'71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure... CHANGE OF PLAN

[JohnnySomersett]

I've been rolling ideas around my head about seat options for my bike, unfortunately I'm a fussy bugger and often don't know what I want - just what I dont want (but often not until I see it)

This is what it looked like a week or so ago:

I saw on here, and other places, people using skateboards as seatpans and seeing as I'm actually not too bad working with wood I thought I could at least start one to see how things could look.
So, today I popped down to a local shop and picked up a brand new board for £4.99 (about $7 I think!). The cheap ones are a little flatter on the flat (little to no concave) which suits my idea. I spent about an hour today chopping and offering up the plank and this is kind of where it is at the moment:

The length is spot on for where I sit - butt right on the kickup and its surprisingly comfy just as the wood! I still need to put wood down the sides to frame underneath. If I roll with it I think I'll go with a few layers of camping matt material, pleated black vinyl on top, bordered with piping and just flat vinyl around the edge.. nice and simple.

The thing I'm struggling with is what Id need to do to balance the bike afterwards....?
My eyes say Id need to bob the rear fender right back and remove the excess metal behind the shock mounts. Not that I have a welder to make it good afterwards! Then theres the issue of rear lamp and number plate location - which can easily look shit

Errgh, what to do, what to doooo...

 

[johngofast]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

Sorry to take this off track, but the moon discs look great, did you take pics of those when you were making/mounting them?

 

[JohnnySomersett]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

Sorry to take this off track, but the moon discs look great, did you take pics of those when you were making/mounting them?

No worries, thanks! Erm, no, I forgot to document that bit was pretty simple though, just 18" aluminium discs (pizza pan separators) with the right size hole cut out the centre. All I used to attach them was self-tapping screws into the hub. Sits nice and tight and no noticable difference in feel on the bike. Took about 2-3 hours due to me having a blunt file/rasp hahah

 

[coyote13]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

Using a skateboard for a base was the direction I was intending to go on my CB100, until I noticed I had a bunch of MDF left over from another project. Figure with enough paint it should hold up to the elements well enough. Looking good!

 

[edukaycheon]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

I definitely like the skateboard seat, skateboards are shred gnar bro. In all seriousness though I think the seat could extend a little farther back?

 

[johnson_steve]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

I'm using a skateboard for my seat.

 

[o1marc]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

You're running into the age old dilemma of changing one thing negatively impacts 3 other things that will need to be sorted. If you cut the tails off the seat frame you will need to replace it with rear hoop if you remove the bridge that ties the sides together as a structural assembly. Is your rear brake rod stock? Looks awfully long and put the brake arm at a weird angle. Looks like it should be about 3" shorter.

 

[Scruffy]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

Exercise machine donor seat. Fits like it was made for it. Rather looks like a tapered and padded skateboard deck, but it is steel so I can just build a fender/tail combo right off of it. Cheap and functional.

1963 Honda 250 Scrambler with low bar conversion. When everything is squared up, it is a perfect fit. Unfortunately I fucked the rubber cover up adding a pleated top, stitch lines wandered a bit, going to finish it up and use it anyway. Welting between the pleated top and smooth side. No pics of finished, since It isn't quite wrapped up.

Still not sure I'd do much to a bike as clean as your starting point. My moldy oldy baby bike is a heap, so no harm done.

 

[MattIn11225]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

You could fab a simple cowl out of sheet metal that would extend from the top of that board back to the tail, covering up instead of cutting off. Might look the business, and if you don't like it, then start cutting and welding.

 

[JohnnySomersett]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

You're running into the age old dilemma of changing one thing negatively impacts 3 other things that will need to be sorted. If you cut the tails off the seat frame you will need to replace it with rear hoop if you remove the bridge that ties the sides together as a structural assembly. Is your rear brake rod stock? Looks awfully long and put the brake arm at a weird angle. Looks like it should be about 3" shorter.

Yeh, I've had that dilemma with modifying cars in the past, it starts to snowball quite quickly. Due to my lack of welding gear (and skill) I'm trying to avoid anything too extreme.

The brake rod is stock, For some reason I can only get it to work at that angle properly. It sharpens the brakes up though for some reason. The brake lever I just happen to like nice and high... I have sore tendons in my feet (drummer) that means too much extension of the foot is uncomfortable. Looks goofy but fits me and my stupid body!

 

[JohnnySomersett]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

I did a bit more woodwork tonight for half an hour to get it to a semi-done stage with the pan...

And quickly folded up my shop-towel (sweatrag) to mimic some kinda covering as a visual aid

....still not sure if I'm honest. There's always the option of a recover and thinning of the original seat too. I feel like I'm torn between a bobber and a stock bike

 

[JohnnySomersett]

Re: '71 CB250 Seat - Skateboard base solo seat.. not sure...

I just had a play on photoshop and came up with this...

...which flows quite well I thought

 

[JohnnySomersett]

Kinda thought I'd have a go at re-upholstering the stock seat to a) have a go at it as I've never tried before and b) See if a change on the stock one ticked the right boxes.

So, I went down the local foam & fabric upholstery shop and bought a bunch of stuff.... a yard of heavy duty black vinyl, some 1/4" foam for pleats and some 1" seat foam (the multicoloured spotty stuff). I watched a video on YouTube on sewing the pleats and, under the watchful eye of my lady (who knows sewing pretty well), I spent a few hours with a sewing machine and came out with this:

... I dont think I did too bad. A bit sketchy at the back where I struggled to get the whole thing together but I'm pretty pleased for a first attempt - especially the pleats which were surprisingly easy!

 

[Scruffy]

Looks good, the seat and the whole package. At most, I'd paint the fenders to match your side panels. Fenders like those aren't easy to get your hands on, especially that straight. If you still plan to run a stubby rear, you pay the freight and I'll gift you a stainless section from an XS650 rear to play with.

 

[o1marc]

I like the longer one better than than the brat short one you had. I might change up the rear a bit. Nice enough for your first attempt at assembling one.