Backrests for the S'wing

Hi all.

I recently purchased and installed a 3-Brothers backrest, and am finding that I get a pain in my tailbone when I ride any distance. Does anyone else have this problem? I know that my tailbone rests on the cover portion of the backrest (the part that 3-Brothers actually made). I'd really love to hear if there is an alternative backrest solution that doesn't put pressure on the tailbone.

Thanks,

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

What I'm thinking of is a small piece of wood and longer bolts. Place the wood spacer between the bracket and the Pad. This might help you. Experiment around a little with this. The spacer (wood) does not need to be that thick and can be painted black to finish it off, once your happy.

DennisB

check out leroybeal.net
you'll find a tutorial for modifying the stock butt-rest into a backrest.
some of us have done this, and speaking for myself only, I like it. the results for me had to be re-modified so as to put the final product into the small of my back, rather than higher, where it was following the initial specs. after doing this, I've been quite comfortable with the result for many months now, whereas initially the position of the rest caused back pain - it was too high for me.

this is one option anyway. MikeH created another mod for a back rest. maybe he'll chime in on that.

Emeskay wrote:

Hi all.

I recently purchased and installed a 3-Brothers backrest, and am finding that I get a pain in my tailbone when I ride any distance. Does anyone else have this problem? I know that my tailbone rests on the cover portion of the backrest (the part that 3-Brothers actually made). I'd really love to hear if there is an alternative backrest solution that doesn't put pressure on the tailbone

The Utopia ( http://www.utpr.com/silverwingnew.html ) backrest is the adjustable up/down and forwards/backwards as well as the pad pivots to provide the best comfort. Since I have installed the Utopia backrest, I have never had any back or shoulder pains/aches.

I also just recently put on the 3 Brothers backrest and have the same problem. I have used spacers to adjust the orignal backrest some but I'm still trying to tweek/modify it for myself.

I have the 3 Brothers backrest and I put spacers on the top 2 screws. Like Dennis said, you will need to get longer screws and get some 1/4" spacers just for the top 2 screws. What this does to my backrest is it alters the angle so the top of the backrest is angled more forward than normal. One thing I also did with my stock backrest was to only use the top 2 bolts and put those on the bottom 2 bolt holes. This raised the stock backrest about an inch which is more comfortable for me. You might want to get 2 new and longer machine screws and a couple of 1/4" spacers and see how this helps.

I have also tried the 3brothers backrest and made adjustments similar to DennisB, and it works pretty well.
However, I went ahead and ordered a Utopia backrest which I hope to have in about 2 weeks. The reason I decided to give the Utopia a try is because while I'm relatively happy with the 3brothers version, it really makes pillion riding very difficult because the raised buttrest is so wide that it's difficult for the pillion to reach the foot pegs. While I had the bike up on the center stand, I tried to reach the foot pegs and the raised backrest rest forced my legs to be splayed out, and I could only touch the very ends of the fold-out foot pegs. And because I also have a Givi E52 with backrest, the pillion seating area is very cramped with that big backrest being forced up and back by the 3brothers backrest assembly. I could barely squeeze onto the seat between the raised backrest and the Givi E-52 backrest, and I am quite thin. I'm not happy about cutting-into both my seat and backrest to mount the Utopia, but the Utopia will be adjustable on-the-fly and it will use-up less passenger "space" since the actual back-pad not as wide and deep as the raised backrest needed for the 3brothers and other similar backrest products that raise the backrest instead of adding a pad on top.

Thanks to all of you for getting back to me! :thank you:

DennisB wrote:

Hi Mandy,

What I'm thinking of is a small piece of wood and longer bolts. Place the wood spacer between the bracket and the Pad. This might help you. Experiment around a little with this. The spacer (wood) does not need to be that thick and can be painted black to finish it off, once your happy.

DennisB

I'm going to try adding spacers to the top two screws. What do you think about using hard rubber washers to do this?

JeffR wrote:

One thing I also did with my stock backrest was to only use the top 2 bolts and put those on the bottom 2 bolt holes. This raised the stock backrest about an inch which is more comfortable for me.

I'm probably not tall enough to need to raise the backrest up, but moving it forward really sounds like a good start.


If that doesn't work, I'm going to order a Utopia. Where did you get yours?

Thanks again!

Mandy

pjmartone wrote:

However, I went ahead and ordered a Utopia backrest which I hope to have in about 2 weeks. The reason I decided to give the Utopia a try is because while I'm relatively happy with the 3brothers version, it really makes pillion riding very difficult because the raised buttrest is so wide that it's difficult for the pillion to reach the foot pegs. While I had the bike up on the center stand, I tried to reach the foot pegs and the raised backrest rest forced my legs to be splayed out, and I could only touch the very ends of the fold-out foot pegs. And because I also have a Givi E52 with backrest, the pillion seating area is very cramped with that big backrest being forced up and back by the 3brothers backrest assembly. I could barely squeeze onto the seat between the raised backrest and the Givi E-52 backrest, and I am quite thin. I'm not happy about cutting-into both my seat and backrest to mount the Utopia, but the Utopia will be adjustable on-the-fly and it will use-up less passenger "space" since the actual back-pad not as wide and deep as the raised backrest needed for the 3brothers and other similar backrest products that raise the backrest instead of adding a pad on top.

Plus the Utopia pivots forward completely flat for passenger mounting and demounting ... which really helps.

hi all when i took off the three brothers rest it was just a bit of wood with some bit of foam, my man who did my seat nearly passed out, so he changed it now i have memory foam in the bottom and hard in the rest of the back rest much better

adammetselaar wrote:

hi all when i took off the three brothers rest it was just a bit of wood with some bit of foam, my man who did my seat nearly passed out, so he changed it now i have memory foam in the bottom and hard in the rest of the back rest much better

This sounds like a good possibility as well. I have the tools to put the cover back on. I'd just need to get some memory foam. Did you recover all of the 3 Brothers piece with the memory foam?

