How to? Seat shim 1150RT

[waylap]

I keep forgetting to get some instructions on how to best shim or shave the rider seat for an 04 1150RT to keep from sliding forward on the factory seat. I use the lowest setting due to short inseam. Could someone give me a good tutorial on the fix for this with photo's?

[beemerman2k]

I bought some seat shims from CycleGadgets.com and they worked well. Cheap, and easy to install, too.

[waylap]

You know, that was too easy! Thanks Beemerman2k. I just ordered them and a Bigmak tank bag I've been wanting. The 3 day shipping and in-stock status sealed the deal! Now on Wednesday I've got new toys to add on. Oh, and kudos to CycleGadgets! They were very friendly and ship anywhere in the ConUS 3-day at no xtra charge.

[beemerman2k]

Cool. They are a good place to do business with. I also bought my Piaa 1100XX lights and mounting kit, hyperlites, stainless steel screw set...let's see...what else did I get from them...I guess that's it.

[Bologna]

I can't believe it, I just got done shiming my seat on my '02 RT.

I used duct tape so I can make adjustments later on. Sounds ceap but have been doing this on my ski racing equipment for years so I thought I would try it on my RT, worked just fine and I increased the height by a couple MM tonight....See ya!!!

[LDHack]

Two spots to change the tilt of the 1150RT seat. First is the front of the saddle. Do it by raising the mounting frame for the front of the seat - the adjustable "thingie" that's connected to the motorcycle frame adjacent to the fuse box. I used some 1/2" plastic and longer screws - a home made modification - and placed the plastic under the "thingie". The second spot is to cut a little off the "bumpers" on the rear of the seat. Don't cut so much that the saddle is lowered so much that it rests on the fuse box cover.

 

The bumpers on the rear of the saddle are the same bumpers that are on the motorcycle frame where the front of your gas tank slides in. If you don't like the saddle modification, you can always trade them out to original size by stealing the bumpers from under the front of your gas tank. Your modified bumpers will work fine for your tank if needed.

 

The two tilt mods made all the difference in comfort for me.

[Deesdesk]

Just bought an '02 last month. After doing all the maintenance stuff while waiting for warmer weather I was anxious to get my maiden voyage under my belt. Very pleased with the bike, but my "boys" spent the entire trip squashed against the tank! No matter how far back I sat, I just slowly slide towards the tank. 

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone is still around, could you post a few photos to show the shims and modifications necessary to give you the proper angle for comfortable riding?

The 'boys' thank you in advance

[Wayne Johnson]

you can trim the rear cushions to get the seat to tip back a bit

[dirtrider]

41 minutes ago, Deesdesk said:

Just bought an '02 last month. After doing all the maintenance stuff while waiting for warmer weather I was anxious to get my maiden voyage under my belt. Very pleased with the bike, but my "boys" spent the entire trip squashed against the tank! No matter how far back I sat, I just slowly slide towards the tank. 

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone is still around, could you post a few photos to show the shims and modifications necessary to give you the proper angle for comfortable riding?

The 'boys' thank you in advance

Afternoon Deesdesk

 

It's been a while but I used to make them out of 1/4" thick plastic. You can go up to 2 thick (1/2")  total but that is about the limit.

 

They don't have to be precise but need to be  long & wide enough to support the seat adjuster. Just make them look about like the picture. 

 

You will need longer bolts to use the shims. The stock bolts are 5mm x 20mm long. So figure added length based on shim thickness used. 

 

[szurszewski]

Using a solid block like D.R. suggests is the best idea as you will get the most support for the plastic parts, but a stack of washers on each side will let you play with height to fine tune before committing to making a spacer. 
 

These go under the front of the seat mounting hardware - remove the rider seat and it’s easy to see where. 

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Deesdesk

 

If you are looking for some plastic you might try your local food market, or dollar store. (or your kitchen)

 

I needed (3) 3" diameter nylon/plastic spacers for a project a couple of weeks ago so rooted around in my wife's  kitchen until I found her cutting board.  It is a nylon type plastic that turned out to be 11/32" thick (perfect for my project). 

 

It all worked good until my wife couldn't find her cutting board, asked me I had seen it so I showed her the remnants of the board with (3) 3" holes in the middle.  She got over it & just bought a new one next shopping trip. 

 

 

[Deesdesk]

Thanks again everyone.

After reading about the shims, I went out to the stable and took the saddle off my horse. I can see now what you would have to do. I have a piece of HDPE cutting board that will do the trick for the shims. 

I'll try that and see if it addresses the problem. If that doesn't work, I think I'll reduce the rubber supports on the back to give it some more tilt. 

 

I can see that there are limits to how much adjustment or modifications you can make. As you tilt it back, the horn on the saddle hits the lip of the contour of the side panel and tank. and reducing the rubber stoppers in the back too much would make the seat rest on the fuse box.

