I'm in the process of building a '70 CB450 for my wife, so some of the seat modifications are specifically for her. She is only about 5' 1" 105lbs so I narrowed the front of the seat. Also I tried to keep the foam thin enough for her to be able to stand comfortably and still have enough padding so it won't be unbearable on longer rides. Well it took me a while but I've finished the seat and I pretty happy with it. If I had to do it over again I would do a few things differently but all in all I'm pretty pleased.
This is the original seat how it came off the bike.
When I removed the cover I found that the mice had made a nice home inside!
This is the bottom of the seat pan how it came off the bike.
All foam removed and seat pan sandblasted. After looking around at other people's seat projects I realized just how good a shape this pan was in! most others that I saw were rusting around all the holes and the sides were very often almost gone!
The foam and glue that I bought to make the seat shape
This is the original rough shape I came up with. Also notice the narrowed front nose so she can stand up and touch the ground a little easier.
This is the final shape I ended up with. I had to slope the hump in the rear because the drastic 90 degree angle would have been very hard to cover without making several panels, and after I did I think I like it a lot more.
A closer look at the rear hump. I used an electric knife to get my basic shape and a palm sander with 80 and 120 grit sandpaper to smooth it all out.
This small little shop is only about a mile down the road from the house and Wayne was very helpful in giving me pointers and helping me pull the final vinyl cover on.
I bought this thin foam material and the vinyl from Wilgrove's. The thin foam helps to smooth out any imperfections and makes the holes in the sides of the seat pan a little less noticeable.
The bottom of the finished seat! Vinyl pulled and trimmed and pan painted. Since the original hold down tabs were removed from the front when I narrowed the pan I used aluminum rivets to help the glue hold the vinyl in place. You can see one on the upper side to the left of the rubber mount and along the bottom.
he top side. I had the vinyl folded and sitting in the spare room for a few days until I was ready for it, DON'T DO THAT! That is one of the things I would have done differently. You can see the small crease on the slope because of the folding.
One other thing I would have change is the nose. I thought I had a decent amount of foam built up at the far end of the nose but once you pull the vinyl down tight it slopes it downward quite a bit. So next time I know to put a lot more foam at the front for a proper nose.
Well there it is. Like I said, I'd change a few things if I had it to do over again but nonetheless I'm still happy with my first shot at upholstery and trim since I finished school.
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