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Who the #$!% designed the rear compartment!?

3K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Ceal 
#1 ·
Rode in to work this morning, no problems, so I thought. Getting ready to hop on the bike to grab some lunch and noticed my rear compartment/tool box flapping open...lock missing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...OK? So hit up Home Depot on the way home after voile strapping
the compartment shut. Picked up a cam lock, which works just fine and saved me about $40 from the OEM lock. But while installing, the whole door just fell off. Why aren't there hinges on this thing? Who decided that really thin plastic was going to do the trick? Any how, it's now being held on by 3m VHB double sided tape on the inside, some electrical tape to seal it from the outside. Lock installed, super glued in place. SMH.
 
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#2 ·
At the same Home Depot you can pick up a small piano hinge to be replace the thin plastic original. Get stainless steel screws to match up with it and you are all set. Most of us agree that the box is a flawed design but that is minor and can be easily fixed as well as a few other minor design problems but it is one great bike overall. Many of us will eventually go on to own other bikes and replace the VN 750 unless we are able to keep a small stable of bikes. Some members here already own more than one 750. Enjoy this bike for what it is.
 
#4 ·
I love my bike, so don't take my complaining the wrong way. I've had it for 6 years, and it's been great. This is just not what I wanted to do after work. But really, the plastic hinge is a bit ridiculous.
 
#3 ·
well, thats plastic for ya..

at least yours lasted this long...

when I got my 2005, the 'hinge' is actually duct tape... been that way for an undetermined amount of time, but more than the 2 months I have owned my vulcan.

in the end we can probably blame the bean counters on the lack of hinges (as well as many other cheap alternatives installed at the factory.

they were designed to last for a couple years, which they do. after that, warranty is gone, so the manufacturer has no more stake in the bike.
 
#5 ·
I thought everyone here knew to get a hinge and use silicon on the lock's thread lol. I'm sure it's in the verses somewhere.

That being said, I made the mistake of ignoring the warnings and lost my lock as well. Now the lid is held in place by a piece of cable. I do have a hinge though lol.
 
#6 ·
I lost my lock ... cover... and mind... in no particular order....
 
#8 ·
I completely agree, the glove box on the bike sucks. The plastic hindge was broke when I bought my bike but the door was still hanging in there. Never got around to fixing the hinge and the door fell off on the way to work last fall. Now I got a big gaping hole right behind my seat and I hate it.

Then again it is motivating me to do some customizing in the near future.
 
#10 ·
A crafty one you are. Oh, the wonderful things you can do with milk jugs...like fill them with ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder, and shoot them. BOOOOM! :carryflag
 
#13 · (Edited)
Yep, the lock issue and the hinge problem are well documented. I luckily read the warnings after buying mine new and siliconed the lock and preemptively duct taped the hinge. (And siliconed the swing arm covers)
Thank you Yahoo Group.

I ended up selling my entire toolbox sans the lock, as I used it on a replacement tool box that used metal hinges and was built from 16 gauge stainless steel.

There is a sticky right in this section that covers this (see my post #5):
http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9127

So yeah, you all were warned....lol ;)
 
#14 ·
The sad thing is that I read all of the warning. My lock seemed to be on there nice and snug. I would check it every time I opened it up, thinking, "what are those crazy bastards talking about?"...live and learn, live and learn.
 
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