Seat cover question

I'm not sure the seat cover on my 72 750 was original although the bike had been parked since 1977 before I restored it three years ago.
It didn't have a Norton logo on the back, and there was a vertical seam in the middle of the back.
When I took the cover off I could see there had been a repair on the right rear of the foam so I'm guessing it was damaged in an accident that also tore the side of the cover. Without the logo I'm thinking either they re-used the pleated top and added new side material, or a new cover was created using new pleated top material.
You can see the original seat has a total of 15 pleats including partial ones.
However the new cover I got for 72 roadster which I put over new foam from OB only has 11 total pleats including partials.
I've looked at a lot of photos of early 750's and I'm seeing both 15 pleat and 11 pleat covers, but it is never clear whether by 72 they had changed to the 11 pleat type or the cover isn't really accurate for the year and model.
Can anyone tell me if my new cover is accurate for 72 roadster?

Thanks
Bob

Original seat


New cover

Hi Bob,

I have a 72 with what I believe to be the original seat. It has 15 pleats like your first seat pictured. Mine does not have a grab strap.

Cheers,

Gatsby

I think the first seat is "right". Was not able to find the same number of pleats when recovering mine last summer. My new cover (RK Leighton) is like the second picture but with a chrome plastic strip on the bottom as original.

They did come with the grab strap and the new cover kit had one in it also. The grab strap bolts underneath and had brass eyelets. I found on these eyelets on eBay along with a tool to stake them in. (Yep, a bit anal retentive I know... )

The grab strap is right under the riders' butt on a Roadster so most everyone took them off immediately. That's what I did back then. The new grab strap is a little thinner material and lies flatter so it doesn't bother me.

I too couldn't find one with the right amount of pleats for my 69/70. Mine originally had 16 pleats and the new one I got from Walridge 21, but it's not as obvious as the OP. As far as I can tell, they're all from RK Leighton.



Dave
69S

Original '71 and '72 were the same and had the higher number of pleats as well as the strap from original. The strap was exactly where you sit so these got removed a lot. Here again is me on my first '72 Commando in 1973. This is completely original and has about 2,000 miles on it at this time.

You cut the strap off so the chick on the back had to hold on to you. The faster you go the tighter she holds. Doesn't get any better than that. And the Norton pulls so good in the low range they hold on tight real early.

DOM Dave
69S

DogT said:

You cut the strap off so the chick on the back had to hold on to you. The faster you go the tighter she holds. Doesn't get any better than that. And the Norton pulls so good in the low range they hold on tight real early.

DOM Dave
69S

Click to expand...

After I gave my girlfriend back in the 70's her first ride, she exclaimed "OHHH, I love the vibrations" after we came to the end of the ride...It was an instant love affair from the get-go. :wink:

We ended up getting married in 2006 after a long, long story...and she still loves to ride (the same bike) holdin' on tight!

Thanks to everyone who offered information.
So it seems clear the 15 pleat style is original, which is what I suspected.
I'm not too concerned about being a perfect restoration as you can see from my Mikuni so I was just curious.
My old seat had the strap that is bolted on and I can reuse it so I think I'll put it on and see how it looks.
It may pinch down the seat too much so I'll see.
Not much chance of getting a girl on the back though, maybe one of my daughters but have to get another helmet.
I even bought a king and queen seat to see if I could lure my wife on it but so far no good but I'll not push my luck with her since she's actually been very understanding about my whole Norton affair and its costs.

I wanted a cover with the Norton logo on the back.
OldBritts had the Andover Norton foam since I could see with the old seat the internals had become a bit lumpy so I asked my wife if I could buy her Christmas present for me. :mrgreen:
However OB didn't have the early Roadster 750 cover with end logo in silver, which is the color of the tank and side cover graphics so I looked around and found a dealer on E-Bay that offered a UK made cover with silver logo. Quality seems fine however logo not as centered as I would prefer, but close enough I didn't think to send it back.

Thanks again for all the help.
Bob

70's to 06, now that's a long affair. It's been 45 years since I got married in '67. Holy Cow.

Good luck with the seat Bob, you do the best you can. You might send Leighton an email, they will work with you, but it may be expensive since it's not a production item.

Dave
69S

The logo on the original seats was a sort of an ugly yellow, not really gold. The repro covers seems to all be silver.

I think if you call Mike at Walridge or Leighton, they can supply what ever you want for a logo color on the back. I mistakenly got silver when I needed gold for my 69 FF blue. Just ask jeandr.

Dave
69S

I'm not sure.......You can check with DogT on this ..... but I think that the real test is if you can stand a bong up on the seat without it falling over