How do you take off a 6th gen seat cowl?

I can't seem to understand, are you supposed to take the cowl off along with the seat somehow, or just remove the cowl first, then the seat?

Please advise because I think I'm damaging the tabs

 

Take the seat off first, with cowl attached. Turn the seat over and look at how the cowl tabs attach to the seat. Once you see it, it should be easy.

 

I get that much, but what part of the seat do you pull on while you turn the key to get it off safely? It seems the only way it wants to come off is if you pull on the very rear of the seat that is completely covered up by the cowl

 

Pull backwards as you turn the key rather than just up.

 

I'm asking what you pull on, I understand how the seat comes off, but what part of the seat do you grab on to without damaging the seat cowl?

 

I pull it from the front, once you've slid it backwards the rear should be completely free.

 

Go onllne to a parts house and call up a drawing of the components or download the service manual.

I would guess the lights in the ass end of your bike have to be disconnected too.

 

I gently jam my fingers under the rear of the seat and pry up and pull back as I turn the key. It does fit tight.

 

Hmm - cowl and seat should come off as one item.

Hopefully you just need to learn the knack to release the seat. Sadly there are other problems which may be why it is difficult to remove the seat.

When I first got my bike it was fitted with a matching pillion seat cowl and carrier with factory panniers and top box which all looked very nice. However when I got the bike home I found that getting the seat to release was a real struggle and the handbook instructions were not very helpful. So if fitted you have panniers or a top box fitted to the bike, make sure you remove them first, before trying to remove the seat.

On my bike it seemed that when the cowl was fitted, it put extra tension on the cable release mechanism which was not able to release simply by turning the key. (Once I got the seat off my bike, I permanently removed the cowl and have never encountered problems removing the seat since.)

You may also find someone has badly stowed the tool pouch or other stuff under the seat and just slammed the seat back on, in which case it can be a nightmare to remove as the whole seat may be under tension.

So take it in steps - ideally with someone around to give you a hand - as you may need 3 or more!

Step 1 insert key into seat release,
Step 2 press gently down on the far end of the seat whilst gently turning the key anticlockwise (1/4 turn until it stops),
Step 3 whilst holding the key turned to the release position, you now need to move the whole seat backwards whilst also lifting the rear of the seat at a slight angle of 15 degrees. This may entail someone trying to lift the rear end of the cowl with fingernails, whilst someone else grabs the middle of the seat and pushes/slides it towards the rear.

Hopefully you will eventually be able to slide the seat back enough to allow you to lift the seat fully clear of the bike.

If the seat really won't budge, look carefully along the side to see if it is jammed at the mid point - if so you may have encountered the jammed toolkit problem. To resolve this you will need to apply enough downward pressure on the high spot to bend it slightly and allow it to then slide backwards whilst still attempting to simultaneously lift and pull the rear of the seat backward. This will entail a fair bit of cussin and you will remember never to overfill the under seat area!

One remote possibility is the seat release cable has either snapped or become detached. In which case you will need to gain access to the lock from below and use a small screwdriver to push the latch free from the hasp attached to the underside of the seat - that is a real pain!

Once the seat is removed - it is easy to remove the cowl - just turn it over and you will see the three plastic tabs which locate it in place. Just ease each tab free and slide the cowl off the seat.

Hope that helps



SkiMad