The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Olliepup on March 28, 2014, 05:25:06 PM
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My 1986 R65 seat has many cracks that the PO felt was best dealt with by covering with black electrical tape. This annoys the hell out of me and I'd like to pursue alternatives. It appears the OEM material is no longer available in the USA, and I'm not too keen on it anyway. Sargent Seats can do a re-cover with their smooth vinyl for $159 plus $20 for shipping. My foam looks OK, but they can re-do that for an additional $100. They also have a vinyl they call CarbonFX that has sort of a knitted look to it.
So, have any of you used Sargent, have you used the base smooth vinyl, have you used the CarbonFX?
Any thoughts, comments??
Thanks, Dave
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Options are recover your self. I did mine with some leather form Tandy Leather. Or gets some uplostrey vinyl. Check with an auto uplostrey shop.
Don
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Might check Ebay. I just put a new "carbon fiber" (just a textured weave pattern in the vinyl) cover on my '83 for about $60. I guy in Canada is making them up. Just one sewn seam at the front edge and then he has a chalk line around the outside edge so you know how far to stretch it. All cut to size so no guessing. Will need a bit of contact cement and a pop rivet tool. Best to warm the vinyl with a heat gun or hairdryer to get it to stretch. Looks really good.
I used to know a Wavy Davey in Alaska...ever spend any time up there?
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Dave, That's some big bucks from Sargent Seats! I recovered the seat on my '81 with a vinyl replacement from N'West classic, the Canadian guy mentioned above. The DIY instructions are first class. Pretty simple afternoon project but in your case, you'll need a warm work space to keep the vinyl pliable.
I have a photo-essay on the seat work posted in the Photo Gallery section. If you've not visited that area, you'll need to contact Justin for the double-secret password that keeps out them damn spammers.
Oops. Here's the link: http://stores.ebay.com/NW-Classic-Motorcycle-Seat-Covers
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Thanks, guys. I'll look into those options.
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DONT get on the subject of seats! i had a nightmare! aaarrggghhhhh ! the nightmares are back lol!
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Monte's photo-essay was a big help when I recovered my seat. Every thing else sounds about right except the part about getting it done in one afternoon. I see on their e-bay page that they give you the topping foam now. Tracking that down and getting the right sized rivets took a while. Also not sure a hair dryer will do the trick for heating, I used a heat gun real carefully. Kind of nice to have done something your self that is so much a part of how the bike looks.
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thats true! much more satisfying doing it yourself , and if the jobs done to your satisfaction even better! nothing worse than believing some 'pros' reputation and him turning out to be hopeless ! AND having to finish the job yourself !
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Very pleased with seat Sargent did for me. Added the comfy foam option. Not inexpensive but workmanship excellent. Good service too.
Jeremy St. Pierre
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How about a photo? Always looking for upgrades to the bike.
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When I recovered the seat on my R65, I bought a replacement cover through motobins in the UK. An afternoon on a sunny warm day with a hairdryer and an extra set of hands to help hold things while I heated, stretched, and riveted was very handy.
When I did mine, I also used some leftover bandsaw blade protective plastic pieces to put around the metal edges of the seat pan where the material had to press tightly to reduce the chances of the metal pan cutting through.
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I also got a great seat cover from Motobins. Did it myself with the help of a tutorial I found on this forum. It was a pain in the ass but it was cheap and the seat looks great.
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Hi people, Hope ok to tag on to this thread....After 30months of rebuilding everything but the bottom end and flywheel, I am on the final tasks for my 1980 R65. Last jobs are recovering the seat, and a speedometer rebuild which is mostly done. I have repaired the seat pan with some light angle iron and nasty welds where it was rotten, and have a new cover from motobins. My foam seems ok. Where do I find the tutorial mentioned for covering the seat, as I am a bit nervy on this? I was intending to reuse the rivet strips as I guess these are original, and to put some nitrile rubber tape over the sharp edge of the flange. Thanks
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We'll have to search for the seat covering essay - or perhaps make new ones from digital pics stashed round here somewhere.. We've had a resurrection or two of the website over the years and some stuff has been lost in the process - though I think that this DIY was after the last disaster.. Stay tuned!
