On my 01 GS one or two of the staples in the front of the seat have slowly worn away the paint on the tank and have now exposed bare metal. I had a chat with a chick who owned a Ducati and her solution was to take a cutup stubby holder (strip of neoprene for the non-Aussies) and glue it to the seat rim, that stopped the harsh rubbing of the staple on the tank. I've put a few layers of clear contact (vinyl) on the tank, but within a week it's already worn through that.

Anyone have any hints/tips on stoping this from happening? I can't seem to source any touchup paint around here, but would putting clear nail polish on the affected part of the tank help as well as putting the neoprene on, at least till I can find some touch up paint?

I'll try and grab a photo of it in the morning.

Quote from: bremboAnyone have any hints/tips on stoping this from happening?...

Perhaps a little RTV silicone over the staples? If the staples are secure in the seat pan, then a barrier is the only choice. Are any spacer pads missing?  :dunno:

mine is doing the same thing.  maybe some felt furniture feet thingies over the staples?

as said above, use the silicone that window fitters use for externat sealing, just rub a layer over with ya fingers and let it dry

I have the same problem...

I saw a GS (...'s) that had clear stickers where the staples hit.  I've been meaning to do something about it...  But, I'm kinda lazy.

OK...  A lot lazy. :lol:

That is very odd.  I've never had a bike that did that.

You'd think that'd be covered as a design flaw.

Quote from: RoadstergalYou'd think that'd be covered as a design flaw.

You'd think...

But, warrantee is not a word I know. :dunno:

Yep me too. And yeah, it is a design flaw IMHO. The first time I flipped the seat over and saw all these lovely metal staples all over the place my first though was 'WTF' then 'what the hell were they thinking?' I've got a few bare metal spots on my tank - never thought about covering them with something but thanks to this fantastic forum I will now do something about it.  
Dandy D
I like the furniture felt thingy as a quick solution - got those...

Yup design flaw ... No 89-00 bike ever did that cos it has a trench in the seat pan.
Cool.
Srinath.

But on all of the bikes I've had, the staples were sunk in so hard that the cloth bellied out around them just a little, protecting the metal.

Hmm, I wonder if it's an issue of the staples easing out over time.  Borrow a high-powered staple gun, pull the old ones and re-staple.  Unless you want a really annoying restretching task, do it one staple at a time.

I was going to try pushing them in and see if they stayed.  Mine is only a 2001...  I really think the staples weren't in all the way to begin with.

You're welcome to try, but I don't think pushing them in will do it for the long-term.  Over time, the staples will work at the holes they're in to get to the point where they're hanging out, so they're probably too big by now to seat the staples firmly.

GLUE!  :mrgreen:

Glue has other issues... staples are the, well, staple of the upholstering industry because they hold so tight but are still easy to remove without damaging the cloth or the underpinning.

TAPE!   :mrgreen:

Duct tape.

typical suzuki mine does it as well and my friends old er185 actually wore through the tank in 8 months since new (this was a few years back) suzuki replaced it under warranty but its the price you pay for a bike built to a price  

Pictures as promised, the clear contact is sorta working, not very well though.

 

Are you sure it's the staples that are rubbing?  It's hard to judge from a pic, but it looks more like the seat is, right on the edge where it's all shiny.

You have some rust where the paint is worn away. Don't let that sit.  Get some fine-grit sandpaper or an Emery board, and scrub the rust off completely.  Tape the area off and hit the metal with some primer and then a few thin coats of touchup.

If something is rubbing, though, you need to take care of it.  It'll wear through whatever you put there if the clearance is wrong.  Try restapling to start - easy and cheap.

It's definitely a staple rubbing on the tank. I'll try to get some neoprene this weekend and superglue it over the staples, and try some auto accessories places for some touchup paint and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. If I can't find any touch up paint (last 3 stores I checked didn't have any  :x) I'll go with some clear nail polish.