that read "Take me for a test ride and get this free bag". Being easily swayed by inanimate objects, I took the CityX out for a 20+ mile spin. Loved it. Loved the bag, too. Oh, yeah, and the latch cost all of $25 to replace. It took about 3 minutes to replace the latch. It also took about 3 minutes to convert my "free" Buell laptop case into a better camera bag than any of my other purpose-built shoulder bags. The "Free" Buell Bag comfortably holds two camera bodies, and three lenses (one being a hefty 70-200 f2.8, with a lens hood). The "Free" Bag also fits perfectly in the topcase with no dead space. On Sunday, we head over to Barber Motorsports Park. As my wife's allergies were acting up, she thought it best to ride on the back. So, given a choice of two bikes, a Uly or a Duc MTS, which bike does she want to take? Yup, da Uly. [feel free to infer that this means the Uly is the superior bike] So, I firmed up the front pre-load and rebound, and then the rear pre-load and rebound...and away we went. Barber was a blast. Without the topcase latch, I'm not sure I would have taken the photo rig. Velcro wraps and bungees would have worked, but... _______________________ I actually felt guilty over the level of customer support I was given over a stupid broken latch. I even pointed out on several occasions, that this was NOT a warrantee issue because we rammed a garage door into the latch. When I asked if I was going to get a latch by Friday, I thought I'd be calling around to see if any nearby dealers happened to have one. I never thought that I'd have this much proactive support in locating and shipping a latch. _______________________ My wife even asked, "If the parts are so cheap, then why did the bike cost so much to begin with?" I do not want to see the bill for the first stupid piece of plastic I have to replace on her Ducati. | ||
| Crusty |
I do not want to see the bill for the first stupid piece of plastic I have to replace on her Ducati. You want another reason to love your Buell?Some Ducks use the same turn signals as Buells. Go to the Ducati dealer and price a replacement. Then go to the Buell dealer and do the same. Why does the same turn signal from the same manufacturer cost four times as much at a Duck dealer? | ||
| Lowflyer |
"Why does the same turn signal from the same manufacturer cost four times as much at a Duck dealer?" I wonder if it is because of the additional import/export duties and shipping costs. Aren't they made in Mexico? | ||
| Lowflyer |
Irelage, I did not buy the luggage for exactly that reason. Broken latches and leaking are not things with which I wish to put up with for my $1000 luggage set. I've gone to Happy Trails for my top box and tail plate. I haven't made up my mind over the side cases. The Caribous look good though. Plus they are relatively inexpensive to replace. The only thing I don't like is that you can't pack anything on top of the side cases. (Message edited by lowflyer on April 24, 2007) | ||
| Thunderbox |
I know this luggage latch thing is a problem for a lot of people but it is just too simple. If there is any resistance to closing the latch at all you should find out why and correct it so you don''t break your latch. There is simply no way the latch will break in these numbers without stressing them. I find if I lean up against the bags I can close the latch with one hand and no resistance. We have ridden 20000kms with a ton of luggage and have had zero latch problems. | ||
| Buelet |
Thunderbox, you're right, more or less. I was right there with you on your point of view until I had one break this winter while closing an empty case and thought WTF? I had always assumed that people were having problems because they were careless... more than anything else.  From my own experience, it seems to be caused by a torsional load while trying to get them latched / unlatched. They are somewhat clumsy in operation. YES - In a perfect world, everyone would stand with their shoulders squared, perfectly aligned and with their full and undivided attention to the task at hand, so that this would not happen. (Using their leg or other spare appendage / body weight etc. to help the cam lock mechanism past it's fragile zone.) In reality, mine broke while closing an empty case. Yeah, it was probably near failure from a previously botched attempt at closing it incorrectly, but I was unaware that it was damaged. (I had read all of the previous posts about breakage and had always been mindful of this when closing mine... often times while closing, thinking to myself that, "Mine work fine. Those other guys must be tools." --Well, not really tools, but just careless. (We ALL know how "OTHER" people are...)  Did it break on it's own? No. Did I at some point use it to cinch an overstuffed bag shut or lever it shut anyway, because I had closed the edge of a jacket or something else in the seam? No. At least not that I was aware of. Additionally, I don't think that they should be prone to breaking on the off (maybe more on than off) chance that God-forbid, a stray glove or edge of a jacket, etc., slips into the path of your bag seals while closing them. Or maybe that's just me.  In a nutshell, the latches work, but they are just under-engineered and will break at some point if used by humans. They have a very unforgiving design and I think they should offer something much more sturdy than those flimsy plastic, cam-lock, latching mechanisms.  | ||
| Irelage |
Thunderbox, that is my point exactly. If you have to treat your touring luggage like it was china dinner ware then it is not worthy of adventure travel. When you are cold and wet and loading the bike after a sleepless night the odds are you will have something sticking out the sides or slightly over pack. I was very careful when my second one broke. All it takes is one mistake and you are hosed. | ||
| Chinook |
Irelage.... +1. Off to the dealer tonight to pick up my replacement latches that are "in stock". I'll report back if they look better/beefier/different. $20 quoted for the extra. Broken one to be swapped out with new one under warranty. +1 on the cold and wet comment. It was exactly 40F and raining when mine broke from "kneeing in" the clamshell to close mine with clothes and sleeping bag. No unusual resistance and a few minutes later...POP! H-B obviously knows how to make a good latch. The latch that secures the bag to the luggage rack looks pretty stout. | ||
| Slowride |
Hmmmm paying $1k for luggage.... NOPE! I got them (Buell Brand) off ebay for less than $400..... I likey!!! | ||
| Lowflyer |
$400 is still $399 more than the whole set is worth to me.  ...But, it is a helluvalot better than the $1k it lists for. Congrats!  |
