R65 seats (saddles)

[Tony Smith]

I've decided as a surprise for my wife to refit a standard seat (saddle) to her R65/80 - it has been wearing a Police K100 single seat since the late 80s.

My question is are there any differences between the 78/79 and 80/85 seats - my chances of finding an early model seem to be exactly zero, but there are quite a few late model ones around. So I suppose the real question is will a late model seat fit the early model R65? I could of course try fitting my own 1984 seat to her bike, but someone here may know the answer which will save me 40 mins work)

I do still have the metal "cowl" piece from her original seat.

[wilcom]

according to RealOEM same part #.... but I do remember something about it is different. No real world experience though.

 Sponsored links
52531242160
Bench seat

From:
    09/01/1980
To:
    -
Weight:
    3.600 kg
Price:
    $447.68

Supersedes:

52531236268
    (05/01/1978 — 03/30/1992)

Part 52531242160 was found on the following vehicles:

    R45-R65LS..78-85 [ch8195] (01/1978 — 07/1985)

[marcmax]

Tony, I have an 82 LS and replaced the seat with a seat from a 79 standard R65 and it fit right on, no adjustments or modifications needed. I did have to replace the cowl as well as the LS tail is different.

[Tony Smith]

Thank you Marcmax.

I've just ordered the seat from Sewd Design on fleabay. Tomorrow I'll see if I can still find the original cowl piece and if not start hunting for a new one.

[Justin B.]

The cowl is different AND the older seat has the "cubby-hole" built into the seat whereas the later seat has a cubby that bolts to the subframe so you'll need that too.

[Tony Smith]

The cowl is different AND the older seat has the "cubby-hole" built into the seat whereas the later seat has a cubby that bolts to the subframe so you'll need that too.

I've found the original cowl and by eye I don't think the later "cubby hole" will fit . I will take mine off and determine one way or another once the seat arrives.

The good news is that if I do buy the later "cubby hole" they are available at almost reasonable prices.  Might shout her a new too  tray while I'm at it as the original is a bit knocked about.

What brought this on was that in the 1980s our State introduced cheaper single-seat vehicle registration. In order to qualify you had to permanently remove the rear foot pegs and shorten the seat to less that 500mm effective length.

At the time the seat base was well rusted so we fitted a K100 "police" seat (same base at G/S single seat but with black covering - and half the price) and a G/S rear utility rack.

Roll forward to 2017 and the single seat rules have changed so that all that is really needed is to remove the rear foot pegs.

[Burt]

Tony, 

Reading the QT form in front of me it states: One seat- seat is less than or equal to 500 mm in length and with no pillion pegs.

Discussion down here is that if the seat is longer than 500 mm (i.e. using the original seat), then as long as the extra length is unusable and the foot pegs removed then it qualifies.  As it is a self assessment and lops about $170 of the rego it is worth doing.

That's what I and others have done by making the rear rear portion of the seat unable to be used to carry a pillion passenger.  There is no need have the vehicle inspected and I renewed one of my bikes by doing this. 

Your sharp legal mind may differ.  Your thoughts? 

[Tony Smith]

Reading the QT form in front of me it states: One seat- seat is less than or equal to 500 mm in length and with no pillion pegs.

Discussion down here is that if the seat is longer than 500 mm (i.e. using the original seat), then as long as the extra length is unusable and the foot pegs removed then it qualifies.  As it is a self assessment and lops about $170 of the rego it is worth doing.

That's what I and others have done by making the rear rear portion of the seat unable to be used to carry a pillion passenger.  There is no need have the vehicle inspected and I renewed one of my bikes by doing this.

You understanding of the rules is 100% correct. On the ground I've been told that providing there are no pillion foot-pegs then nobody cares.

Also the 500mm measurement is an EFFECTIVE measurement, my interpretation of that is that you can discount the bit at the front and the bit at the rear where it is impossible to sit - A bit of creative measurement (remember this is self assessment) and a 500mm length is easy to achieve.