I keep a small kit of essential supplies and tools in case I break down while on the road with my Honda Pacific Coast PC800 motorcycle. So far I have never needed any of my kit while riding in over a decade of PC800 ownership and tens of thousands of logged miles but I have it just in case.
In the left side of my trunk, I have:
A quart of Hondaline motorcycle oil
A small bottle of emergency eye wash solution in case I get something in my eyes while riding (dust, sand, etc)
A tire patch kit (the black bag and the gray box) with reinflation cartridges
Fuses (in the ziploc bag)
A set of metric allen wrenches
A “Cramp Buster” for long rides when I need some relief
A metal valve stem for the wheels in case one of mine breaks while I’m on a ride (they can be somewhat hard to find at a local motorcycle shop — this avoids having to wait a few days for one to arrive)
Spare change in case I need a few quarters for a parking meter or a toll bridge
Some ratty ear plugs in case I lose the normal ones I wear while I ride
Not pictured: a cell phone charger — I have a charge port installed at the top of the compartment.
One other thing that I sometimes carry if I’m going on a particularly long multi-day ride is a replacement regulator/rectifier (R/R). They can *very* occasionally go bad and are a long lead-time item. It wasn’t in my trunk today when I took these photos which reminds me that I really should dig it out and throw it in the trunk again.
The trunk release cable on the Honda Pacific Coast PC800 can break after many years of use. Below I document one option to plan ahead for the eventual cable break. There is also information on an automatic trunk latch release system. Both the emergency trunk latch release photos and the automatic trunk latch release system come courtesy of Seth S. who is a long-time active member on the IPCRC Yahoo! group.
Emergency Trunk Latch Release
After a fun day of riding your PC800, you get home, open up the fuel door, grab the trunk release handle, and nothing happens! The cable has broken inside the trunk latch cable release assembly. Your gear is now stuck inside the Pacific Coast’s trunk. If you picked up groceries, your ice cream is now melting.
If you find yourself at this point and haven’t planned ahead, there are a couple options depending on where the cable assembly broke. There are two latches on our trunks including one at the top of the trunk and one in the back of the trunk. Depending on where the cable broke, you have some different options.
Step 1: Look for the Cable at the Release Lever
If you’re lucky, the cable has broken at the release lever end. There likely is a little bit of cable still sticking out of the cable housing. Get a pair of needle nose pliers and pull on the end of the cable. The latches in the trunk will likely unlatch and you can open the trunk. Now make sure you don’t close the trunk until you follow some of the steps down below for “future-proofing” your trunk.
Step 2: Remove the Passenger Seat and Look for the Cable
If the cable broke somewhere that you can’t access it from the release lever, you need to remove the passenger seat. You need a 6mm allen key to remove the bolts on both sides of the passenger seat. Those bolts can be rusted in place and might take a lot of effort to remove. The seat can also be really jammed into place if this is the first time you’ve removed it.
Under the seat you’ll find the cable assembly. Using a small wrench (I think a 12mm but I haven’t double checked that. It could be a 14 mm), you can open up the cable assembly and try to actuate the cable from there using a pair of needle nose pliers. Again, if it opens the two latches, immediately follow the below instructions for “future-proofing” your trunk.
Step 3: Actuate the Upper Latch While Also Using the Cable
Occasionally the cable to the upper latch will break while the lower latch cable is still intact. Consider yourself lucky that you don’t need to go to the next step! At this point, you need to open up the cable assembly on the end that leads to the lower latch at the bottom of the trunk. Pull the cable at the same time as you manually actuate the upper trunk latch. You might want to practice how you’ll open the upper trunk latch — I have found that a small flat head screwdriver is a useful tool to do this. As soon as you have your trunk open, follow the below instructions for “future-proofing” your trunk.
