Ok, I bought a set of hard bags (and a king tour pak) for my '08 SERK and sent them to Gene (Paint by Gene - he rocks by the way

) to have them painted to color match (more on all of this with pics later / in a separate post). I just got everything back and have spent the larger part of this evening reassembling everything.
However, the one thing I just don't have the energy to tackle at this late hour is trying to install the little rubber grommets into the saddlebags. You know, the ones that hold the pin that holds the saddlebag in place...
The hole on the bag looks far too small for me to shove that grommet through but looking at the neck of the grommet I'm sure it's the right part. (Not even sure if they make more than one kind.)

Anyway... all of that to ask this... does anybody have any suggestions on how to get that grommet into place on the bags any easier than what it looks like it's going to be? I thought about soapy water, etc. to make them slick(er) but I'm not even sure that will help.
I'd welcome any help / suggestions you may have.
