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BMW K75 Low to High Seat Conversion
Converting a BMW K75 From a Low to High Seat
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I no longer own my
1994 BMW K75, but I had
taken some photos of the conversion process from the low seat
to the regular, or "high" seat.
I apologize in
advance for the rather poor quality of these photos; they were taken
with a film camera and scanned in before I knew much about web photo
quality.
But I thought they may come in handy for someone
considering this switch, so here they are. I
occasionally receive emails asking about the process of exchanging the
K75 low seat for the regular height seat, and this information and photos may help.
I used to have a list that described all of the parts necessary
for the conversion, but I seem to have misplaced it. I'll
list the parts from my memory.
But let me say this: if I had to do it
over again, instead of converting from the low to high seat, I'd probably
send the low seat out to Sargent
Cycle or somewhere for
modification. I believe it would be a bit cheaper, and
I'd have ended up with a better seat.
A local BMW club member had Sargent re-pad and re-cover the low seat on his identical
K75, and the seat ended up looking good
and feeling great. You can spend a lot of time and money on the
conversion illustrated below, and you'll still end up with a fairly
cheesy seat that's actually
narrower and, for some, more uncomfortable than the low seat.
By the time you gather all of the necessary parts, you'll have spent a wad of
cash. Here is a list of the parts you will need to convert from
the low to the high seat:
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The regular (or high) seat; I ended up
having to buy 2
of them, sight unseen, to find a good one; only the second one was worth using.
A decent used seat may cost $125-$200.
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A replacement lock set for the high
seat; the low seat's lock set will not work; if you can find one
used, it could cost around
$25.00.
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The hinge assembly; maybe another $20
if you're lucky enough to find one used?
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The battery side covers. These
can be the most expensive parts -- even if you do find them used,
you'll probably still need to get them repainted. I bought a
new set from BMW Motorrad in St. Louis, Missouri (now known as
Prestige
Motor Sports). They were
recommended to me as a good source for BMW painted body parts. They have an excellent
paint shop, and they painted the covers to match. The finish
and color were perfect, but the total bill was near $180.00.
Notice that so far, we've probably
spent more than a brand-new seat would cost!
By the way, if you were going in the opposite
direction, i.e., from the high seat to low, you'll need the
rubber/foam tank surround and the clips with the double-sided tape
that hold the surround to the tank.
You'll also need a couple of
hooks that screw in under the seat and hold the low seat on (see
photo 2 below). The low seat doesn't work on a hinge, it is
removed whenever you want to get under the seat.
Converting the seat isn't that difficult, once you have all the
parts. I didn't have any reference for how the hinge assembly
bolted to the bike, so I contacted a club member and took a look at his
K75RT to see how it was attached. Unfortunately, these photos are
pretty bad, so you can't really tell in photos 5 or 6 exactly how
everything goes together. But once you see it, it becomes pretty
obvious.
Corbin has some information on the regular
height seat parts needed and some assembly instructions on their
website. If anyone has any questions on this, feel free to email
me at ,
or if you have any other information, comments or photos, let me know
and I'll add them to this page.
Here are the photos with some description
about what needs to be changed:
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Photo 1 - This latch mechanism (yellow arrow) from the low
seat must be removed.
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Photo 2 - Remove 2 hooks that hold
the back of the low seat in place.
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Photo 3 - Here are most of the
parts you should end up with after removing the low seat; the
hooks, the latch, and one of the stick-on hooks for the rubber
tank surround. Missing are the rubber tank surround and the
low seat's key/latch mechanism, which will have to be replaced.
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Photo 4 - Remove all of the stick-on hooks that held the rubber
tank surround. I used dental floss to work my way behind
them, then gripped them with a pair of needle nose pliers and
slowly pulled them off. Use WD-40 or Goo Gone to get the
crud off.
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Photo 5 - The high seat in place. Notice the hinge assembly
and the new male post that goes into the new lock assembly.
Getting the old lock out takes some doing, but it can be done
without removing the rear fender.
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Photo 6
- Here's another view of the regular seat: the white arrow on the
right points to the strap that is part of the new hinge
assembly. The yellow arrow indicates the new post for the
replacement lockset. The pink arrow points to one of the
hinges that is part of the hinge assembly. |
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