Step 4: Manually Actuating the Lower Latch
If you’ve made it here, I’m sorry for you. Likely your trunk release cable has broken down near the lower trunk latch. This is the second worst type of failure (worst is the actual latch failing — I’ve NEVER heard of one of the latches failing though). You are going to need to try and fish down into the depths of the upper trunk cover to find the lower trunk release latch. You’ll need a small arm and a lot of dexterity to make it work. I have heard of one or two people who have successfully done it after many hours of work and cursing. Good luck.
A few folks have gotten so frustrated that they’ve taken a knife to their plastic tupperwear and cut a hole where the lower latch is located to get to it. If you choose this option, you’ll have to repair the plastic or replace it afterward. Perhaps a strategically-placed bumper sticker would be a good option.
Whatever you choose, you’ll want to immediately follow the “future-proofing” information below.
Options for “Future-Proofing” a Honda Pacific Coast’s Trunk
There are two options that I know of to help ensure that you will ALWAYS be able to get into your trunk regardless of if the trunk release cable breaks.
Option 1: Remove the Lower Trunk Release Latch Striker
The easiest thing to do is to remove the lower trunk release latch striker. This is the thing that the latch engages with to hold the trunk closed. In order to do this, you need to remove the rear brake and turn signal lights assembly. Then there are a couple bolts that you remove and the striker comes out. The downside to this approach is that the trunk is a little less secure while you’re riding. You might notice a little bit of flutter in the plastics of the trunk but likely it won’t be a problem. Several PCers run their bikes this way.
Now, if you suffer a trunk release cable failure, all you have to do is pop the passenger seat off and actuate the upper trunk release latch. Be sure to keep a 6mm allen wrench handy (outside of the trunk!) so that you can get into your trunk if you have a problem.
Option 2: Install an Emergency Lower Trunk Latch Release Cable
If you’re willing to do a little more work, you can install a secondary cable or rope to manually actuate your lower trunk release cable. To do this, you need to remove the trunk tail cowl (the “duck bill” thing on the back of the trunk). There are a bunch of self-tapping screws inside the trunk that need to be removed in order to remove the tail cowl. Now the entire lower trunk release latch assembly will be exposed.
You can now install either a rope or a cable to manually actuate the lower trunk latch. Seth S. sent me some photos (below) that show how he installed a pulley and a stainless steel aircraft cable to make his emergency trunk release look very professional.
This is the lower pulley assembly that Seth S. installed on his PC800. The cable is attached to the lower latch so that if the stock trunk release cable breaks, he can still get into his trunk.
Automatic Trunk Opening for the Honda Pacific Coast PC800
Seth S. also has developed a wonderful electric latch release setup for his Honda Pacific Coast. If you have a little mechanical and electrical knowledge, this might be a project that you want to do in order to really take your PC800 to the next level of coolness.
This is the lower trunk latch electric actuator that Seth S. mounted in his trunk tail cowl. The think cable behind the electric actuator is the emergency trunk release cable.This is where the electric actuator for the lower trunk release latch goes. The cable circles around the pulley and goes to the latch. Note that the emergency trunk release cable is connected above the pulley. Also note that he used a small wire tie to make sure the cable doesn’t skip off the pulley when the stock trunk release cable is used.This is the rear view of the entire lower electric actuator assembly. Also note that the electric actuator for the upper trunk release latch is shown on the left side. It’s quite the clever design.
This is looking from the top down. You can see the emergency trunk latch release cable on the left side.Here is a close-up of how the upper trunk latch actuator is mounted to the trunk cowl frame.Here is a close-up of the upper pulley assembly to get the upper trunk electric latch actuator to interface with the upper latch assembly.Here’s another view of the upper pulley assembly.
Above is a video of the three different ways of how Seth S. can now open his trunk. First, he opens the trunk with the stock release latch located under the fuel door. Second, he opens using the emergency release cable and manually actuating the upper latch. Third, he uses the electric actuators to open the trunk.
Thanks again to Seth S. for agreeing to let me post these photos on my website. All credit goes to him for these awesome photos and his innovative approach to opening our PC800 trunks!
Recently someone pointed me to this neat electric trunk release mechanism that someone in Japan made. It is another good option to upgrade your PC’s trunk release system.
