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Seat Mystery

  • Thread starter Thread starter jsthomps
  • Start date Start date
This is a strange one. G model seats for any given year are interchangeable. Actually all before 1982 have the same pan as do those 82 and later. Not L models though, obviously.

That sure does look like an original G-model seat and pan. And it certainly looks like the ones in my garage. I will try to get some pics of mine up tomorrow.

A couple of suggestions. Remove the hinges from the seat and see if it sits more evenly on the frame that way. If it does you know it has something to do with the hinges and their placement. And if you are around someone with an 81 or earlier 850/1000 G model, ask if you can swap seats with them briefly. It only takes a few seconds to pull the pins. If the other person's seat fits correctly on your bike it confirms the problem is somehow in the seat. If the problem remains you know it is somewhere else, particularly if your seat fits fine on their bike.
 
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Very strange. The first pics show the seat from the back. If the hinge was the problem, the left side would be up & the right side down, It sits level. The passenger & the rider sections of the seat are both level, If the pan were bent up, in the back, the passenger area would be sloped toward the rider, it isn't. The chrome strips, along the bottom of the seat, are straight as an arrow. If the pan were bent, these strips would surely show it. Rekon a "GK" seat may be made to fit a little different from the "G" models???
 
rphillips said:
Rekon a "GK" seat may be made to fit a little different from the "G" models???
Click to expand...
Nope. In any case it could not be a GK seat. '82 was the first model year for the GK and that was the year the G models went to the removeable seat; different pan, no hinges.
 
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dpep said:
Remove the hinges from the seat and see if it sits more evenly on the frame that way. If it does you know it has something to do with the hinges and their placement.
Click to expand...

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. I will try dpep's suggestion and see how the seat sits on the frame unrestricted by hinges.
 
jsthomps said:
Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. I will try dpep's suggestion and see how the seat sits on the frame unrestricted by hinges.
Click to expand...

It must be the wrong seat for the bike. It does not rest properly on the frame with hinges removed. As the pics show the pan is not bent and the seat appears to be suited to a frame that rises up toward the back of the bike. I think the mystery is solved damn it. Once again thanks for everyone's help.

IMG_5669.jpg


IMG_5673.jpg


IMG_5671.jpg


IMG_5672.jpg
 
I think the rear of your frame IS supposed to be higher. I was looking at the Suzuki supplemental service manual for the 1000G and GL and was saw the frame side view on the wiring routing page. Laying a straight edge on the frame diagram shown, the rear end of the frame is shown to rise. I put a straight edge on my monitor looking at your frame picture and it is straight. That seat looks exactly like the one in several pictures and parts diagrams I have looked at, so don't dismiss it as the wrong one yet. What is the history of the bike? Ever been in a crash or been down? Maybe the rear of the frame was straightened, but Actually should have been left upswept a little, or the rear of your frame is slightly bent down from something.
 
I'm throwing .02 cents at the mystery...I'll bet, that at some point, the bike got tapped "lightly" in the rear or had a HEAVY passenger on it while bottoming out the rear suspension, causing the rear sub frame to tip down slightly. Is there an adjustment to the lock? The seat does not look bent to me. Just a guess...
 
To drop 3/4" you would have to notice a bend somewhere past the rear seat hinge.
and if you followed the seat angle with the tail piece it would be pointing up to much.
 
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I was looking at manuals and fiche.
The L model 1000 has a mount on it that would seem to conform perfectly to the angle and location of the blocks on our seat pan.

An L pan on a G seat foam\vinyl
 
gosh im blind and or seeign things
I was mistook.
frames appear idnetical sooo what is up with this pan?
 
If that's the case, someone went to a lot of trouble to get the "G" seat fitted to the "L" pan, And what for??? The "G" seat would look like HECK on the "L" model bike. If it weren't so hot, I'd go look at my old GS 1000 "S" frame & seat to see if the chain drive seat may mount different.
 
some pics of my bent seat situation, also a mystery

sideview.jpg


rearthreequarter.jpg


rearseatgap.jpg


seatpan.jpg


(first time posting pics, hope it works... ....)
 
The most logical explanation that came to me was that it is an L-model pan, but I dismissed that possibility because the appearance of the seat is straight G model including the passenger grab rail and the plastic side strips. Someone would have had to go to considerable effort to repad and reupholster an L pan to look like a G and then find and mount the addititonal seat hardware in exactly the right places. It would just make no sense for someone to do that.

Still, the best way for us to find out what is going on is for you to find someone else with a G model of the same year and do the seat swap. Actually, you could probably just put the seats side by side and tell.
 
Is the front hinge the same as the rear? Maybe they were swapped? It wouldn't take much of a difference in the hinge to create a 3/4" gap. Just a thought.
V
 
gustovh said:
Is the front hinge the same as the rear? Maybe they were swapped? It wouldn't take much of a difference in the hinge to create a 3/4" gap. Just a thought.
V
Click to expand...

The hinges are identical except the rear one has a little bar across it to keep the seat from flipping over too far when the seat is lifted
 
seat hinges

seat hinges

Although I am not familiar with the seats for many GS's, I did notice that the hinges in the picture you posted with the seat up appear to be new; they are bright with no discoloring visible. The picture posted by robsGS850 shows some "aging" of the seat hinges. My guess is that the seat and/or hinges were replaced causing the misalignment of your seat. Unfortunately I don't have any helpful suggestions. DickV
 
The seat pan is bent up in the back if the pads are not even touching but everything else line ups. this is very common on seats on older suzukis with the grabrail on the back as people pull on it to get the bike upon the center stand. Someone else posted to put it on the ground and gently bend the seat back down. I have done this on two of my suzuki gs 1000 seats and one of my friends gs 850 seat. Just be careful not scuff up the grab rail..Igt akes severla tries and some patience, but it does work
 
atb1998 said:
The seat pan is bent up in the back if the pads are not even touching but everything else line ups. this is very common on seats on older suzukis with the grabrail on the back as people pull on it to get the bike upon the center stand. Someone else posted to put it on the ground and gently bend the seat back down. I have done this on two of my suzuki gs 1000 seats and one of my friends gs 850 seat. Just be careful not scuff up the grab rail..Igt akes severla tries and some patience, but it does work
Click to expand...

Thanks, this has bugged me for years, sooo i'll put the boots to it, this weekend.
:D
 
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