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BA Friends

Orderd the main saddle and pillion from Corbin and came earlier than promised....changed things out last night...can not wait to test ride this weekend....HOWEVER...NEED HELP with the pillion...Moved the bracket from the stock to the new as instructed...slipped the front brack under the saddle bolt as instructed....BUT...there is a whole lot of room (gap) between the pillion rear bracket and the hole for the bolt...I do have Willie and Max bags under the seat, but with the old pillion I could tighten down the brack to the fender....started the tightening process and was afraid to go any further for fear of stripping threads....Called Corbin this AM and they told me the 6 bumpers under the Corbin pillion needed to soften up and will take some time....any one else have this problem and is there a fix or do I just need to wait...

George In Virginia
02 BA

[image]http://www.geocities.com/gharbourjr/Triumph_Page_5.html[/image]

Hi George,
I don't have a Corbin, but the bumpers may be able to be softened with a hair dryer. I use them for removing stickers, reflectors, etc. Or sit the pillion in direct sunlight upside down for an hour - the bumpers should be as soft as they're gonna get by then. Then have your bride sit on it when you're ready to insert bolt.
I am sure you'll get some better answers from experienced Corbin owners soon. Another thing you could do is mount bags on an EZBracket - but then again there's another $120-$150 out the window.
Ride Safe,
Dennis

Same here. I left a bit of a gap myself...I also put a couple stainless washers inder the head of the front seat bolt so the front of the pillion could go higher, thus lowering hte rear to the fender...

Hi George,

Did you get a pillion bracket with your order? I did on mine but had to elongate the hole to make it fit without killing myself getting the pillion bolt in. I kept the Corbin bracket on there as it was a lot thicker than the stock and I liked that...

Please qualify 'a whole lot of room'? 1/4"? More? On my Corbin pillion, there is about 3/16" gap now but I can push it down as I install the bolt. This shows how long these rubber cushions/bumpers are, eh?

Regardless, the over the fender part of your bags and the length of the rubber bumpers are the issues. I had the same problem with the stock Triumph bags (with an over the fender portion) and the stock pillion. I had to really push down on the pillion to get it to mount.

I eliminated the problem by going with Easy Brackets (the stock pillion mount bracket laid flat on the fender after because I removed the over the fender portion of the bags) and now have no issue with the Corbin even with the 3/16" gap.

Do you have more gap than this?

You have three avenues to solve this. Either remove the interference with the over the fender portion of the bags (i.e., Easy Brackets), change the over the fender 'settings' (typically they are laced, perhaps you can re-lace an eliminate much of the bulge?), or cut the offending bumpers down (or have Corbin do it). How many bumpers are contacting the over the fender leather?

btw, I took a 'large enough' rubber washer and double-sticky taped it to the back of the bracket to minimize fender scratching...

Phil, Bennie, Dennis:

Thanks for the input....To clarify...I am talking about the chorme stock bracket that I moved from the stock pillion seat over to the corbin pillion....the gap is more that 1/4" and in order to get the bolt started, I have to sit on the seat in order to depress the bumpers enough to get the threads started...Yes I thought of the laces, but can not go the Easy Brackets for now...with the seats and additonal chrome parts,,,footboards, lightbar, foothanger bar, I am at about $1,400 and the old compromise with wife thing is in action...anymore $$$$ and I will have to take the bike and find a new place to live....No just kidding...After 35 years of marriage, I am way past that...anyway I will check things out more thoroughly this weekend...I thought about adding a couple of washers under the two boldt that hold the bracket to the pillion...this will lower the bracket overall..I also like the hairdryer idea...heat them up and then mount the seat....Anyway...will let you guys know how it all works out after Saturday....unless someone else has a better mouse trap...by the way...I had the same problem with the stock pillion. the 02 BA's had a smaller bolt than what is currently being used, and my dealer installed new threaded insert and bolt of larger diameter...work great after that...screwed down all the way to the fender...

George in Virgina...

George,

This may be a dumb question, but do you have the stepped/slotted bolt on the back of the rider's seat or just a plain bolt?

A bolt like this???

slotted bolt

If so, and you're still having the problem, you could try a rubber washer or 2 under the rear of the pillion bracket where it bolts to the fender. If it "seeks it's own level" over time. you can just remove the washers as needed.

Another suggestion... Remove some of the rubber bumpers completely. I did that with my stock pillion when I had over the fender bags... Fit perfectly. If you do washers under the bolt head, put them on TOP of the front seat bracket, that way it still sits right.

I just recently had a similar problem when I installed my River Road bags. About a 1/2 inch gap at the rear mount. I went down and got a 1/2 inch longer bolt and about a 1/4 inch nylon spacer and tightened her down. No problems.

Thanks to all for the input....This AM...went to the hardwar store a got three SS washers for the "sloted" saddle bolt...Already using it Grump...But thanks for the idea...you never know what people are doing...Next...got four SS washers for the pillion bracket and two rubber washers for the pillion bolt....Here goes the FIX>...
1. TWO SS washers on top of saddel bracket but under the saddle sloted bolt..2. Two washers underneath the pillion bracker for each of the two bracket bolts two each side (four total)..."this basically lowered the pillion bracket by about a 1/16th of an inch....3. Re-laced the bags to locate the ties away from the bumpers and centerd to take advantage of the space in the center of the pillion...4. Replace the pillion seat and used one (1) rubber washer under the pillion bracket where it attached to the fender...Braket bolt screwed in just like new...very little space between the bracket and fender....Puts wife rear-end on the pillion..went to Blue Ridger Pkwy for and hour ride...everything looks and rides perfectly....Very simple fix with the SS washers....TOTAL COST TO GET THE PILLION BRACKET DOWN CLOSER TO THE FENDER....$1.05.....Thanks for all of the replies....on this post....now just need to put some miles on the new Corbin saddle....PS>>>>FOR ANYONE THINKING OF A PURCHASE...MY WIFE LOVED THE CONTOUR AND SIZE OF THE LARGER CORBING PILLION, AND IT FITS WITH THE TOTAL LOOK OF THE BIKE....

George in Virginia...

George,
Looks like the fix took less time than explaining it...!
Glad you got it straightened out.

Hi Gearoge,

Glad to hear that you got it figured out.

Some Notes re Corbin Saddles:

You will notice that you cannot remove the fuse cover with the saddle on. You can move it enough to get to the fuses but not enough to remove it.

I used a single washer under the slotted saddle bolt and have the easy brackets. So the saddle bags yoke was not an issue.

Another note is if you ride in the rain you might want to remove the saddle and turn it upside down to see if any water collects within it.

You going to post a picture of the new saddlery?

Moe

Hi George,

Glad to hear that you got it figured out.

Some Notes re Corbin Saddles:

You will notice that you cannot remove the fuse cover with the saddle on. You can move it enough to get to the fuses but not enough to remove it.

I used a single washer under the slotted saddle bolt and have the easy brackets. So the saddle bags yoke was not an issue.

Another note is if you ride in the rain you might want to remove the saddle and turn it upside down to see if any water collects within it.

You going to post a picture of the new saddlery?

Moe