 

Hopefully, a few mods will be enough to give the 'boys' some freedom.

 

If not, I think I'll try a local upholstery shop that I used in the past. They did another bike seat for me years ago and I was very pleased with the final product.

 

I just don't think I can justify spending $6-700 on a 19 year old bike.

 

[Deesdesk]

Hey DR, if your wife is anything like mine, she probably gave you some grief over cutting up the board, but secretly she knew that is was a legit reason for her to go shopping and get a new one (and perhaps a new top and a pair of shoes of course...)

[Paul De]

22 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

It all worked good until my wife couldn't find her cutting board, asked me I had seen it so I showed her the remnants of the board with (3) 3" holes in the middle.  She got over it & just bought a new one next shopping trip.

Haha,  sometimes I too find it better to go ahead and beg forgiveness later, if not overdone.  Last winter I swiped the Pledge from the household cleaning supplies to lube the chute on the snow blower...caught stink eye for that and had to get a new can on my next outing!

 

I made my shims for my R1100RT out of some left over  ~3/16" aluminum stock I had laying aroiund, but High Density PE is way easier to work with.

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, Deesdesk said:

Hey DR, if your wife is anything like mine, she probably gave you some grief over cutting up the board, but secretly she knew that is was a legit reason for her to go shopping and get a new one (and perhaps a new top and a pair of shoes of course...)

Morning   Deesdesk

 

We have been married now for over 50 years so she is pretty used to me swiping household things for my projects. That wasn't the first time that I swiped her cutting board for a project.

 

The best one that comes to mind is I was pre-heating a final drive bearing for easier install out in my shop using a crockpot, or something like that, half filed with smoking motor oil. My wife came out to my shop to talk to me about something & noticed the cooker on my bench smoking away. She said hey, that looks just like my pot, I just mumbled something like yep.  

 

About a month later my wife tells me that she can't find her crockpot & asked me if had seen it lately.  Amazon prime next day delivery to the rescue. 

 

My wife isn't always pleased but she forgives easily.

 

 

[Deesdesk]

Front shims are done, simple job. Those cutting boards sure come in handle for a multitude of DYI projects. Unfortunately the local hardware store only had hex head bolts in Stainless steel metric. I can't image that this is something I'm going to remove very often; if ever...

Also removed about 3/16 off the rear rubber bumpers.

For those of you with a keen eye, don't panic, the red and black wire is the lead  plugin for my battery maintainer.

 

 

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, Deesdesk said:

Front shims are done, simple job. Those cutting boards sure come in handle for a multitude of DYI projects. Unfortunately the local hardware store only had hex head bolts in Stainless steel metric. I can't image that this is something I'm going to remove very often; if ever...

Also removed about 3/16 off the rear rubber bumpers.

For those of you with a keen eye, don't panic, the red and black wire is the lead  plugin for my battery maintainer.

 

Evening  Deesdesk

 

Shimming the seat isn't going to make it a custom seat but you should notice a pretty nice improvement to that sliding forward problem. 

 

Still like sitting on a 2x6 though. 

 

 

[Deesdesk]

Your probably right.

Going to get up to 52 her on Thursday (just over 35 today, burrr). I'll jump on and go for a jaunt to see what those little adjustments did for my sliding forward problem.

And it will also tell me is my boney backside is going to tolerate the existing padding.

 

[dirtrider]

8 minutes ago, Deesdesk said:

Your probably right.

Going to get up to 52 her on Thursday (just over 35 today, burrr). I'll jump on and go for a jaunt to see what those little adjustments did for my sliding forward problem.

And it will also tell me is my boney backside is going to tolerate the existing padding.

 

Evening  Deesdesk

 

It usually takes about an hour in the saddle to have the BMW oilhead seat start to feel like a 2x6 so give it some time. My belief is that BMW seat designers were past torture chamber designers before BMW hired them.

[AndyS]

Hi DR. The 1100RT seat for me was a real pain. However, the 1150 seat (jokingly marketed as a 'Comfort seat) worked really well for me and I can't say it ever caused me any issues after I jacked the front up by 10mm.

Now, the 1200Wethead REALLY is uncomfortable for me. Thankfully, the Sargent seat has improved things significantly.

[Paul De]

2 hours ago, AndyS said:

Hi DR. The 1100RT seat for me was a real pain. However, the 1150 seat (jokingly marketed as a 'Comfort seat) worked really well for me and I can't say it ever caused me any issues after I jacked the front up by 10mm.

Now, the 1200Wethead REALLY is uncomfortable for me. Thankfully, the Sargent seat has improved things significantly.

 

Haha, BMW's head of seat design really loves those kickbacks from the third party seat manufactures guild.   It allowed him/her to buy an Audi RS6 Avant on an engineers salary!