961 Seat Latch Mod

1133Katana said:

I recently broke off the thin plastic strip which holds the 6mm seat retaining spring clip in place, so I had to sort it out before the MOT. I believe a loose seat could well be an MOT failure.

I have to admit that the seat latch mod which Jon has posted was really good and addressed the rubbish original seat mounts. I was very tempted to go down this route, but didn't like not being able to lock my seat.

Therefore, I fabricated up some small stainless clips and riveted these to the seat allowing me to utilise the original seat mounting method.

I have fitted a small length of bicycle inner tube to the oil filler spigot to stop it chafing against the tank. Consequently, this has pushed the seat back slightly making the seat a tight fit. Therefore I added slots to my brackets and ground back the plastic on the seat to give a wider range of movement on the spring clip.

It took a bit of time to sort out, but it fits like a glove and the seat is solid.

Click to expand...

TonyA said:

The original 961 seat had metal seat mountings . My 2014 came this way , but the new plastic seat mounts must have saved money. But good work on your fix !

Click to expand...

1133Katana said:

I recently broke off the thin plastic strip which holds the 6mm seat retaining spring clip in place, so I had to sort it out before the MOT. I believe a loose seat could well be an MOT failure.

I have to admit that the seat latch mod which Jon has posted was really good and addressed the rubbish original seat mounts. I was very tempted to go down this route, but didn't like not being able to lock my seat.

Therefore, I fabricated up some small stainless clips and riveted these to the seat allowing me to utilise the original seat mounting method.

I have fitted a small length of bicycle inner tube to the oil filler spigot to stop it chafing against the tank. Consequently, this has pushed the seat back slightly making the seat a tight fit. Therefore I added slots to my brackets and ground back the plastic on the seat to give a wider range of movement on the spring clip.

It took a bit of time to sort out, but it fits like a glove and the seat is solid.

Click to expand...

cliffa said:

Andy, that’s a very neat solution indeed, however one thing that concerns me is the use of pop rivets. Did you put corresponding plates or washers on the inside of the base as well? If not, the pop rivets may well have just expanded up to the back of the new brackets before the shafts snapped off, and you may find they are not very secure. (not criticizing just offering advice).

Click to expand...

1133Katana said:

That's a very relevant question and one that I considered in terms of longevity. But as the seat base plastic is actually quite substantial and possibly up to 3 mm thick I opted to go without backing washers.

I believe that what I have done will be significantly stronger than the spindly thin plastic strip which held the original captive nuts in place. The plates are absolutely solid onto the seat base, but I will obviously monitor as time goes on.

Thanks for your comment.

Click to expand...

1133Katana said:

Thanks, yes like all things save money and give the customer lower quality.
Just for reference any chance of some pics of how the original metal mounts looked.
Andy

Click to expand...

1133Katana said:

Thanks, yes like all things save money and give the customer lower quality.
Just for reference any chance of some pics of how the original metal mounts looked.
Andy

Click to expand...

Seat fixings

Would somebody please post a photo of the seat fixings. Mine was like this when I bought it, I'm guessing some sort of captive nut? Size? Looks pretty flimsy..

www.accessnorton.com

cliffa said:

Here you go Andy…

Seat fixings

Would somebody please post a photo of the seat fixings. Mine was like this when I bought it, I'm guessing some sort of captive nut? Size? Looks pretty flimsy..

www.accessnorton.com

Click to expand...

1133Katana said:

Thanks for the link, some interesting and very true comments about bean counters and the like. Makes me think that I could have fabricated my brackets a little different, utilising the side walls of the plastic lugs rather than securing onto the seat base.
Oh well, it's as broad as it long.

Click to expand...

cliffa said:

To be honest, the originals are probably over engineered, but they went from one extreme to the other - big time.

Click to expand...

cliffa said:

Here you go Andy…

Seat fixings

Would somebody please post a photo of the seat fixings. Mine was like this when I bought it, I'm guessing some sort of captive nut? Size? Looks pretty flimsy..

www.accessnorton.com

Click to expand...