Defective seat connection design- be carefull!!!!

[8b]

If you take these stock seats (or any seat made out of a stock seat pan), flip it over and take a close look, the plastic these seat pans are made of seem kind of crappy. They are made in Turkey, and the plastic is overly soft near and around the area where the fixed prongs (2) on the bike slide in those (2) holes.
I suspect if you look closely at it, you'll see that anything but the most carefull take on and off of the seat will eventually crack that plastic.
I hope that thin plastic on this (cheaply made?) seat is the only acchilles heel of the bike. Anyone else notice this, or am I crazy? All the seats Ive seen have hairline cracks in that area and they all look like they are glued together with playdough and painted over. Any thoughts? Am I overreacting and all R bikes have always head seats made of this (lack of?) quality. My F650 CS had a different clamping system and I never had a problem. I dont know if my cracked seat was a one off, or will we all eventually have this problem likely AFTER our warrantees run out!!!!

[Skippy]

Have read on a German forum in a thread that there are quite some people complaining about this and the '08 model will have a changed seat (said for better pillion comfort but maybe also in the area mentioned by you). I haven't checked on mine yet and although the seat always mounts very easely I never realy look at what I am doing so hope I won't regret this.

[8b]

PER: r1200rforme It appears to me that there are no changes including the seat as the dealer has an 07 sitting right next to the 08. Dealer says no change as well, not even colors.

Hmm, on the post called "almost", it confirms that there are no changes, that seems contradictory to what you are saying. I'd love to know. Also, I'd like to see that German string, can you post a link to it?
THANKS!!!

[deilenberger]

See my reply to your other posting. My seat is just fine at 9,100 miles (hoping to see 9,300 by the end of the weekend..)

[Skippy]

Here's the German string about the seat problems:

http://www.bmw-bike-forum.info/r1150r/v ... php?t=5209

And over here where I and others got the info that there will be a new seat. If the differance is to be seen isn't clear but maybe it can only be felt(denser/softer foam or whatever). Scroll way down and there's some small line about the R1200R changed 'sitzbank' seat.

http://www.motornews-magazin.at/cms/fro ... idart=4273

[ErikM]

Maybe someone can look at a new 08 and see if BMW has actually changed the seat?

[AllanCook]

I had my seat off last night, and the plastic didn't seem especially fragile. It is harder to put on than the 1150, but once you figure it out, it's OK.

[8b]

I may have been overly harsh on the seat quality. All I know is I purchased my bike used which was otherwise 101% perfect yet that part of the seat pan was cracked and BMW are being very unfair (I believe) in denying warranty claim. I think the situation was worsened because after that area started to crack, the bike owner just kept riding on it cracking it really badly, rather then reporting it to BMW straight away.

If I had gotten the bike new or there wasnt this problem, I can say for sure I wouldnt be pointing this out, in fact I wouldnt even be giving it a seconds thought as I wouldnt have even noticed it.

So I'd expect and understand why people will check their own seats and say all is well. I hope everyones seat IS ok, however I do suggest taking great care not to force it on or off.

On the otherhand if others see hairline cracks (email me if you want to see my pictures) we can band together to get BMW to address the issues.
Strength in numbers, right? Oops, I forgot this is BMW of N.A. we are talking about here, LOL.

[NeilS]

Are you sure those are really cracks? Sometimes, when plastic is molded, the molten plastic is injected from more than one source. Where the various "flows" of plastic meet, you'll see a "knit line," which is sometimes mistaken for a crack. I think this may be what you're seeing, especially because you say the "cracks" are "painted over."

[8b]

Are you sure those are really cracks? Sometimes, when plastic is molded, the molten plastic is injected from more than one source. Where the various "flows" of plastic meet, you'll see a "knit line," which is sometimes mistaken for a crack. I think this may be what you're seeing, especially because you say the "cracks" are "painted over."

I have looked at maybe 5 seats, my original shattered one, a new one I got, a low one I traded for and two at the dealer. They are as you describe. Like I said, I may have been overly harsh but that plastic certainly could be stronger to my liking, and I have seen first hand what happens if yo get a crack and dont address it right away. (The cracks accelerate and pieces crack completely off. I can supply pix if you care, and the pic on the german website tells the same story I guess. So I am not the only one with this problem. But essentially, those are plastic flows. I suspect that multiple flows are inherently weaker where they connect, so I dont have a ton of confidence in that but if careful, should last as long as the bike itself.

[Mr. Average]

Mine is cracked in a major way on the left side(sitting on the seat) and I have been very careful about fitting it on properly after first seeing the design. I don't see any way that it has been reinforced around the hole that the pin fits into. So far the seat is still functional, but still one would hope for a better design after paying a premium price for a motorcycle that is marketed as a premium product.

[ErikM]

Think there might be away to reinforce the holes? I was thinking of a steel insert.. any engineers out there :-)

[NeilS]

Yes, but...

In order to give any useful opinion about whether any reinforcement would do any good, I'd have to see the parts that failed.

I'm actually surprised that failures are occurring. The seat should be resting on the rubber bumpers, and those fittings in the front should be mainly for alignment during installation. Also, in order for the plastic to break, I'd think there would have to be an upward force on the seat, and it would seem that the predominant forces are downward.

Even if the plastic was too weak, and even if upward forces occur that are breaking the plastic, I'm not sure a reinforcing sleeve would help. Say you drilled the holes in the plastic to a larger diameter and inserted a couple of steel sleeves. While that would distribute the forces over a larger area of plastic, it would also reduce the thickness of the plastic, further weakening it. I'm not sure which effect would be greater.

[deilenberger]

+1...

The only reinforcement I can see being useful would be under the rubber bumper - which is where your weight is going to be concentrated on the forward edge of the seat (that and the small rubber bumper at the very front of the seat.)

If I had to guess - the holes are only for locating the seat correctly over the seat rails. The breaking out of the holes appears to be caused by a gross misalignment or someone trying to force the seat in place when the hole and the corresponding peg (for lack of a better word) aren't lined up. Or someone trying to force the seat off from the front..

If you were thinking of reinforcement (don't have the seat in front of me) - perhaps some bent steel over the area where the rubber bumper is - with a hole drilled in it for the rubber bumper, then epoxied to the plastic base.. but based on my experience (not a lightweight..) it seems to be working fine on my bike.. I am careful to get it aligned correctly when installing the seat.

[Skippy]

Checked my seat and everything looked fine(also a heavyweight at 125kg all kitted up). I also suspect that incorrect mounting could be the cause as the plastic imo seems pretty thick in the problem area and as some said before is only for alining. Hard to tell what's going on and maybe there are different seats from different manufacturars you never know these days so soem may be stronger then others.

[Phillo]

Well Im thinking to myself, given that I weigh all of 75kg soaking wet and Skippy weighs in at 125 kg I should never have a problem with my seat

[SG]

Checked mine a while back, it's cracked in identical way to that on the German BMW forum.

BMW in UK have confirmed this is a warranty issue and are replacing my defective seat.

[8b]

If anyone (in any country) has had a warranty replacement for this, I'd liek to hear about it. I still havent had any movement in trying to convince BMW of NA to step up and replace my busted seat! (I had already purchased another but still want to do something with the bad one).