Building a solo seat for the CB400T

[silverstonepgt]

I was rummaging around my house today and came across these very old plastic snowboards in my basement. They arent the typical type, these were little kid no binding, plastic boards about an inch thick, and foam filled.

I cut one down about 3/4 of what it was and threw it on back just to get an idea if I can use it to build off of, and surprisingly, liked the result:

So, this will be my base for a new seatpan. I intend to remove the airbox in favor of pods, and cut the frame immediately after the rear shock, possibly welding a hoop to follow the shape of that upkicked tail - we'll see.

 

[drummershoes]

call me crazy but I do believe the skateboard/snowboard deck idea is somewhat taking off ? I didn't even stop to think about THAT idea at all since I've got a few old n used up decks I don't wanna throw away.

The seatpan looks solid and I'd think if it were flush flat on the rails it'd look awesome silver. It seems to fit the lines of your bike quite nicely = )

 

[sebatron]

i wonder if builders did it back in the 70s - it'd be weird if it's a new thing
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=6496.msg164272#msg164272
that's my take on the skateboard seat
heh

 

[silverstonepgt]

So it turned out to be far easier to just re-use the stock seat pan and cut it and weld it into the new shape I was looking for:

That was the mockup, here is the pan in progress, sectioned more than the above, and also level.

 

[silverstonepgt]

Brother workin on the seat:

What it looks like temporarily mounted:

 

[silverstonepgt]

Seat is covered - taillight is next!

 

[Dirty Dan]

Looks good!

What did you do as far as the seat goes, where did you find the foam?

What kind of taillight are you going to use?

 

[chris73cb175]

the skateboard idea seems legit (well anything does) but i like a board due to the little curve on the tails. not all hiked up

 

[silverstonepgt]

The seat is the cut down stock seat pan, re-welded, with some 12 gauge stock underneath bent to form a bracket that bolted to part of the frame underneath, covered in two layers of some thin closed cell foam my brother has in plentiful supply (upholstering a boat) which was then covered in UV resistant black vinyl. The seat looks lumpy in some shots, but that is actually just the shape of the pan, we decided not to metal fill all of the shape flat, and left some of the dips and bumps in. While a bit odd, they are symmetrical side to side and helped keep strength in the seat from the bends.

Taillight is still up in the air, Im thinking of a 6 inch LED strip at the top of the rear seat with the plate under it, or a cateye, or a small circle.

Ideas?

Looks good!

What did you do as far as the seat goes, where did you find the foam?

What kind of taillight are you going to use?

 

[silverstonepgt]

the skateboard idea seems legit (well anything does) but i like a board due to the little curve on the tails. not all hiked up

The skateboard idea seemed like it also would have been very easy to make work, but we ended up wanting a smaller bike, and the rear part that dipped up was too small to cradle the ass appropriately lol.

 

[Dirty Dan]

Taillight is still up in the air, Im thinking of a 6 inch LED strip at the top of the rear seat with the plate under it, or a cateye, or a small circle.

Ideas?

Sweet, I just ordered some closed cell foam. Can't wait to get my pad done!

Hmm... as far as taillight goes, I vote cateye with the plate underneath it. How about something like this?

You can find it here: http://www.lickscycles.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=109&products_id=1867

That's where I got my taillight, which came in the mail finally, by the way!

We're going to have to ride when we get our bikes done, man

 

[silverstonepgt]

We're going to have to ride when we get our bikes done, man

Definitely! I ended up picking up a small tail light from Cafe Racer in Ypsi along with a set of drag bars.

I also rewired the bike today and worked on the tail some more.

Pods and the taillight mounted, a rejet, and shes done.