Holy cr*p it's a 1976 Honda CXRL650R street-tracking dirt-jumper! (and beer)...

That's great intel, thanks. Been enjoying this build a lot.

The contact cement fumes are strong around HQ lately...



The seatpan gets a slice of Confor around the edges to square up the base shape, and a curved wedge of stiff closed-cell to help kick up the back of the seat a bit more. Then 1" each of stiff and soft Confor glued on top.



Looks like a big turd here... time for some precision trimming:



Starting to look like something. I had been envisioning a longer taper/lower at the end of the seat, but this blockier shape looks more vintage to me. Hell, I'm vintage and blocky, and it works for me!



At this point I can't even smell the spray-glue fumes... An intermediate cover of this faux-fur blanket I've been using for such things... the fluff adds loft under the final upholstery to even out the gory lumps precision trimming, and the nylon tricot backing stretches around the shape while gluing up well.

Time to track down a sewing machiner person who likes beer...

No beer tonight lads; the weather calls for the restorative powers of rum:



I'm calling it "The Vanilla Lindy". 1 part Appleton Estate, 2 parts ginger beer, shake of nutmeg, dash of vanilla.

Why "Lindy"? The weather is also driving me to lowbrow humor; I'm re-re-watching "Back To School" this evening... Google that shit!

I can sew leather and like beer but I think the postage between us might cost too much!, Nice work on the seat, looks right to me.

Enjoyed catching up on this build! Looking forward to more

You sure you don't wanna just go with one of those arctic sheepskin pelt covers? I hear they're super cozy.

osteoderm said:

Time to track down a sewing machiner person who likes beer...

Click to expand...

If I ever get around to patching that discarded couch into a seat cover, you can decide if you'd like to enlist me. My aimlessly hacked apart artisanal locally formed reclaimed seat cushion should give you a good idea of what you can expect from my pairing of amateur skills and professional machinery.

[hold up sign] will work for booze

I made this seat for a guy on here back in December. I'm not a drinker though, so we'd have to figure something out if you're interested.

WHY haven't there been any updates..... Could it be..... did you run out of beer money?????? AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

Too much "out in the field making money" and not enough "hanging out in the shed wrenchin' and popping bottle caps".

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osteoderm said:

Too much "out in the field making money" and not enough "hanging out in the shed wrenchin' and popping bottle caps".

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Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to get your priorities straight =) Neat bike, interested in seeing progress when it is made.

Been traveling for work on and off since Christmas... Hopefully I'll be able to stop earning a living for a few weeks and get some bike work done!

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It's taken years of gin and patience, but the right boat trailer finally backed into the right tree. That, and my ol' lady kicked me out of the house for a couple hours so she could re-arrange furniture without my input, so I had to find something at the shop to do...

Bike as-is, always seemed to me like it needed just a touch more bodywork:



F*cked around with tape and cardboard for awhile until this sorta/kinda started to happen...



Now about that boat trailer fender part... Needed something in exactly the right material, with just the right compound curve to fit the frame. Fortunately, there's always a tree in a rearview blindspot waiting to profide me with primo fabrication materials!







Edges cleaned up and a mirror-image one made for the other side (there must have been two trees...), and we're starting to get somewhere.



Now I know what you're thinking... and no, no, no matter what you think, I'm not keeping the blue tape mounting tabs! Call me a slave to fashion if you must, but the tape just doesn't mesh with my strictly-defined overall design ethos. I'm thinking of a black outline and cheesy numbers, or maybe yellow with a black outline? Red/white seems more Honda-ish, but the yellow pops. Thoughts?

When you put your ugly fake race numberplate in an awkward location under your leg, nobody will be able to see the fake race numberplate. Except when there's nobody on the bike, like for the skewed-focus instagram shots.



The 'plate still needs that pinstripe around the edge. The picture needs some razzle-dazzle effects, maybe a sepia-toned lace border... Still working out the details.

I'm liking it. I may steal your frame paint idea, looks bitchin.


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osteoderm said:

Been traveling for work on and off since Christmas... Hopefully I'll be able to stop earning a living for a few weeks and get some bike work done!

Click to expand...

Ready to work in the garage?

Where did you get your seat foam?

7aliveatlast7 said:

Where did you get your seat foam?

Click to expand...

Google "confor foam" and you'll find plenty of suppliers. I've bought from Aircraft Spruce and SeatFoam.com.

Stage 1 HotCam installed, valves freshened, exhaust studs replaced, Rickystator installed, new gaskets, and a few enthusiastic squirts of paint later...



...and even later still, mangled into the frame with the aid of swears and levering:



And yes, that's a 40mm Keihin FCR-MX pumper carb.

Git 'er done! With bacon on top