Does anyone have a site to check out the Utopia?

Thanks,

Mandy

Emeskay wrote:

Does anyone have a site to check out the Utopia?

http://www.utpr.com/silverwingnew.html

Thanks, Bill. I think I owe you an avatar if you'd like one, for all your help!

honda_silver wrote:

http://www.utpr.com/silverwingnew.html

Do you know if you have to leave the stock seat back on when using the Utopia seat?

Thanks, Mandy

Emeskay wrote:

honda_silver wrote:

http://www.utpr.com/silverwingnew.html

Do you know if you have to leave the stock seat back on when using the Utopia seat?

http://www.utpr.com/silverwingnew.html

Right after the pictures

"Stock pad must be in rear position and will no longer be adjustable. Go to Backrest Specifications to see all the adjustments of our backrest. Can also be installed without stock pad (lower picture above)."

I believe it was better without the backrest. If you want the Utopia keep you more forward in the seat, You can adjust the set screw forward ... if you need even more forward movement you could replace the set screw with a longer set screw or raise the backrest and then readjust with the set screw.

hondasilver wrote:

I believe it was better without the backrest. If you want the Utopia keep you more forward in the seat, You can adjust the set screw forward ... if you need even more forward movement you could replace the set screw with a longer set screw or raise the backrest and then readjust with the set screw.

Thanks for the info, Bill! I thought it would be better without the backrest also. I swear that I read the stuff, but it was in between other stuff at work. I'm going to quickly try the wood insert on the one I have now, but it seems like the Utopia will be better for me.

By the way, I have a new website for you to look at. My husband found it: bmwboneyard.com. The prices seem really good, and its not only BMW stuff (He has an RT).

Mandy

My Utopia Backrest arrived this morning - not yet fitted but it's beautifully made.

Upside - cost £85.00.

Downside - £60.00 Import Duty and VAT!

I think it's worth it, though.

MikeO wrote:

My Utopia Backrest arrived this morning - not yet fitted but it's beautifully made.

Upside - cost £85.00.

Downside - £60.00 Import Duty and VAT!

How do they determine Import Duty and VAT??

MikeO wrote:

I think it's worth it, though.

I believe the Utopia backrest is worth it.

VAT is added to the price which is printed on the label - 21% here.

I guess Import Duty is also calculated by the cost of the goods.

MikeO wrote:

VAT is added to the price which is printed on the label - 21% here.

I guess Import Duty is also calculated by the cost of the goods.

49.6% Import Duty????

Oops! I should have said €66.00 not £66.00

It's so confusing - $$$, £££ & €€€

Just looked at the paperwork:

Import Duty - €40.81
Admin - €25.00
Something I can't translate - €0.40

Backrest now fitted.
It's a lovely piece of kit but not quite as straightforward to fit as even the detailed but clear instructions would have one believe!

Fortunately, Ed (my partner) was able to apply a bit of muscle to get some of the holes to line up while I put the bolts in.

I suspect that the bum-stop may have been modified a bit as time's gone by - the holes I drilled appeared right in the corners of the plastic webbing so I has to chisel some of it away to make clearance for the nuts.

One is supposed to take off the seat but that was proving almost impossible so I gave up with that and did it with the seat in situ. I doubt it'd have made much difference, though.

The quality and finish of the item is first-rate and the covering and stitching match the original seat.

It remains only for me to spend time adjusting it to suit me.

I found the standard backrest really uncomfortable even when set back as far as it could be and especially when wearing my full length back protector.

The bottom of the protector rested on top of the butt rest resulting in the protector trying to exit from the top of my jacket making me feel as if I am hooked up on something or other.

I had thought of cutting a few inches off of the bottom of protector but that would have affected its integrity etc.

I decided to contact the UK Corbin agent to enquire about one of their standard seat / basic driver back rest packages only to find it would cost in the region of £600 so I put that one to bed straight away.

Luckily I came across the "Leroybeal web site" stock backrest modification and I decided to go for that.

I went to local blacksmith with the specs and got a quote.

They cut, drilled, bent and painted the two brackets up for me at a cost of £15 and I duly fitted them after spending another £4 or so for nuts, bolts and washers.

The result was excellent but after my first test ride I found that the back rest was a bit too high up my back and that the top edge of the backrest was angled a bit too far forward for me.

So I decided to make a modification to the modification, went home, drilled another hole in each of brackets and added spacers to first of all lower the rest and secondly to angle the rest back a little.

The net result is brilliant and I am very pleased indeed with the modification / low cost.

[b]

Ok Santa needs to put a utopia under my tree. I'm going to Book mark the site and talk to Santa's assistant that will of course bring up the Coal Discussion. I will retort with the new kitchen remodel. she will bring up 37 years of anguish living with a cheap bastard.I will come back to the Kitchen remodel with new appliances of her choosing. She will remind me that the Car needs new rubber. I will retort with the granite counter tops. Well it's coming out of your account she will say. Ok I'll say! That should do it! I have always been my own Santa any way.

I went to the Utopia site and the backrest looks beautiful. Then I hit the link that has instructions to install it. You have to cut a small slit in the saddle? No. Not going to happen on a bike I own. It's too bad I saw the post on bestbackrests.com sending that gentleman a unit that wasn't QC'd as that make doesn't require any surgery on the saddle. Still, they did give him a refund even after their standard 7 day return period. Might give them a try when I get my ride.

I think I owe you an avatar if you'd like one, for all of your help!