I have a 1985 r80rt with a Russell seat. I have a Haynes and Clymer manual, but there is not much info there concerning how the hinges operate. My question is, should there be two hinges attached to the frame or one? I have one attached to the rear hinge of the seat and the frame but not the front. Both seat hinges are there. Also trying to tighten the hex head? bolt that attaches the hinge to the frame seems imposible to tighten except maybe attaching vice grips to it and turning it. Don't want to chew it up that way. If anyone has a picture on how the hinges from the seat to the bike hinge frame go together that would be great. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
STOCK
On all my bikes, the hinge "pin" is welded to the frame. I believe both pins point to the rear.
On the bottom of the seat are bolted 2 pieces that are shaped like the letter J. Each has a hole to accept the frame's pin.
After the seat is slid over both pins, a cotter or other form of keeper is inserted through one of the pins. This is only to keep the seat from coming off the bike when open. The seat lock is the primary security retainer, since the seat is usually closed.
MODIFICATION
Not all seats were left stock. Some of the first saddlebag mounts for the RT interfered with the seat hinging open, because the seat also included the rear cowl. So it was VERY common to modify the mounting so that the seat could be opened with saddlebags. This modification included all sorts of changes to the pins and J-hinge, up to and including removing them. My first Airhead's seat was either installed or un-installed. It didn't have any hinge function. To get under the seat, you simply removed the seat.
Hope this helps.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
@wobbly Thanks Richard,
I'm going to do some kind of modification to hold the hinge side of the seat securely while riding and still maintain the locking capability. Now this is will be more in my doable for me than the electrical help you've been guiding me thru. Appreciate you.
The RT seat I was telling you about had zero J-hinge pieces. In their place was a 1/2" dia post (about 2-1/2" long) added to the bottom of the seat. This engaged a 1/2" hole drilled into the web part of the frame on the hinge-side of the seat. This post defeated any pivoting of the seat, and together with the seat lock post, kept the seat from being lifted off without first unlocking the seat.
Very crude, but effective.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
@wobbly Thanks Richard,
I will update this post once I buy some hardware.
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