'82 550L Seat doesn't rest on frame

[Guest]

This is a cross-post from the build thread.

We put the seat back on Tanner's project bike, and it's somehow just not right. It fits into the hooks at the front, and the lock works on the back of the seat, but those appear to be the only two places the seat touches the frame. There's about a half-inch or so between the (new, replaced) bumpers on the bottom of the seat and the frame.

It fits the same even when the old bumpers are put back in.

I thought the seat maybe sat on the grab rail, but that rail sticks out farther from the frame, so that's not it.

From what I can find on the parts fiche, in the manual, and with some searching online, it LOOKS like we have it together right, but it's very wobbly.

Any suggestions?

[eil]

Did the same seat fit before? If so, what happened in the meantime?

Some pics of the latch mechanism separately (both pieces) might be of help.

Might just be the camera angle, but it does kinda look like both the bracket and the lock are angled upward a bit. Maybe the seat pan is bent?

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

we don't know if the same seat fit before ... it was in the pile o parts the PO had removed before we got it.

I'll try to get pictures of the components when Tanner gets home from his lacrosse game.

[rustybronco]

More than likely the seat pan is bent.

[eil]

If you've never seen the seat on the bike before, then it could even be the wrong seat.

In any case, it doesn't look like it would be difficult to fix. A little bending here, some fabricating there. If it were my bike, I wouldn't even be opposed to just gluing on additional rubber cushions to make up the difference.

[allojohn]

Take the cover and foam off the pan and straighten it out. It's almost impossible to get right with the cover and foam on, but easy with it off.

[OLDENUFF]

My L was like that when I got it. Some PO pried it off without the key. Take the seat apart and bend it back into shape.

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

My L was like that when I got it. Some PO pried it off without the key. Take the seat apart and bend it back into shape.

This was the winning answer - thanks to everyone who pointed out that the seat might be bent.

You can see in the first picture how mangled the back of the seat was. Someone, somewhere, thought it would be a good idea to grab the back of the seat and lift until something came loose.

I tried to straighten the main body of the seat frame, but quickly realized that the pan is very strong and stable.

Then I noticed that the section where the seat lock bolts to the pan was bent.



So we hit it with the "Hammer of straightening," and now all is well with the seat.

Thanks again for the suggestions.