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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | Ok, so I take my Vision to the dealer to get my left sidebag cover fixed. (From the rear my left side didn't look closed like the right, it was off by 1/4 inch) After an hour or so of futzing with it, it was no better. I sent them a link to this site where a member had his fixed and Polaris had sent his dealer a 5 page tech doc on how to fix this issue. (Every Vision at my dealer had left cover alignment issues)
After talking to them again today and them asking me to leave the bike while I travel next week, I decided to try to fix it myself.
I went to Lowes and picked up two packs of 6mm stainless steel flat washers ($1.76 each) and proceeded to take the left side cover off. (Sorry I don't have pics - again I was trying and wasn't sure about success.)
1. Use 10mm tool of choice to remove the bolts from the brackets on the inside of the side cover. (Make sure you hold the door so it doesn't fall off and get damaged when you remove the bolts).
2. Using a small screwdriver, pry the retaining clip up from the door strut where the ball meets the socket on the strut. I removed the one closest to me. This makes it easier to move the bracket around.
3. Using a 10mm open end wrench remove the bolts that attach the side door bracket from the hinge at the rear.
4. Using your newly purchased 6mm flat washers, sandwich them BETWEEN the side door bracket and the hinge. I used 3 on the front bolt and 5 on the rear.
5. Tighten the bolts with the washers sandwiched in between. (this is the most difficult part as it is easy to drop the bolt and have the washers fall on the floor - ask me how I know :-) )
6. Reattach the door strut and snap the retaining clip back into place.
7. Reattach the side door to the brackets.
8. Enjoy your aligned door.
This whole process took me 20 minutes to complete. I had to do it twice to get the right amount of washers / shims in place to my liking. I might do this to the front bracket too as it is now out a little from this adjustment (much less conspicuous than the rear and I may just leave it alone).
John
P.S. So my dealer attends a local bike nite tonight. I take the V up there and show them; imagine their surprise when I told them how easy this was. :-)
Edited by ScoreBo 2008-07-02 10:35 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | Sounds great. Is it binding anywhere? Is it latching ok? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | Perfectly. My dealer even said he thought it closed easier. You aren't changing anything with the latch mechanism, just leveraging tension to pull the back part of door closer to the body.
I edited the post - my cover looked like it wasn't closed all the way, compared to the right. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 47
Adamsville, Tn | Just used your alignment tip. Had to use 1 washer in the front, 5 in the back. Getting the back hinge back on the bag was a pain, but now my bags are right, and open and close much better. Thanx
Edited by stretch 2008-07-10 9:13 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | Glad it worked for you! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 102
Northeast Pennsylvania | my alignment issue is with the cover touching the seat on one side and a 1/4" off the seat on the other side. Anyone have any fixes for that?  |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 22
| victory2002 - 2008-07-24 9:20 PM
my alignment issue is with the cover touching the seat on one side and a 1/4" off the seat on the other side. Anyone have any fixes for that?
Same here, tight on the right, very tight... |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 619
Southeast Iowa | Dido on tight right. 2nd saddle bag lid, 2nd seat...............all loose left and tight right. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | There are definately 'other' issues with the fit and finish regarding the saddlebags and seat. I too am hitting on the right on my seat. I believe this is causing the right side bag to actually close better from the back, however, i did notice some rubbing on the paint on the top most part of my right lid on the rear. My right side is harder to close and open because it is hitting the seat. Also, every bike in the showroom has their seat hitting the right bag cover.
You could also use the above tip to shim up the front left side to bring it closer to the seat, but it will affect the rear alignment again if you do this. It is a lot of trial and error. This is something that Polaris and dealers should know how to fix. Being the impatient person that I am, I was just sick of waiting. Short of a heavier modification to either the seat or right bag cover, I know of no other way to correct this. You either are going to have to have the seat re-done with less material on the right or shave down the cover lid where it meets the seat and repaint.
My fear is that at some point you will make it harder to operate and I am mostly concerned about rear appearance. IMHO, it is much less obvious on the front than the rear. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | I was wondering if you guys can give me some advice or better yet post some photos of your Left bag.. I tried to do the washing thing and it closed the gap a little bit more on the left bag but holy crap it is no where even or lined up like my right bag. I have no issues with my right bag at all. But the left looks like it is stick "out" further away from the lines of the bike. almost like it is a 1/2 inch away from the bottom part of the bag. and if you look at the dull gray alum part that comes towards the bag, there is almost a inch gap between the alum piece and the bags lid, where as the right bag looks perfectly lined up. I never had a issue closing my bags ever. i was just trying to get it to look "even" like the right bag does. I would love to see a photo of someone elses left bag. or better yet HOW you installed the washers in your bag. Like a after photo with the washer in place... I removed my left bag lid 4 times now and nothing is making a difference. |
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Sidebag cover - alignment self fix for $3.52!
