My XJ750 Maxim w/ CB400 Hawk Tank and Custom Seat

[NMF]

Hi All,

I have a build thread slowly evolving in Cafe projects, but I want to bring this part of the build over to this forum for some more specific advice. Also, I'm hoping it might help give some ideas to those of you with frames that aren't perfectly flat.

Please excuse the mess. I'm in the process of polishing covers, pulling out the wiring, and cleaning the motor before paint. The rear tank mount is also not welded in place as it needs perfected, and I wanted the tank/seat to line up well.

As you all know, these bikes aren't that popular, but it's my first one and it's low mileage, a strong runner, and reliable. Being that they're so unpopular there's not a lot to go off of as far as custom seats that look good. Here's some seat examples I like:

Note that on the one above, the seat follows the line of the frame, which I'm not crazy about. Also, My tank sits up a bit higher, so I didn't think it would work.

Here's another decent looking example:

And another:

Now, my tank sits a little higher than these, and since I hope to avoid having my seat "swoop" up at the rear, I opted to buy (from Dime City) the legendary cafe seat mount, which I believed would keep a consistent line with the tank, and negate that "recess" in the frame. See below (Again, pardon the mess, I'm just now getting to cosmetics):

My plan is to simply tape along the current line to make a fiberglass seat pan that will follow. Here is my question, DTT: since the seat pan is going to dip below the tank line, is that going to mess up the overall look? My thoughts are no, but I like to hear others' opinions since this is my first rodeo.

For the sake of easy visualization, lets say the bike will be painted yellow with a black leather seat. I wonder, should I completely cover the whole seat in black leather, or should I use some color? See my high tech renditions below, and pardon the huge pics:

Thoughts, suggestions?

 

[NMF]

What I meant by "should I completely cover the whole seat in black leather, or should I use some color" is should I cover the entire pan in leather like this:

Or should I leave some of the pan visible and color match the visible part:

Please note that I am going for a brat style seat and so there will be no "Cafe Hump"

Also, how are you guys and gals fabricating a place to attach the fabric to the pan, since there is no way to staple into the fiberglass?

Thanks everyone, just brainstorming here and could use some suggestions.

 

[NMF]

Welp, the hoop is in and ready to be welded, so I'm hoping to fiberglass this weekend. I can tell everyone is thrilled.

 

[shiznits75]

Welp, the hoop is in and ready to be welded, so I'm hoping to fiberglass this weekend. I can tell everyone is thrilled.

if your making a brat seat, i would cover the whole thing. If you make a metal pan, you use rivets and spray adhesive to attach everything.

 

[NMF]

It's been a while since I've updated this, but I have made some fairly significant progress.

First I mocked up the tail hoop and a cardboard seat pan.

\

I hope this makes my previous seat posts a little easier to understand. I could have a.) made a flat fiberglass seat pan that mimics the current lines of the cardboard (with padding and leather on top), but leaves a large gap between the seat and the recessed part of the frame

Or b.) drape the fiberglass cloth over the sides in a way that it covers the gap (and somehow maintains a good line as it curves up with the rear).

Well, I decided to go with option B. I did make sure to relocate and hide all of the mounting points on that Legendary Cycles universal seat mount. They were just way too visible and ugly.

I cut another inch off of the tail hoop and welded it onto the frame. Then I taped up for fiberglass.

This is after some trimming all around. I think I will probably cut another 3/16s off of the bottom, and I also need to clean up the area where it meets the tank. I definitely will not be color matching it to anything; it will be painted black, otherwise I think it will be an eyesore. The devil is in the details and I have been sanding, and filling with expoxy/bondo glass for a few days now, but everything is nearly perfectly smooth. I'll fiberglass a seat pan on top of this once it's filled/sanded/trimmed perfectly smooth.

 

[NMF]

And before I get in trouble, yes I took off a shock and did the ratchet strap test. We are ok.