I took my seat off this afternoon to put my Stomp Grip on.

Looks like I did some riding around with the seat sitting on top of the metal tabs on the tank, rather than hooked into them. I bent the tabs down and the seat would not hook into them any more. The paint is also cracked right where the bend is.

I wrapped a rag around the tabs and slowly bent them back enough that I can get the seat hooked into them again, but they are pretty tight yet. I'm afraid to bend them out any more for fear of snapping them off.

Am I the only one dumb enough to do something like that?

absolutely not. I've carefully bent mine back twice, but now make sure the seat is correctly connected every time I put it back on.

Misery loves company!

When installing...SLIDE the front forward(kinda like spooning it on there).Push down on the midportion of the seat once in there.(a little wiggle back and forth to fit the latches).It will click in .Push down on the seat cowl at the tail about an inch or so in with a flat palm.It should click in there.You shouldn't be able to lift that rear cowl lip at all...now to the front,grasp both sides of the front of the seat and try to lift it away from the body.It shouldn't come free at all.

Dude, I have trouble with this too. You are not alone brotha! Do not feel out of place.
Ride on bro, ride on!
Wman

Been there, done that... same thing the paint cracked/chipped off :(

I always try and pull up on the front of the seat after I lock it in place, if the seat is on top of the tabs the seat will move/pull...

You could try heating up the tabs with a heat gun to ease the stress of bending the metal back

Jtemple, dont feel bad, I did the stupidist thing this week, didnt put the kickstand down all the way, and yep, you guessed it, it went down, luckily I caught it before it did any real damage, just a surface scrath way underneath the lower right fairing that I rubbed out and waxed, I tell you, it took all I had to get that beast back up, I lost 90 lbs since getting this bike, and my left shoulder and collarbone and ribs where broken last year, so I dont have the strength I used too ...

"I bent the tabs down"

Guilty here...

* Last updated by: okie on 5/16/2013 @ 10:39 PM *

Newbie here, just got my 2013 ZX14R ABS SE Green last Saturday 5/18.

I too have been having problems getting the seat on I think I have the technique down now. It should not be so hard to put a seat on Kawasaki's top of the line when my 1988 600r Ninja seat has been so easy during it's 25 year life with me.

Anyway, the rubber mounts underneath my seat kept falling off as I struggled to get the seat on properly. I decided to take off the 2 front rubber mounts. Anyone see a problem with doing this? Will it dent something without the rubber mounts?
I assume these are for vibration control and also thought that they were causing the problem with aligning the seat with the tab.

Thanks,
Pep

* Last updated by: Pep3rdKaw on 5/23/2013 @ 9:41 PM *

No...they're not causing any alignment problem.You just have to scoop the seat on...and hold the tail while you line up the latch pins and then push down on the center.Then make sure the rear tip is clicked in.It shouldn't lift away from the fairing there at all.Pull up on the front end...it shouldn't come up any.It's not a problem once you see what's going on with the install.

"Anyway, the rubber mounts underneath my seat kept falling off as I struggled to get the seat on properly"..you're trying to force it too much...spoon it on there.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 5/23/2013 @ 10:25 PM *

I've learned to wiggle it gently till I hear the, "click!" Agreed with Green she scoops up the tank tabs and then wiggles into place. I ran clear coat plastic wrap where the sear meets the tank and other plastic bits. In doing this I don't have to go so gingerly to affix that banana seat.
Ps wrap cost me 80 bucks. Well, well, worth it!