| Author | Message | ||
     Petereid |
Several months ago I posted about the journey side cases on my XT leaking in the rain. Well after a couple of months of them sitting at a dealer here in Louisiana they finally replaced the seals. When they tested them guess what......They still leak!! So they called Tech and according to Buell the bags are NOT waterproof. Strange, Hepco says they are. The dealer had me call into customer service. They said they'd get back to me. I guess we'll see if Buell will finally sort this out. Oh and to add to all this......the little rivets that hold the cord are special order from hepco......and will take a month or so to come in. Must be a pretty special rivet. I like my bike.......just not too happy with the company right now. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
My right and top cases have been bone-dry since day 1, even in the heaviest downpours. My left case, though, holds water like a bucket. The dealer replaced my seal last month, and it's much better but still not arid. I find that a fair amount of water collects under the latch, and if I open the left case with the XT on its sidestand that water pours in. This makes it harder to tell how much moisture is getting past the new seal. At any rate, the difference is enough that I can tell the new seal helped a lot. | ||
| Mad_dog |
I never had much luck with my cases either. Went through all the dealer BS then sold them for a fraction of what they cost of course. I have since installed a set of Pelican cases and couldnt be happier with them. They are one tough set and bone dry no matter what. I have used Pelican for my Photo Gear for years and really trust nothing else. Now if I could just keep the Ully running in the rain! | ||
| Etennuly |
I have had mine for three years. They are on the bike all of the time, 35,000 miles so far. I broke one latch when it was new. Since then no problems. I was really pissed one time when my map and gloves got wet in the one side bag. I was ready to take it in screaming, but to my amusement, my glass cleaner bottle valve stuck open and siphoned out into the bag. The gaskets do occasionally dislodge, but I just push them back in and they have never failed to hold water out(or in). | ||
| Dentguy |
Must be a pretty special rivet. Hopefully a waterproof one. Had mine for 2 years and never broke a latch or leaked. Probably the best test was a very hard rain ride for 6 hours with no leaks. I would push for a new set. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The rivets on mine are not waterproof. They have a hole going all the way through. Small but it's there. My bags leaked when they were new. After a thousand miles or so, I decided to drive to work when storms were coming for the afternoon. I deliberately drove the long way to the dealer in torrential downpours with 4 inch deep standing water in places. I got to the dealer, took the bags in with me and opened them in the service counter. Bone dry. WTF?! Hasn't leaked since. Just odd. | ||
| Wbrisett |
I have one side (right) that leaks. The r never leaked, nor does the left side. I've been half tempted to find a pool and dunk them so I can watch for the bubbles. I'm not convinced it's the seals. I think it may be the rivet area, which can be fixed with some caulk. Wayne | ||
| Itileman |
You can get leak proof rivets from rafting supply stores. They use them on dry boxes. | ||
| Verdad |
Are the interior bags you can get from Buell an option to keep contents dry? Seems like some Scotchguard and we'd be good. Russ | ||
| Pontlee77 |
There are 2 types of seals the thiner and the thicker, but each of them is designed different and the edge where they are hold one is different, I don't know why this is, maybe it depends when it was made, or for what region is intended. | ||
| Petereid |
Hammond Harley/Buell (good people to deal with in Louisana)called me back today. Buell is sending 2 new side cases to replace the leakers. Thats more then I expected and I'm very happy with the outcome. Just a little disappointed it took so long so arrive at this point. Hopefully the cases aren't back-ordered  | ||
| Court |
>>>Buell is sending 2 new side cases to replace the leakers. | ||
| Court |
They aren't back ordered but the last one of these I was involved in they accidently shipped only one . . . . even good intentions sometimes go awry. | ||
| Petereid |
OK, there's good news and bad news. New bags came in. The dealer and I went out back and ran some water on them (less then you would use washing) and they both leaked. We'll see what happens next | ||
| Mnrider |
I use Sea Bags to carry anything I don't want wet.They fit inside your saddle bags. You can get them at camp stores in all sizes and they are made in USA. | ||
| Petereid |
Thanks for the sea bag tip. Although I really shouldn't have to use them. The bags are supposed to be water tight | ||
| Etennuly |
Sorry to see you having a bad time with these things.  Even though mine don't leak, I pack things like clothing in kitchen garbage bags. I got used to it when I had a City-X with the Buell soft really leaky bags. It is cheap and disposable, they keep things clean, dry, and separated, and when I have dirty clothes they can be isolated from the other stuff. | ||
| Petereid |
The saga continues..... Buell Tech guy (who I'm not allowed to talk to) says both my old bags and the new ones they sent have to be returned to the factory because they have never had an issue with the bags on an XT leaking. This is according to Debbie in customer service. Debbie also informed me that I can only deal with her and she has no managers or supervisors who would be available to talk with me. She did offer to forward my file to management with the hopes they MAY (her word) contact me. When I told her the tech is wrong and there have been several XT owners with bag problems and I suggested she look on here she had no answer for me. This problem was first brought to Buells attention in September 08. The bags have been sitting at a dealer since mid November. Today Debbie at Buell says "it will be a drawn out process solving your problem" No Sh*t Debbie, 6 months and counting. I head back from Louisiana to Ontario the begining of April. If this isn't resolved by then me and my 42 foot camper will be on Mr Buell's doorstep looking for answers. I read some good things about Buell customer service on here. Maybe I just got stuck with the wrong person. | ||
| Babired |
