Armrests for pillion on the Silverwing

My partner of 20+ years is recovering in hospital from a stroke right now (along with a craniotomy) and it will be a while before she's home and getting on with life but she is keen to eventually get back on the SW.

I have been thinking of ideas to attach some armrests to my SW to help her stability while riding, if indeed, she needs it. We're not sure yet.

I'm thinking of something subtle but strong so as not to spoil the lines of the bike. Has anybody done this? and how? My first thought was to attach them to the grab rail but any ideas would be welcome. :flower:

Would a topbox with a body hugging backrest help bud ? something along the lines of this maybe ? ..........

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Luggage-Rack-and-Top-Box-with-Backrest-for-Harley-Davidson-Touring-Models-00-13/332948443672?hash=item4d85461218:g:HIIAAOSwvdFcEnve

DennisB, maker of the sat nav holder and connector on here, also used to make and sell pillion armrests for forum members

Now while he's been under the radar for a few years now, there might be some long time member in the US that has a set of his pillion armrests they no longer use.

Here's a photo and a link to DennisB's arm rest post. As Meldrew notes, DennisB closed shop many years ago and has been MIA for quite a long while as well.
https://www.silverwing600.com/t812-arm-rests-kits-available-now?highlight=Arm+rests

Wow, that's just what I had in mind. I suppose it's worth emailing DennisB or appealing to forum members. If that fails I do have a friend who is quite nifty with welding equipment who might help me out on this.

Thanks all.

As the forum is rather quiet I thought I would announce my armrests project. I'm waiting for the brackets to arrive which a local welder is making for me. The rest of the job is DIY. There are a couple of unknowns to overcome but if my theory is correct it just might work.

My idea is a little unorthodox because they need to meet a specific purpose in my case.

I'll post the project when it's finished. Hopefully in about a week or so.

Sounds interesting, Chris; watching closely!
I expect you've seen the picture of the ones Dennis made some years ago:

https://www.silverwing600.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-DennisB/arm-rest18-pic_513.htm

Yes, they were very smart and I was sorry that he wasn't able to market them to us. I started by going along the same lines as Dennis's but had to have a long hard think.

I've had to take a different approach because I need them to be very 'sturdy' but still 'subtle' and not oversized.

I'm anxious to get going with these so I'm hoping I can have the brackets back early next week. (This Monday being a Bank Holiday is not helping)!

Understood.
My appetite for progress reports is even whetter now!

I finally finished the armrests for my SW. I needed these to be rather sturdy to help support my Partner, Allie, although she insists that she doesn’t need them and has actually ridden without them but I feel better knowing she has extra support if she needs it. Because of Allie’s disability I will attach the armrests ‘after’ she is seated and remove them ‘before’ she dismounts.

(I had to do this on a tight budget and had them formed from a piece of mild steel which I had lying around).

These are the armrests with some office chair armpads attached. I went for an inverted keyhole attachment so that they can be removed easily:



This was by means of using Shoulder Bolts:



I then drilled and tapped the holes to attach the armrests to the sissy bar:



The keyholes allow for easy attachment and removal:





Securely attached:



Some pics of the finished product:









I made these using only hand tools. I’m sure that anybody with machine tools and more metalwork experience could easily do something similar and perhaps use aluminium to save weight. They are also interchangeable so that you could have the arm pads facing inwards if required.

Beautiful job Chris!

Thank so much you for sharing the photos. I’m sure that it will inspire others.

Be careful raising the seat. It’s liable to drag on the bolt heads and tear the luxurious vinyl.

Very nice project! Thanks for sharing with us.

'Necessity is the mother of invention'....

You did quite well on that project- looks like a factory piece- well done! I wonder if Allie could sit in the drivers seat initially and use the rests to push herself up to the pillion position vs having to take one side off each time (and I would assume it depends on her level of disability).

I'm pretty sure that will be one of the methods we will try. It would make life easier although I did design them to detach.

Watching us get on and off the bike will be like a scene from a Laurel and Hardy movie!