Hi there everybody!

As I normally only ask questions on this site, I thought I would offer up some information as to my experience with ordering and installing the Utopia back rest here in Vienna

1. Ordering and delivery time: As the company hand build the backrests to order, I knew I would be in for a long wait. I think I ordered in the first week of October and the quoted completion/despatch date was helpfully quoted as October 31st. I then estimated that postage to Austria would take at least 2 weeks, which turned out to me right on the money! It arrived on November 14th. Talking of money, the total cost including postage was €195, BUT (thanks to MikeO for this info), I had to hand over an additional €50 before the package was handed over to me on my doorstep. This was for custom/input taxes, and to be honest I thought it might be more than it actually was. I should also add that Bob at Utopia was very helpful and responded immediately to my email asking when the package had been sent. Three days earlier than quoted as it turned out.

2. Installation: There does seem to be an ambiguity in the instructions, as there is a bold statement on the first page that says "Can be installed without removing stock seat!". The first instruction on page 2 however, starts by saying, "Remove stock seat!" ) Not really an issue for me though, as there was no way I was going to attempt this job in the freezing temperatures we're experiencing without a heated garage in Vienna right now! To be honest, I would imagine that installing the backrest without removing the seat would be practically impossible anyway, even on a warm summer's day! So, I read the instructions through 2 or 3 times, borrowed a drill, and gathered together a series of knives, scissors, and other things I thought I might need, and took a deep breath! By the way, A big thank you to our Romanian friend who replied to my last posting about removing the seat and support rod, which turned out to be fairly straight forward, although it still took me a full 30 minutes just to get the stock off my SW and into my warm flat Now I had exactly 2 hours to complete the job before having to head off to my next student (I teach guitar and piano), on my bike. I was quite pleased with myself that I did remember to remove the underseat bulb before running indoors with my precious cargo, as I guess I would have never made that next lesson! As it was, I did have to call the student to inform them that I would be half an hour late, as my ambition to complete the installation in 2 hours was wildly optimistic!

Even with the additional 30 minutes, it soon became clear that I was not going to complete the job, even though things were going pretty smoothly for a complete amateur like myself So, I rushed out into the street with my much heavier seat (the installed steel bars really add to the weight!), and my guitar on my back, to quickly rebolt it back on - just 2 of the 4 bolts due to the rush! - and just made it in time for my student's lesson. When I got back home it was very dark, cold and damp, but at least I now had time on my side I undid the 2 bolts and carried my seat back into the warm where I put on some Steely Dan music and set about completing the job. Would you believe it took another 2.5 hours to complete! But boy did I feel proud! The seat was solid and perfectly set up. I finally rebolted the seat (all 4 bolts this time!) back onto my SW at gone midnight, and it looks and feels great!

So, that's my story ................

Oh, and my full face helmet does just about still fit under the front section of the seat - which is a bonus!

Next job is to work out how to keep the seat up when loading and unloading, as the stock strut certainly cannot cope with the additional weight. How did you solve this problem MikeO? Or anyone else who has The Utopia for that matter.

I am happy to answer any specific questions to anyone considering the purchase of this backrest which is a beautifully made item!

SteVe

Total installation time for backrest was 5 hours but as a complete novice in all things mechanical or D.I.Y I would argue that I was just being diligent and methodical, or anal and geeky if you prefer

As for propping up the seat, I have found the perfect and "free" solution! I simply use the original strut, flex it over towards the center of the seat and wedge it into a conveniently placed recess in the plastic under the seat! Not only does it hold the seat up solid but it keeps it open a little higher than it originally did! I guess the sideward stress on the strut causes the piston action to cease working, and when I want to close the seat again, I simply pop the end of the strut back onto it's original pin (from which I have permanently removed the clip that used to keep it in place, allowing the seat to be closed as before with no loss of valuable underseat space due to keeping any additional homemade strut for the job! I daresay that overtime this method will damage the mechanism of the gas filled strut, but hey! it is now effectively redundant in it's original functionality anyway, and the way I am currently using it certainly doesn't put enough strain on it to actually bend it or weaken the lower hinge to any serious extent!

I is happy!

SteVe

I made a prop out of aluminium tube I bought from B&Q, the DIY chain in the UK, and some bungee cord.

Two lengths of tube, different diameters- one fits almost exactly inside the other.
Made collar for smaller tube by sawing of a short piece of the larger and pop-rivitted it and inch or so from one end.
Threaded the bungee/shock cord through both tubes and knotted it at each end, adjusting the tension so that it would hold the tubes end-to-end but allow the tubes to slide apart and fold in two.
I use a small Velcro strap to keep the tubes together when folded.

The extended prop fits between the catch at the rear of the seat and the topbox to keep the seat open, the knots acting as buffers.

I'll measure it tomorrow and report back.

Thanks for taking the time Mike!

Your solution sounds ingenious and I may well try something similar if my own method ends up wrecking the original strut!

SteVe

There's plenty of inexpensive car tailgate gas struts for sale on eBay Motors, maybe one of a similar size would do the job.

Mesaurements:

Extented, the prop is just over 420mm long.

Narrow tube - OD 10mm ID 8mm Length 240mm
Wide tube - OD 12mm ID 10mm Length 240mm

Collar - 15mm Positioned 60mm from end of narrow tube


I put a washer on each end of the bungee cord between the knot and the tube to stop chaffing on the ends of the tube.
I also pop-rivitted the Velcro to the outer end of the wide tube and put tape round the bungee to stop chaffing where the rivit comes through.

One of my better efforts!