My CB450 Cafe racer seat build - **No Welding**

locOleoN

Is that the best you got? OK.. now my TURN...
So as I lay sick in bed with the flu TWICE this Christmas/NewYears holiday I realized that I havent contributed anything REALLY useful to our forum lately other than a bunch of smart alexy one-liners, etc..etc.. So I decided that I should do my part and do another seat build..

As you all know I got a cb450 in December, ( http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=2478.0 ), so today I decided, lets start there and build the "signature" cafe racer seat ;D...its something I can do indoors...

Of course Im gonna use the old mething of chopped back end of a tank, ( http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=736.0 ), however, Im gonna do it the rphilli550 way and do it without any welding what-so-ever.

In other words, Im gonna do it super cheap, and super quick and show that it can be done by anyone with a drill and a bunch of nuts and bolts...

In my other cafe racer seat builds I outsourced some of the work. I had the leather done by a taylor and the welding done by a welder.

This time, Im gonna do it all myself proving it can be done without any specialised expertise ;D

So, here's what I started with. A perfectly flawless brand-new cb450 seat... Hell, if I want to make a perfect Cafe Racer seat, I may as well start with a perfect OEM one... Cost me $0, (came as part of the bike)

cb450CRseat1.jpg

cb450CRseat2.jpg

cb450CRseat3.jpg


So after I took off the outside chrome trim and pulled the leather off, I wasn't surprised to find a perfect rust free pan and foam.
Earlier, in the summer I chopped, primed & painted a cb360 tank for the cowl. So here is what Im starting with:
Cost of the tank $5 at a swapmeet

cb450CRseat4.jpg


Next step is to cut and trim down the foam...
 
Sigh. No matter how hard I try to teach you basic economics. You could have sold that seat for more than enough to buy a proper seat pan, or a dozen crappy 450 seats to hack up.
 
He never said he was smart.

and come to think of it... neither did we... and we won't!

HEY... stop mucking up nice parts.. that i could buy for cheap money off ya.
 
I can't believe how good a condition the seat and pan are in, they look brand new. Can't wait to see how this progresses, good stuff. I'm going to be starting mine later this month so I'll be looking for ideas. ;)
 
LOL... HARDY HAR HAR!!.. ;D

Ok.. So Im now ready to shave the foam.
I just ouline where Im first gonna cut, and its gonna be the edges to go over the side of the seat pan.
I just use a black marker:

cb450CRseat5.jpg


Then I mark the foam where the cowl is gonna be and just lop off the back foam with a large bread knife..
Its surprising how Foam and stale italian Bread have the same texture:

cb450CRseat6.jpg


Now I just mark where Im gonna trim for the seat height then cut
cb450CRseat7.jpg


Heres the seat foam now nicely trimmed:
cb450CRseat8.jpg


Then I just cut the thin top floam and put it on top of the bottom foam...
I'll glue them together later before I leather..

Heres a pic of the cb450 seat next to the other cafe seat Im building for my cb550f:
cb450CRseat9.jpg


Next stop is mounting the metal cowl... ;D.. After dinner that is...Im a HUNGRY MAN!!
 
OK so using the drill & work bench, I drill 2 holes on either side of the cowl, 1.5 inches apart:

cb450CRseatJ.jpg


With the holes in the cowl, I mock up where I want the cowl to go, mark where I need to drill the holes on the seat pan then using the workbench to hold the seat pan in place, I drill.

I mount the cowl with some temporary screws that have laying around, ( untill I get some nice ones at Crappy Tire) and voila!!

Here is the seat with the cowl mounted for now:

cb450CRseatK.jpg

cb450CRseatL.jpg

cb450CRseatM.jpg


Now I"ll just prepare to make the bump stop on the front using high density floor foam... ;D
 
Noel?! Why is the cowl wayy behind?! Are you making it two-seater?!

I guess not welding the cowl onto the seat pan is a better option. Since you can actually:
  • make it removable,
  • OR change the cowl later,
  • OR remove it completely if you're bored of it.

Also, how high do you reckon the cowl should be?! I feel it shouldn't be higher than the height of the tank, because it'd look ugly overall.

And damnnnn, that was SUCH a good seat you messed up. "HEY... stop mucking up nice parts.."
 
Gordon said:
Noel?! Why is the cowl wayy behind?! Are you making it two-seater?!

Also, how high do you reckon the cowl should be?! I feel it shouldn't be higher than the height of the tank, because it'd look ugly overall.

Actually Gordon, it is 16 inches of seating space. The standard Carpy cafe seat and a Giuliari seat has about 17 inches of seating area.
I guess is looks longer in the pics.

In terms of how hight the cowl should be, it depends on the style you want and what you want to put inside it, (tool kit vs. battery & Electricals). The British Manx seat cowl is very low vs. the Dunstall or Richmann seat cowl which seems to be taller than the tanks from the same kit.

