solo seat

[badgertom]

Does anyone know of a solo seat that can be installed on the (1982) R65 without making major changes to the frame. I have seen photos
of a solo seat on the bike, but have not been able to find one on the internet. In most cases the springs seem to conflict with the frame or rear fender. Any help would be appreciated. I just like the look of the single seat. Thanks

[Bob_Roller]

Rob Valdez had one on his '79 R65, he got it from S. Meier (sp?) she is a BMW parts seller on ebay located in Germany.

Best I can remember the seat was meant for the 'first' generation twin shock bikes,'78-'80, the subframes are different starting with the '81 model production year, or the 'second' generation twin shock bikes .

[Tony Smith]

Does anyone know of a solo seat that can be installed on the (1982) R65 without making major changes to the frame.me or rear fender.

I will send photos of my wife's R65 tonight. The way we did hers was to use a K100 police seat and an R80G/S rear rack (mainly to give her somewhere to carry stuff. I had to weld mounts for the rack but that was the only metal work involved.
 
When first done the seat locked in using a modified K100 Police seat lock, but the lock froze up, I took it off intending to replace it, but never did. for the past 20 years the seat has been secured with a flat luggage strap which I'll admit doesn't look as good as it might, but when we travel it is under a sheepskin anyway.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

The first time I did it, I used the seat/rack from S. Meyer intended for the R65-R80G/S.  It did not pivot, the rack had to be welded to the subframe, and I never did get the seat anchored properly.

Also, Motobins offers two different G/S and GS rear racks (scroll down to Seats & Seat Parts):
#91931 and #91932  http://www.motobins.co.uk/bmw-parts.php?model=R%20Series%202%20valve%20Twin

I finally bought the proper "police" seat for the R65 (it works best with a '81-'84 bike, but a early bike can work with it with a later subframe).
It pivots and latches just like a normal bench seat.  Unfortunately, I don't see them in S. Meyer's catalog, but it is certainly worth an email to them.  They readily trade with the U.S.

Here is the link to the G/S seat/rack: http://www.meyer-bikes.de/index.php?page=details&art=52531453837SK

This is a link to my project photos: http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/solo_seat

If you go the police seat route, you will need a couple of special parts.
The pivot and the special tapered nut.
I have a picture of the pivot, but not one of the nut, except in situ:






the hinge and the nut are not cheap, and A&S calls the nut "OBS"...

(thank you RealOEM!)


Hinge is #7 and the nut is #13

07 Hinge  1   52531236948 $30.05  ($26.44 A&S)
13 Nut  1   52531242706 $10.53  ($6.48 A&S)

When I used the G/S/ seat, I had to weld small plates to my subframe to contact the rubber bumpers.  



I recommend the police seat if you can find one.

[badgertom]

Thanks for the inf. Looks Ilike a got a winter project.

[Tony Smith]

Sorry this has taken a couple of days. As promised, here are the photos of the R80GS rack adapted to my wife's R65/80. and a couple of gratuitous photos of he bike as well.

[montmil]

"Gratuitous" photos always welcome. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

Left side pillion peg installed but right side missing. Story there?

[marcmax]

If the pillion is wearing an eye patch and has a parrot on the shoulder the missing peg is obvious.  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

If the pillion is wearing an eye patch and has a parrot on the shoulder the missing peg is obvious.  

Lord High'N'Low: "Boys, don't never, but never, make fun of no cripple!"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063049/quotes

[tvrla]

Why not modify a stock seat? If yours is too nice to hack up, find a junker. I've got a seat that someone started modifying with a new piece of vinyl and it doesn't look bad at all.

[Dustybin]

Did that on my GS , had it professionally covered, smashing job but a lot of tutting and sucking of teeth from the rivet counters corner!

[montmil]

Can we now get back to the one-eyed, peg-legged, pirate pillion?  

You guys are pretty funny. Have a pleasant Christmas Night.   Zzzzzzzzz

[Tony Smith]

Left side pillion peg installed but right side missing. Story there?

Bike is (fairly obviously) single seat, both for that reason and the conditions of the concessional registration fees she pays both rear footpegs are supposed to be removed.

However, this is a 1978/79 R65, and to create this model BMW simply used their "standard" frame and fitted it with shorter forks and a shorter swing arm, they also simply shortened the center stand.

The last bit was a rare mistake for BMW as the effort required to lever the thing on and off the center stand is quite extraordinary.

Her ladyship, who is approaching her 60th summer, recently asked me to refit the left hand rear footpeg as she can brace her leg against it when levering the bike on and off the center stand

[Barry]

However, this is a 1978/79 R65, and to create this model BMW simply used their "standard" frame and fitted it with shorter forks and a shorter swing arm, they also simply shortened the center stand.

The last bit was a rare mistake for BMW as the effort required to lever the thing on and off the center stand is quite extraordinary.

I agree with Tony on this one. I think the stand could have been a little shorter and the geometry is not right. I've had severel bikes Triumphs and Japanese that had easier centre stands

I believe much of the problem was the stand going much too far overcentre and the bike being more of a struggle to get off the stand as well as on. My cure was to build up and thicken the end stops with weld and then grind back gradually testing the stand for a correct fit and angle. The original ends are a laminated construction which I think is is one reason why they wear. After welding they are much stronger. While I was about it although my tubes were not worn through they were getting thin so as a preventative measure strips of stainless steel were welded on carefully and dressed with an angle grinder so as to be hardly visible. Stainless was used because it will wear much better than mild steel and also because the metal in contact with the ground will not rust. I believe the modified stand will be more durable than new.      
 

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

However, this is a 1978/79 R65, and to create this model BMW simply used their "standard" frame and fitted it with shorter forks and a shorter swing arm, they also simply shortened the center stand.

Really?

According to RealOEM there were two frame #'s used in the 12/78 search I did:

01 FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ  1  09/1980 46511240462  +core, ENDED  
01 FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ  1  09/1980 46512301717  +core

And the cross-reference results:

Part 46512301717 (FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ) was found on the following vehicles:

248: Details on 248
248 R65 N/A


Part 46511240462 (FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ) was found on the following vehicles:

248: Details on 248
248 R65 N/A


I checked a later year model, and found this:

Part 46512301617 (FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ) was found on the following vehicles:

248: Details on 248
248 R65 N/A
248 R65LS N/A


Type 247's had 46511240461:

Part 46511240461 (FRONT FRAME SCHWARZ) was found on the following vehicles:

2474: Details on 2474
2474 R 100 /7T N/A
2474 R 100 /T N/A
2474 R 100 RS N/A
2474 R 100 RT N/A
2474 R 100 S N/A


2476: Details on 2476
2476 R60/6 N/A
2476 R75/6 N/A
2476 R90/6 N/A
2476 R90S N/A


2477: Details on 2477
2477 R 60 /7 N/A
2477 R 75 /7 N/A
2477 R 80, R 80 /7 N/A