Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech America Seat question this time

Ok that the seat swapped to an america one.

Now whats the trick to tightening the botl that holds both seats to the fender?

I have managed with a lot of fiddling but there must be an easy way or a tool that you TBA guys get....isn't there?

To go through that every time I want to remove the seat (thinking I'm going to be playing with the carbs soon) seams daft to me.

You should have a slotted bolt so that you can keep the front bolted down, and then just fit the passenger one separately.

The slotted seat bolt looks like this one:



That one's from Brent, but you can order a plain one from the dealer for about $5-6. Knowing how much more you guys pay for bikes and parts, that probably translates to 5-6 pounds.

This seat bolt takes a 12mm socket. I use a speed handle and the socket.

Ah-ha!!

Great I'll make one like that at work tomorrow!

cheers guys!



See if the triumph sent the botl with the seat then it wouldn't have been a problem!!!!

Now just think how hard it was to get a normal bolt tight

Was it as hard as figuring out how to get those gunfighter seat bolts off from under the fender?

I'm not naming anybody, but we've had people post about trying to take out that slotted seat bolt with both seats on the bike, instead of removing the pillion pad first.

Really the dealer should've reminded/told you that you'd be needing that seat bolt if you didn't already have one.

Cannot imagine, how the heck you managed to tighten it Grip, especially as the back seats snuggles in so tight...

very very slowly Ray

I recon about 1/6 of a turn a time.

I turned up a bolt at work today works a charm.

I still recon its a poor way of mounting a seat though.

Sal

I wish they had, it would have saved me a lot of hastle.

Actually the seat should be fine, mine is quite secure. When you slip the pillion on, there is slop, but when you press it down on the fender to secure the rear bolt, the rubber feet take up the slack and it's snug.

who would have thought Triumph could have made seats anymore difficult to get off. They must have tried real hard to think this up. I had to stop myself before I was tempted to rip and twist the America seat off. That bolt between the pillion and driver's seat is difficult to reach!I still haven't gotten it off.I wanted to see if my old fender rack from the sportster will fit, and I think it will, but I may never know! Patience, grasshopper. The bolt head on the old Sportster had an allen wrench-type head (?real technical here) and I could reach down between the seats with a screwdriver-type tool that fit into the top of it. Just had to be careful to not strip the threads because it was still a little difficult---fingers just couldn't reach to hold things still.

Sidekick, you need to remove the rear bolt off the pillion first, then slip that forward and off the slotted bolt, THEN remove the bolt for the drivers seat. May not even have to remove it to try the rack...

I put a sportster rack on my America. Throw the Harley bolt away, its the wrong thread. Also, use a thick rubber washer under the chrome. The Sportster rack came with a thin little pad to save the paint, but the very edge of the rack put a mark on my fender. Maybe a different curve, I don't know. I took off my pillion pad first day I had my bike, and had ordered one of those knurled bolts from Brent so I could take seat off by hand.

Sense of humor--are you kidding?? My husband hears me laughing when I am on this site and comes to hear what's funny THIS TIME!! Here's a good one...I asked at the Triumph dealer yesterday how to get the America seat off and the mechanic said he doesn't remember. He thought maybe the seat and pillion was all one piece and that I have to slide it all forward or something like that. I guess he was close; you slide the pillion forward and over the bolt(?), if I understand correctly now. How come the owner's manual didn't mention this? Good thing we have this website. Hey, give me a beak---I got the decals off the tank but I am glad someone else asked about how to put on the knee pads! And I did take the pillion pad bolt out first!! duh.

PS: no insult intended to the one who asked about how to put on the knee pads. I learned from his question. I was going to wait til warm weather anyway and make sure the surface was clean but common sense has a way of giving way to impatience and I could have rushed it and messed up.

Hey Priscilla,

Well at least it sounds like you're having fun with all of it.

That mechanic sounds like the one at my local Triumph dealer.

Yeah, you just push the pillion pad forward a bit and lift it up over that slotted bolt. Once you do it a couple of times, the process becomes 2nd nature. Getting it back on can be more of a chore though.

Sounds like you have a good noggin, since you know that impatience and rushing things can lead to trouble. Just stepping back and thinking about it for a minute can often produce better results.