I dont think there is any black and white rule...personal preferrence I guess.. For example, have you seen TinTin's custom seat for his xs650?.. It has a build in sissy bar ;D
 
Personally I find it hard to watch a new part get hacked up and customized.
I´m all for modifying stuff but there are som many damaged parts out the to use instead of new stuff :'(
Well, we can all do what we want with our own stuff but I just felt I had to speak my mind.

Cheers
Dan
 
DME said:
Personally I find it hard to watch a new part get hacked up and customized.
I´m all for modifying stuff but there are som many damaged parts out the to use instead of new stuff :'(
Well, we can all do what we want with our own stuff but I just felt I had to speak my mind.

Cheers
Dan

Rattlecan Noel strikes again :(
 
Oh hey, guys.. I forgot to mention that the cb450 seat was FLAWLESS in every way, not a tear or a rip or a spec of rust anywhere on that absolutley perfect seat pan...

I coudn't believe my eyes when I pulled back the leather off the pan...it even had CHROME rails on the edges of the seat pan, under the leather!!!.. Even those chome rails were so perfect that it should have been on the outside so that it could be seen!!!...

Believe it or not, the bare steel screws that held the document holder in place were shiny... not rusty at all
The leather covering itself was a work or art... smooth & supple... Dark and shiny...It was flawless!!!...

This seat could have easily fetched $400-$600 EASILY!!!... but... whatever... who cares...afterall, to make an omlette, ya gotta break a few eggs!!... BAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!
 
locO leoN said:
Oh hey, guys.. I forgot to mention that the cb450 seat was FLAWLESS in every way, not a tear or a rip or a spec of rust anywhere on that absolutley perfect seat pan...

I coudn't believe my eyes when I pulled back the leather off the pan...it even had CHROME rails on the edges of the seat pan, under the leather!!!.. Even those chome rails were so perfect that it should have been on the outside so that it could be seen!!!...

Believe it or not, the bare steel screws that held the document holder in place were shiny... not rusty at all
The leather covering itself was a work or art... smooth & supple... Dark and shiny...It was flawless!!!...

This seat could have easily fetched $400-$600 EASILY!!!... but... whatever... who cares...afterall, to make an omlette, ya gotta break a few eggs!!... BAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!

You are a sick, sick man. Someone should take these parts away from you. I vote for a DTT meet at Noel's, to remove anything nice from his sight... lest he destroy it...

Bahstard!
 
locO leoN said:
This seat could have easily fetched $400-$600 EASILY!!!... but... whatever... who cares...afterall, to make an omlette, ya gotta break a few eggs!!... BAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!

Dude .. you are officially banned from anything NOS!
 
Scarcat said:
Dude .. you are officially banned from anything NOS!

Don't encourage him, he'll just start buying all the choice NOS parts he can find just to butcher them and piss us off. :mad:
 
DrJ said:
Don't encourage him, he'll just start buying all the choice NOS parts he can find just to butcher them and piss us off. :mad:

Wait till you see what Im gonna do with my perfect cb450 K1 tank with the shiny panels!!..LOL!!!..
Ever seen a cafe racer seat made with a chopped cb450 K1 tank ??.. chrome panels on the cowl of a cafe racer seat??...!!.. BHAHAHAHAHA...

Oh that reminds me... Anyone want a set of perfect plastic cb450K1 tank badges??...Im not gonna need them...probabbly just throw them out...BHAHAHAHAHA
 
What, you're not going to glue them to your latest spray-bombed Simpson?

Nevermind Noel's butchering of perfect parts. I'll exact my revenge in a couple of weeks ;)
 
locO leoN said:
Oh that reminds me... Anyone want a set of perfect cb450K1 tank badges??...Im not gonna need them...probabbly just throw them out...BHAHAHAHAHA

I think your joking about the badges but its hard to tell with your twisted sense of humor, if not i would be interested in them...
 
Will McD said:
I think your joking about the badges but its hard to tell with your twisted sense of humor, if not i would be interested in them...

DAmn Will!!... Too late man.. Just cut out the winged logo with my dremel and glued it to the fork bottoms on my cb750!! ;D



Im just kidding... ;D
 
locO leoN said:
DAmn Will!!... Too late man.. Just cut out the winged logo with my dremel and glued it to the fork bottoms on my cb750!! ;D



Im just kidding... ;D

With you... it's hard to tell.
 
Noel, I have to agree. That idea of mounting a half tank on the seat pan is quite creative. Its a pain to actually use sheetmetal and shape it into a round cowl. Heck, its a pain just imagining how you're gonna do it. This way, its sooo much cheaper, quicker, easier and better. And it won't piss your brains off.

I've already started with the seat pan and that cowl I have. Will mount it with bolts and probably make it a removable one. I'll post the pics soon. This is the cowl I have right now. Will be adding some sheetmetal, since its a little short in height.

cowlzb6.jpg
 
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