Could you use a cl350's original seat pan for a brat seat?

[ericeldridge]

is it possible to build a decent brat style seat without having to make a fiberglass pan? I'd like to keep the hinged locking stock pan with the locking helmet holders and registration hideaway if it's not too difficult, let alone the ease to get to the battery. i don't see why it wouldn't be, but if if it seems that if it were possible or easy enough, more people would reuse the original one, so it seems like i'm not noticing something important. basically, i just want to cut down the foam a little and make the seat look a little less bulky, the seat doesn't necessarily have to be a "brat seat" just something a little less humongous, yet still comfy.

 

[ericeldridge]

from what i've seen, i think the reason a lot of people make a seat pan from scratch is to make the pan skinnier, i don't care too much about the width, just want it to be less tall. is there any other advantage to making a pan from scratch? i can build a pan from scratch, and my dad has a good friend who upholsters car and motorcycle seats, so he doesn't have to make the seat the simplest way possible or anything. after looking around, it seems like quite a few people reused the pan, so it is at least plausible.

 

[WNTITAL]

Here's some pics of my CL350 original seat pan that I widled down:

The original look

Stripped it and cut it down the length I wanted. You can notice the lines down each side that i will use to cut down to narrow it.

Cut and welded back together

Made a jig and bent a hoop

Welded it on

Welded some bolts to use as my mounting points. I have tabs welded to the frame that these go into.

Filled in the missing metal

PC'd with fuel line wrapped around the bottom edge for smoothness

Foam glued on

Gell insert used

Shaped it

Finally covered in smoothing foam

Just some thought to help you out. Just what I wanted to do. I still have access to the battery and electronics. You can do something similar and still utalize the latch and holder if you want.

Here's a link to my build thread if you want to see everything. Good luck with your seat.
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=19914.0

 

[SONICJK]

Could you use a cl350's original seat pan for a brat seat?

Here's mine with a cb350
I left the profile a bit high because the battery is under there as well

I stripped it of all foam, cut and inch and a half out of the center, welded it back up and reupholstered

 

[ericeldridge]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I will probably make mine somewhat like SONICJKs, where it is about as long as the stock seat. After thinking it through it seems like it should be no problem to just mount the seat, whether reusing the original pan or not, to the old lock and mounts. It seems like I might have asked my question too soon before just thinking it out, but my bike isn't currently at my house, it's at my dads, so I can't just go out in the garage and have a look.

WNITITIAL- I have the same red cl350 as yours. I saw your engine on the "engine inspiration thread" last night, looks super nice. The best i've seen from looking around. Just read your whole build thread. A lot of useful advice in it; I'll almost certainly polish my stuff the same way you did.
SONICJK-Really like your gas tank, did you hammer the dents in or weld them? I'll probably read your build thread next.

 

[SONICJK]

Could you use a cl350's original seat pan for a brat seat?

The dents are hammered and a shit load of bodywork afterwards.

I didn't take any length out of my seat, as I still wanted it to cover the battery that my cafe seat had previously covered.

 

[WNTITAL]

WNITITIAL- I have the same red cl350 as yours. I saw your engine on the "engine inspiration thread" last night, looks super nice. The best i've seen from looking around. Just read your whole build thread. A lot of useful advice in it; I'll almost certainly polish my stuff the same way you did.

Thanks for the compliment. Feel free to ask me about anything I did. More tan happy to help. Good luck with your build!

 

[frankxedge]

Helpful advice, thanks guys.

 

[mattrod68]

i cut down, shortened, and flattened my stock seat pan on my cl350. i flattened the bumps out so it would have more padding while staying thin. had to swap to a smaller gel battery but no other mods. (oh, i cut off the helmet hook thing under the seat). botls to factory lock and hinges and works just lie stock. no pictures of it completely finished as the tank is getting painted now.

 

[BananaPowder]

i cut down, shortened, and flattened my stock seat pan on my cl350. i flattened the bumps out so it would have more padding while staying thin. had to swap to a smaller gel battery but no other mods. (oh, i cut off the helmet hook thing under the seat). botls to factory lock and hinges and works just lie stock. no pictures of it completely finished as the tank is getting painted now.

I am very interested in bobbing my rear fender to a similar length that you have here. What process did you follow to get your fender this way, rolled at the end? Did you cut the part of the fender that goes down into the frame in front of the back wheel, or did you cut the end? I definitely want to do mine this way. Thanks

 

[frankxedge]

That bike looks rad!

 

[mattrod68]

if you look at the fender, right in the middle there is a seam where the forward and aft chrome outer fenders are welded to the under support. i drilled the spot welds on the rear portion and removed it from the support. then i just shortened the rear portion so it looked right and welded it back on to the support. that way i could use the stock front mount. here is a few pictures sorry i didnt take any better ones. the bikes at a buddies house being stored so i cant snap any more imediately.









hope these help. i just hated seeing all these bikes with a sharp rear fender where it was cut, plus i didnt want to modify the frame on this one. i also wasnt planning on refinishing the whole bike, i wanted it to have kind of a worn in appearance.

 

[mattrod68]

That bike looks rad!

if that was for me, thanks!