You can re-use the metal strips as long as they are still sound - just a little sanding/polishing to remove any surface rust before you start and possible give them a shot of clear coat to slow down future oxidation. A simple hand operated $20 pop-rivet tool and aluminum rivets will do fine
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Here is what you are looking for I hope.
http://www.suraklyn.com/r65_forum_gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=100#top_display_media
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I didn't take in progress pictures when I recovered mine but this is the end result using a Motobins cover. You will need to re-use the metal strips and washers and the nitrile tape is a good idea, there would originally have been fabric type double sided tape on the flanges. You will also need some contact adhesive.
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Thanks for replies and pictures folks. I've created a coppermine account but I still can't log into the link suraklyn page, am I doing something wrong?
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Could anyone advise on what to fix first, and what order to fix the strips in? The cover wants to hug the concave curve in the pillion area. I guess this is done by fixing the ends of the cover and then tugging the edges tight to get the vinyl to take the shape? Although my foam looks ok, perhaps I will be adding a top layer of foam to give the seat a bit more squidgeyness as any foam that's been sat on regularly for a few decades is gonna be tired.
Thanks
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I fixed the sides first taking care to ensure the cover was centred on the seat base then the ends. The technique was to use a large number of bulldog clips to hold the cover in place. Once I was satisfied with the fit I removed the clips on a short section and glued that in place. The strips and rivet went on last. You are right to recognise that the rear is the tricky bit. I did the job in hot sunshine to make stretching the cover easier. You can see from the picture that my cover fits pretty well bt if I'm honest the cover doesn't quite conform tightly to the rear concave section and if I put a finger on that spot the cover has a 2-3mm airspace underneath in the centre of that concave section. It's of no consequence though as you can't tell from looking at it or sitting on it. Adding a thin layer of foam is a good idea. Although my foam was in very good condition it had taken a set in conforming to the pattern of the old cover and you will have noticed that the pattern of the new cover is different. This difference together with the absence of a grab strap on the new cover showed through when the new cover was fitted. That disappeared gradually over the years as the foam conformed to the new cover. By some strange stroke of fortune my bike won a prize at a concours event last week and no comment was made that the seat wasn't original so it must look reasonable.
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Thanks for that Barry.where did you glue - the vilnyl to the flange/pan? Cheers
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Hers the seat on my boxer. Run up by an industrious little Javanese man in 4 hours. The cost was the Indonesian equivalent of $34. Without the grab strap, it would have been $ 25.
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where did you glue - the vilnyl to the flange/pan? Cheers
Yes on the inside of the flange and seat base but make sure not to get any glue on the side facing out or you will see it in smoothness of the vinyl.
That's a very nice seat cover balibeemer.
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Just glued on !
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....and the R 65 decal was also 'made by an enterprising oriental!
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Hi People. Got the seat done today, and here are some piccies. Yes, not for the feint hearted, and I couldn't have done it without the help of my wife..... I used 12mm topping foam over the whole, left the cover in the sun to warm up, and then Contact adhesive to glue the cover into the flange, using small plastic spring clamps to give a bit more fix. I then rivetted in the strips (which I had smoothrited red as I was bored of black)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi742.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx67%2Fmattbeamish%2FDSCF6313.jpg&hash=70c42c58bacc19023d8f25fc194291f1668b180e)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi742.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx67%2Fmattbeamish%2FDSCF6312.jpg&hash=e889a4445de3f4bdd18c81c26acbb4c4d02b0239)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi742.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx67%2Fmattbeamish%2FDSCF6311.jpg&hash=c02e0d54baa6de6454f5a7129c95be24d6cbdf57)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi742.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx67%2Fmattbeamish%2FDscf6310.jpg&hash=d787c2ab3e74878de8fff875be4e70b029372fc9)
Not perfect, but I am overall happy enough... MOT tomorrow hehe :D
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Nice little spot by the canal!
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We seem to like it, been home for 23 years....
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Good job on the seat cover install. Very tidy.
I also eliminated the pillion grab strap on both my R65s as it always hit me in an uncomfortable position.. Made it a bit tiring to scoot back for higher speed cruising.
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thank you for that......and now the bike has passed its MOT, so I am chuffed. 34 months of a slow rebuild are at an end, and I can enjoy the bike again.
I had wondered about putting a strap on, as I like the way they look......but perhaps I won't bother........