Rally Seat Fitting

[RunawayRider]

I got my Tenere 700 a few weeks ago, great bike.  I am now trying to fit a rally seat on the bike but for the life of me, I cannot get it to fit.  The front of the seat appears properly positioned but the 2 back "pins" do not align with the holes.  Has anyone faced a similar situation?  Should I keep drinking until the seat fits?  Thoughts?

[whisperquiet]

It is a tough fit as there is a locating tab on the rear of the rally seat that goes into a recessed hole in the subframe.  It took a few tries before mine was installed.  Push the seat hard in the forward direction as you push down on the rear of the seat to latch it……….it IS a very tight fit for sure.

[Fiddyone]

Ya mine was tough and once I got it on I've pretty much left it alone!

[YukonPete]

Keep drinking!! I always have a hell of time getting mine on and off. To get mine off the last time I had to weight my key to keep it turned so I could reef on the seat to pop it off! Getting it on is also a mind game - you have to get everything aligned, especially at the back and then ram and down and forward at the same time! Maybe someone should make a YouTube video!

[Stevoh]

In fact, you can do away with the two silver hooks at the rear of the seat, so it just hooks in at the front and is held in place at the rear with the latch, it's highly unlikely that the seat is going to fly off the bike anytime soon!

I removed the strap on the rally seat and just took the hooks off while I had the the 10mm nuts removed.

[Zola]

Even harder to get seat off with AT tail rack.  Several bandages will be a necessity !  Will try hook removal when my fingers heal up.  Good plan.

[BADDANDY]

15 hours ago, Stevoh said:

In fact, you can do away with the two silver hooks at the rear of the seat,

I removed my hooks. Night n day difference. No more skinned knuckles.

[YoGuy]

I found a way that works for me, without removing the hooks.  
The "natural" shape of the seat (due to tension of the plastic and/or cover) needs to be flexed (bent upward) between the hook point and the latch point at the back of the seat.

 

Installing the seat: Place the front catch. Clasp rear of seat and hold up (a little bit) while pushing on the area above the hooks.  If done right, the back of the seat will ffall into the latch. 

The inverse also helps while removing the seat: with the key turned, lift/bend the back of the seat to pop the pin and latch out. Then the hooks will pop out due the plastic tension. 

 

It takes a little practice!

 

 

[motoddb]

My first reaction was WTF, did I buy the wrong model (eg European vs NA seat), and then scrambled to find part numbers.  But sounds like everyone has found their own method. I like to latch the front, then put pressure downward in the middle of the seat while simultaneously pushing forward and down from the rear. Maybe I’ll pull the mid latches as others have suggested. 

[AZJW]

As noted earlier, this is even more difficult to do with a rear rack. My Tusk rack fits fairly close to the rear edge of my rally seat which serves as a finger pinch point so I have to use the palms of my hands to push downward and forward on the middle and rear of the seat.   Usually followed by a fist blow to the latch area to get it latched. Seems to work consistently,  but figuring out the procedure took a few choice words to accomplish the first few times.