'12 Seat Fix

mcnut

mcnut

New member
I didn't care much for the KTM-design-copy of the new model's rear seat mount. The insert nut started spinning almost immediately when doing maintenance that required it's removal. Eventually the nut pulled through the thin plastic and the seat was ejected, during a MI enduro:mad:.

Thanks to Paul & Kenny from the Inyan Kara Riders' Club and their KTM bolt kit, for repairing my son's race bike seat at the National Enduro last weekend. You can seat how professional their repair looks.


1153ecb8.jpg
 
Nice one, now you cann get a quick release set up from mainjet and then it is tool free to remove.
Chees Mark
 
Well, not exactly. There is a nut/washer & additional lock nut where the bolt came up from the bottom.
 
Nice, like the '07/'11 now. I replaced the bolt with a knurled knob M6 thumbscrew for no tools access, these worked good on my '07 and Ducati. You can get a good grip on it to make it tight. Still a mud scraping job to access it though. Now, something like this on the battery box cover will give no tools storage access. Might as well make use of it.

The seat fit rather loose on my bike where the base engages the post on the tank. A couple of large dia (3.5mm) orings over the post made it perfect.

Speaking of battery box, the tabs with the holes were chewed up bad from the hex standoffs with no washers being tightened at the factory. I'm going to clean up the holes and add metal inserts for durability, as this thing will be R&R a lot in the bikes lifetime. BTW, it does function as a seat base support, transferring some load from the flat section of the seat base behind the tab to the subframe. You can see the contact marks from the grommets in the cover. (GasGas likes those grommets, must have got a deal on them). I would not remove it.
 
After the national I found that the top of my battery box was collapsing. I could feel and hear plastic creaking/popping. The seat had a very unstable feel that would roll and flex side to side. It was said that the battery box is a structural part of the subframe. Well, I think I'll add to that and say the BATTERY must be a structural part of the subframe! With a battery in there clamped between the rubber grommets of the top and bottom, the box must be more rigid.

Well, not willing to wait god knows how long for '13 parts, I got a bit pissed having to deal with this estart legacy crap and went to work. I designed and built a complete new seat support system to replace the battery box. Its an alloy frame with spacer/supports that support the seat in three areas, not just the small center section. Mounts on the studs and lifts out for filter service just like the box. Feels MUCH more solid, and the seat no longer rolls from side to side. I think that what some guys feel and think is the foam sacking out is actually the seat flexing in the center rear where there is no support. This is also why the retainer bolt was impossible to keep tight.
 
GMP said:
After the national I found that the top of my battery box was collapsing. I could feel and hear plastic creaking/popping. The seat had a very unstable feel that would roll and flex side to side. It was said that the battery box is a structural part of the subframe. Well, I think I'll add to that and say the BATTERY must be a structural part of the subframe! With a battery in there clamped between the rubber grommets of the top and bottom, the box must be more rigid.

Well, not willing to wait god knows how long for '13 parts, I got a bit pissed having to deal with this estart legacy crap and went to work. I designed and built a complete new seat support system to replace the battery box. Its an alloy frame with spacer/supports that support the seat in three areas, not just the small center section. Mounts on the studs and lifts out for filter service just like the box. Feels MUCH more solid, and the seat no longer rolls from side to side. I think that what some guys feel and think is the foam sacking out is actually the seat flexing in the center rear where there is no support. This is also why the retainer bolt was impossible to keep tight.
Click to expand...

Pictures or it never happened :D
 
Just had a look at this myself tonight.
I reckon if you filed down the tube like protrusion from under the rear guard cut two inch by inch pieces of .5mm steel plate then rivoted them together ( one above and one below the guard , then drilled the correct size hole for Mainjets fixing .
Then finally punch through the seat and use the dzus fastener.
Not sure if the original size would work but it couldn't be that hard.
Also, I will be eventually either buying or copying very closely the 13 setup with battery etc.
I actually had that setup on the 07 I had.
Cheers Mark
 
IMO, you should stabilize the seat first before worring about any quick release setup. There is a lot of torsional load on the seat base/mount from the seat twisting and pivoting on the narrow support of the battery box only, and flexing/sagging between the rear of the box and the mount. Just grab the seat and move it around you will see what I mean. I think this will cause a lot of trouble using a Dzus fastener mount, only a bolt through the top with a nyloc nut on the bottom will keep mine on. Ideally the seat should be supported as close to the edges as possible, like a normal seat sitting on a typical subframe rails. Also consider that the TANK is held down in the rear by the seat, more of a reason to fix it. I'm refining my mount to add some side support. I'll post pics soon, one nightmare at a time.
 
I get the feeling your not to happy with the '12 glenn? What dont you like beside seat and what have you done to correct things so far?
 
nato said:
I get the feeling your not to happy with the '12 glenn? What dont you like beside seat and what have you done to correct things so far?
Click to expand...

Poor finish on the rad seal, leaked all the coolant, lucky not to seize. Massive squish clearance. Old school water pump impellor. Just a heap of little things that keep causing more work than expected on a new bike.
 
I see. I will have a sticky at my squish on the first top end. Rad cap problem hey? I will check impellor when i do the top end probably.
 
nato said:
I see. I will have a sticky at my squish on the first top end. Rad cap problem hey? I will check impellor when i do the top end probably.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Glenn will have more to say on the matter though :D

You going to send your head to Dave for a massage too??
 
I like the bike, it just needs a bit more "clean up" of minor issues than I expected. To be honest though I'm a bit of a perfectionist and my tolerance for bull s#%t is less than most. Since I keep my bikes a few years, they have to be solid. Some things just did not work out as well as the factory thought, no big deal, they are fixable. Thats how you learn. I think what happened here is there was not enough test time on the bike after the sub frame redesign, due to schedule. Some things however are inexcusable.
 
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