Hey guys I have the older uly bags and they leak. I want to know who has the Buell soft luggage and if they keep your stuff dry when it rains. I've been using some large Zip lock storage bags when traveling. They pack good and I get the air out to make it tight, but want to know how nice the soft luggage is. K | ||
| Wbrisett |
babired: The Buell inserts do help, but they aren't 100% waterproof. I always put my stuff into those plastic bags to help reduce the amount of space things take up. Between those and the soft inserts, my gear stays dry. However, for short runs, I don't use them and my one bag does let water in.  Wayne | ||
| Crusty |
The bags on my '06 Uly did not leak. The bags on my '08 do. I've looked at the bags on the XT, but I haven't figured out where the water is getting in. I just went to the U-Hose-It car wash yesterday to clean the salt off; and when I got home, I had about a half cup (4 oz.) of water in the left bag. I have the Buell liner bags (they're about 1/2 the price of the H&B liners), and I put my clothes in 1-gallon sized Ziplock bags when I travel. We put H&B 30 Liter Junior bags on my wife's Ss, and even though they're much more waterproof, I prefer the size of the Journeys. When the weather gets a little warmer, I'll get a can of spray powder and the garden hose and investigate further. | ||
| Petereid |
The bags are covered under your warranty. Why not get Buell to make it right. If your car trunk leaked you would be at the dealer complaining. You shouldn't need to put everything in plastic when the bags are advertised as waterproof | ||
| Froggy |
I used plastic bags so that way the stinky dirty clothes don't ruin the clean ones  | ||
| Petereid |
I made the following offer to Buell in the attempt to resolve my leaking bag issue: Buell replaces my 2 leaking journey side cases with outdoorsman side cases. I pay for the different side case mounting rack and turn signal relocation as well as for the outdoorsman top case (as my current one doesn't leak). I think this is a very fair offer to Buell. They would actually get off cheaper then replacing the with journey bags and would profit from the parts I would be willing to pay for. Buells official response: NO! I would love to know why they passed on this offer when it really benefits them money wise far more then me. Of course I'll never know as the people I get to talk to at Buell seem to be reading from a script and simply fall silent when you ask for a detailed answer. I was just hoping for a quick resolution. Seems the only thing quick about Buell is their bikes Peter Reid | ||
| Court |
>>>I would love to know why they passed on this offer I can't speak for Buell but have given away about 8 sets of their bags the last year. I (PERSONALLY) would never touch that offer simply because I'd then have 850 folks demanding the same thing. >>>I'll never know as the people I get to talk to at Buell seem to be reading from a script and simply fall silent when you ask for a detailed answer. Not sure I agree with that but confess I'm not the best to offer an opinion. I've seen an amazing leap in the level of responsiveness from BCS in the past 8 months. They've been very open to listening to ideas, I've been able to get them to reopen a couple closed cases, have special parts overnighted from Austria and replace 2 bikes. They are not perfect but I'd put them up against any motorcycle or car manufacturer in the world. Court | ||
| Petereid |
I'd then have 850 folks demanding the same thing. I bet if Buell costed out my offer even including the cost of the sidecases they would be making a profit on the deal. I just want dry bags at this point. I don't really care which type they are. Pete | ||
| Court |
>>>I bet if Buell costed out my offer even including the cost of the side-cases they would be making a profit on the deal. Perhaps but fact of the matter is that Buell, the motorcycle company has nothing to do with it. Everything beyond design and manufacturer is by Harley-Davidson and they traditionally, over the last 106 years of eeecking by, don't to a lot of "what if analysis". They are good, like most folks who are dealing with a customer base in the millions, good at creating and executing policy . . they are not huge on innovation. There are ways to slant this to your benefit. Like you say they, and to a degree they do, work from a detailed set of guidelines. It may look like a script but if they do one thing for me, another for you and another for someone in Australia, all of a sudden it's corporate chaos. Their "solutions" will generally start with "replace what's broken". . . that makes sense. One thing I've learned (and it wasn't easy for me) was to not taunt them with stuff like "seem to be reading from a script and simply fall silent when you ask for a detailed answer". If I came on here and told the world that one of them who'd spoken to me said you sounded like an "incurable pissed off idiot with no common sense" . . how congenial would you be? Life, and customer service, is a two way street. I've got no dog in the fight . . . I'm a construction worker who could care less but I've helped hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Buell owners over the years. Court's motto: Don't grease the mirror before you set out to climb it. Just saying . . . . | ||
| Petereid |
"incurable pissed off idiot with no common sense" If you could find someone other then my wife to say that about me I'd be surprised BTW my script comment refers to a "company policy" and is not a personal attack on Debbie who I was speaking with. If you were to ask her I would hope that she would say "he is a pissed off customer who has said several time durring our conversations that he knows it isn't my fault but he is frustrated with the inability to speak with anyone who is authorised to directly solve this problem. He at all times was polite." (Message edited by petereid on March 02, 2009) | ||
| Thunderbox |
What you need to do is empty the bags. Wait for a rainy day and open the bags and sprinkle talc on the inside of the bags and empty any extra out. Put the bags on the bike and ride it like you stole it. Get back into the garage and carefully open them up. There will be a trail left where the water was coming from. Fix the leak and enjoy. | ||
| Court |
>>>He at all times was polite Never hurts . . . I'm going to try to get your first set of bags, do some research and see what we can find. No promises. . . but I'm gonna try. |
