So ever since I bought the bike, my seat is set to the lower height adjustment. I'm short enough that it has worked well for me (5'9') but I always had the slightly uncomfortable feeling of being pushed into the tank- especially annoying to the boys on long rides. For no apparent reason, I just flipped the adjustment and low and behold the seat leveled out and was way more comfy. I took it off the center stand and still felt I had decent foothold. Apparently the height adjustment pivots the seat so it did lean forward on the low setting. Pending a test ride (I should say test stops) I may have gotten a new more comfortable seat just by flipping a thingy!! Thought I'd share.
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Well, that was interesting: seat height adj. 2016 RT
- Thread starter rick601
- Start date
The "boys" agree!
Funny, I swear I wrote the first half of your post. I am also 5'9" with the same issue. Boys always feeling suffocated by the tank. 2018 here. I will have to flip mine and see how it goes on my trek to work tomorrow. Thanks for sharing, never thought to try.
-Justin
Funny, I swear I wrote the first half of your post. I am also 5'9" with the same issue. Boys always feeling suffocated by the tank. 2018 here. I will have to flip mine and see how it goes on my trek to work tomorrow. Thanks for sharing, never thought to try. -Justin
flyhi2cfar
#102452 Sometimes Hangared... But Always Aimed Out
Nearly same discovery on my 15' GSw at 5'9". And I like the seats longer duration comfort (near the 2hrs +)
"travel'n" john
"travel'n" john
Same here on my 2008 and 2017.
You mean the rear adjusts too?? ....<facepalm> doh!
azgman
Addicted to curves
desmoderek
MotoDruid
Yep, go figure! It's in the manual BTW...
When I bought my 2016 GSw the salesman showed me how to adjust the seat height, but also said that BMW do not recommend having the seat in High/Low as mentioned in the thread due to the chance the seat could move under hard braking, however it's the only way I ride now, having tried it out on trip out west. It has enabled me to do one BB1500 and multiple 800 mile days.
I had an '05GS and an '07GSA. I'm pretty sure the manual for those bikes said that BMW did not recommend placing the front and rear of the seat at different heights. The manual for my current '18GSA specifically says that placing the front in the high position while leaving the rear in the low position in order to level out the seat is okay.
Yep, go figure! It's in the manual BTW...
I'm thinking not...that is that the rear of the seat on a 2016 R1200RT is not adjustable. The manual (p. 86) only refers to flipping the adjuster plate to H side or L side. It seems that the comments re: ft and rear are from people with the GS where there may be a bar thing that also flips...no such adjuster on my RT.
stinkypete
New member
My 2016 RT has the flip adjuster in the front, and two steps in the back. When the front "flipper" is set on Low, the rear drops into the low step, and when the front is set on high the rear sits on the higher step. Thus the seat sits flat on either the low or high setting.
I saw the two steps but I can't seem to see how it drops onto the lower step on the low seat setting..To do this the rubber bushings on the front adjustment would have to let the seat move foreward a bit to drop to the low step in the back- I can't make it do this. Have you accomplished this or just seen the "step"?
Sorry to beat a dead (dying?) horse but the difference is SO dramatic it's worth seeing if I can get a flat low setting.
stinkypete
New member
Because I'm quite new to the bike, I've been trying the two different heights to find the best setting for me, so I've used the seat both on the Low and High positions, with each properly engaging the Low or High "step" at the rear. If you flip the adjuster from High to Low you will see that the rubber bushings are actually moved about 12mm (1/2") forward when on "Low" in relation to some fixed point on the bike. This lets the rear of the seat engage the lower step when the adjuster is set on "Low". On the "High" setting of the adjuster, the bushings move back 12mm and the rear of the seat engages with the higher step. Check to ensure that there is no damage to the engagements on the seat pan that interface both with the rubber bushings at the front, and the steps at the rear. Other than that, I'm out of ideas, so good luck with solving your issue.
Because I'm quite new to the bike, I've been trying the two different heights to find the best setting for me, so I've used the seat both on the Low and High positions, with each properly engaging the Low or High "step" at the rear. If you flip the adjuster from High to Low you will see that the rubber bushings are actually moved about 12mm (1/2") forward when on "Low" in relation to some fixed point on the bike. This lets the rear of the seat engage the lower step when the adjuster is set on "Low". On the "High" setting of the adjuster, the bushings move back 12mm and the rear of the seat engages with the higher step. Check to ensure that there is no damage to the engagements on the seat pan that interface both with the rubber bushings at the front, and the steps at the rear. Other than that, I'm out of ideas, so good luck with solving your issue.
Thanks. I think I see the issue. The anchor for the tank bag (dealer installed, BMW bag!) prevents the seat from going forward enough to drop into the lower step. A little miscling might have done the trick. It’s tight!
OK this is nuts. I also got that "sliding into the tank" effect with stock seat set low on my 2015 RT. I measured it and the rear of the seat was at same height relative to the passenger seat whether the adjuster was set low or high. However my Sargent seat changes height both front and back depending on the setting.
Now I have to figure out why my stock seat misbehaves before the warranty ends in the fall.
Now I have to figure out why my stock seat misbehaves before the warranty ends in the fall.
Holy cow. This time I lifted the rear up at about a 30 degree angle and pushed it down towards front and it dropped right in to the other catch on the back making it level.
Craziest thing is when I got this last year I did not touch the seat and remembered not liking the forward pitch. I bet the previous owner had been riding it in the low front/high rear setting all along. Bet he got it from the dealer that way (he was not a DIY kind of guy).
So, I had to give this a try. '16RT. I think it's now going to be staying in the higher position, I was surprised at how much better it felt. The bike is so tall that I really didn't think I needed to be any farther from the planet while riding, but it's so. It doesn't seem to be a farther reach to the ground, just a better angle.
