Modern Buddy

My seat won't latch anymore. Eric, you mentioned an approach where you raise the latch with washers. Could you describe this approach in more detail? Does it involve disassembly? Thanks!

Dirvin wrote:My seat won't latch anymore. Eric, you mentioned an approach where you raise the latch with washers. Could you describe this approach in more detail? Does it involve disassembly? Thanks!

We've had this happen on 2 of our Buddies - perhaps not to the same degree that you are experiencing - but to the extent that the seat will not latch unless slammed down very hard several times or closed and then pounded with a fist. It's very annoying. However, in each case the problem has resolved itself and the seat has started closing easily again after a number of weeks.

I am curious to hear what Eric's experience/solution was. Perhaps there is a way to avoid the hassle with a simple fix.

Here's an article about how to adjust the seat latch:
viewtopic.php?t=1814
This is likely where your issue lies. The release mechanism relies on a very small contact area on the latch itself and if it's just a bit out of adjustment, you'll have issues latching and/or the seat won't pop up when you turn the key. The adjustment described in this article will fix that.

You can also try putting some grease on it.

This happened on mine too. I had to slam on it to get it to close - super annoying! I greased it up w/ some WD40 and it works perfectly fine now.

I had to get a whole new ignition within just a few weeks of having my Psycho, so at first i thought the seat issue had to do w/ the ignition issue (because the ignition is where you open the seat.) But...WD40 did the trick for me.

I will try WD40, my seat is the same way,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,have to push really hard on the "sweet spot" to get it to close all the way.
Dealership said they all are like that and will loosen up with time

I had mine over-adjusted so it would pop open better.
I say over-adjusted because I later found out that when it was closed, and supposedly latched, I could grab the back of the seat and just pop it open.

I adjusted it back down so it was locked better.
But, what really helped was spraying some white lithium grease on all of the moving parts at the latch. Now my seat stays latched and pops up great when released with the key.

Lubrication seems to help!

I didn't do the washer mod, but from what I recall, the idea was to raise the latch mechanism just a bit, using washers as shims. I might be able to illustrate it; if someone has a pic of the seat latch, that'd help! I'll look for a photo among the manuals, etc.

ericalm wrote:Lubrication seems to help!

I didn't do the washer mod, but from what I recall, the idea was to raise the latch mechanism just a bit, using washers as shims. I might be able to illustrate it; if someone has a pic of the seat latch, that'd help! I'll look for a photo among the manuals, etc.

You just made the double entendre topic.

Thanks all for your replies. I've tried pushing down, I've tried the lube approach, and neither works. I do have a sense that the solution lies in raising the latch somehow. I'm just not sure how to do that, so hopefully someone can help me with specific directions. Thanks.

Dirvin wrote:Thanks all for your replies. I've tried pushing down, I've tried the lube approach, and neither works. I do have a sense that the solution lies in raising the latch somehow. I'm just not sure how to do that, so hopefully someone can help me with specific directions. Thanks.

Well… looking at it now (photos from manuals), this probably won't work. The fuel tank bracket and plastics bolt into the top of the seat latch mechanism. So if it's raised, those get raised, too.

Not sure if my 2 cents will help, but here goes:
When I first got my scooter, I had this problem but a scooter shop owner showed me that there is a specific spot that I need to press down on to close the seat. It's right above the latch, I think, about a quarter distance from the back of the seat, in the middle. I haven't had a problem with it since then.

Dirvin wrote:Thanks all for your replies. I've tried pushing down, I've tried the lube approach, and neither works. I do have a sense that the solution lies in raising the latch somehow. I'm just not sure how to do that, so hopefully someone can help me with specific directions. Thanks.

Try the latch adjustment I linked above. It's really easy to do and it's worth a shot.

pdxrita wrote:

Dirvin wrote:Thanks all for your replies. I've tried pushing down, I've tried the lube approach, and neither works. I do have a sense that the solution lies in raising the latch somehow. I'm just not sure how to do that, so hopefully someone can help me with specific directions. Thanks.

Try the latch adjustment I linked above. It's really easy to do and it's worth a shot.

Yep, that's the one. Just be sure you get it adjusted so that it releases and stays latched. My problem was making it release too well so that it didn't stay latched enough.

I had the same issue.
I too raised the latch, but see my pictures from this previous topic to see how I fixed mine.
Maybe yours is doing the same thing.

viewtopic.php?t=20438&highlight=latch