Deacon's KZ650 Cafe Seat Build

Herm21 said:
That's absolutely gorgeous deacon, great work man!

agreed!!! one of the best paint schemes i think ive seen yet! very clean paint job too. not sure if you already stated this but how did you paint everything... yourself i assume but with what materials. once again awesome job!
 
904cafe said:
agreed!!! one of the best paint schemes i think ive seen yet! very clean paint job too. not sure if you already stated this but how did you paint everything... yourself i assume but with what materials. once again awesome job!

Thanks guys.

I painted it myself using Dupli-color rattle can primer, paint and clear coat. Finished it off by wetsanding and polishing.
 
Re: Deacon's KZ650 Cafe Seat Build - Seat Cushion Covered

Finally got around to covering the seat cushion. It came out alright, no professional job by any means, but I was happy with my first attempt at upholstry. Seeing how it was my first time I just went with some cheap vinyl, not sure how it's going to hold up. At $5 it's no big loss. I'll see how it wears and feels when riding to see if I need to do it again. For now it'll have to do. This pretty much completes the seat build. Next year I'm planning on making a two-up seat, can't wait.

Here are a couple of pics.

seatCushion2.jpg


seatCushion1.jpg
 
Looks good Deacon!

Cafe's aren't supposed to be perfect, and it's the imperfections that make them unique.

Cut, chop, rig, and ride!
 
Thats pretty dang cool. I never saw that coming from that big mess you made///

How much did that light cost you? All the parts stores around here carry trailer lights that are huge and gawdy... wish I could convince you to pick one up and send it to me..... if it didn't cost a fortune////
 
looks amazing... your thread has given me inspiration and direction when it comes to doing mine. yours is exactly what im looking for... even crazier you used spray paint... very cool.
 
ca180 said:
Thats pretty dang cool. I never saw that coming from that big mess you made///

How much did that light cost you? All the parts stores around here carry trailer lights that are huge and gawdy... wish I could convince you to pick one up and send it to me..... if it didn't cost a fortune////

Thanks for the kind words guys!

ca180, I picked up the taillight from Princess Auto on sale for $20. I believe its $35 regularly. You can order it from their site I believe (Item #8064388).

904cafe said:
even crazier you used spray paint... very cool.

904, rattle can is a step up for me, I painted my car with Tremclad and a roller. :)  I would have done the bike this way as well but I couldn't get the colour I wanted in Tremclad.
 
what a really good Job!!! :eek: :eek:

The paint is simply perfect, it's incredible that You can do this finish using spray paint.

Really really nice!

Congratulations!
 
I love the look of your seat, and that's just what I want to do to my Kz650 except I want to mount the fibreglass to my stock seat pan, retaining the seat lock function. How should I mount the fibreglass to the metal seat pan?? I thought about just using screws underneath the seat cushion but what about mount the actual tail section of the seat??
 
jolio55 said:
I love the look of your seat, and that's just what I want to do to my Kz650 except I want to mount the fibreglass to my stock seat pan, retaining the seat lock function. How should I mount the fibreglass to the metal seat pan?? I thought about just using screws underneath the seat cushion but what about mount the actual tail section of the seat??

I was originally planning on the same thing, make a tail and mount it to the original seat pan. However, the seat pan on mine was far too rusty to be used so I scrapped the idea. To mount the tail to the seat pan you could probably use screws. I believe there are some threads in this area where tank halves were mounted to the seat pan, I would assume similar methods could be used for a fibreglass tail.

Be sure to post your progress.
 
Looks really great for doing it all yourself and for the first time. Impressed.

Curious, have you tested what happens if a little gas hits that paint setup? I wonder how durable it is. I'd hate to see all that time put in get ruined at the first trip to the gas station.
 
Johnny5 said:
Looks really great for doing it all yourself and for the first time. Impressed.

Curious, have you tested what happens if a little gas hits that paint setup? I wonder how durable it is. I'd hate to see all that time put in get ruined at the first trip to the gas station.

Thanks Johnny.

I did spill a bit of gas over the tank and it did damage the clear a bit. Sort of took the shine off. I was home when it happened and cleaned it up really quick but it still did some damage. I just buffed it up again and it looked as good as new.

My brake MC is now leaking a bit and the fluid its flicking back onto the tank when I ride. This is damaging the clear, so I'm going to have to do some work on it over the winter.
 
Johnny5 said:
How many coats of clear did you put on?

Brake fluid is nasty stuff.

I think it was three or four.

Yeah, brake fluid is nasty, although it gives me an excuse to repaint it all. :) Not sure if I'll keep the colour or change it up.
 
What do you do to prep just before clear coating? Wetsand with 1500-2000 grit?


I have a really old nasty CL350 tank that Im planning on experimenting on. I really want to try the Tremclad brush on method for poops-n-giggles. I'll post pics of this project when it's started.
 
Johnny5 said:
What do you do to prep just before clear coating? Wetsand with 1500-2000 grit?


I have a really old nasty CL350 tank that Im planning on experimenting on. I really want to try the Tremclad brush on method for poops-n-giggles. I'll post pics of this project when it's started.

Yes, I wetsand after every stage (i.e. primer, colour and clear).

I love painting with Tremclad. I painted my car a couple of years ago using the roller method and would have done the bike as well but I couldn't get a colour combo that I liked in Tremclad. Durable stuff too.

Yeah, be sure to post some pics of the progress. Best of luck.
 
Re: Deacon's KZ650 Cafe Seat Build - Seat Cushion Covered

HerrDeacon said:
Finally got around to covering the seat cushion. It came out alright, no professional job by any means, but I was happy with my first attempt at upholstry. Seeing how it was my first time I just went with some cheap vinyl, not sure how it's going to hold up. At $5 it's no big loss. I'll see how it wears and feels when riding to see if I need to do it again. For now it'll have to do. This pretty much completes the seat build. Next year I'm planning on making a two-up seat, can't wait.

Here are a couple of pics.

seatCushion2.jpg


seatCushion1.jpg

Wow, turned out great!
 
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