Hi all,
I contacted Mike Corbin several years ago about making a seat for the Interstate. He had no interest is developing it but if I wanted to desgn it and order quantities, he would make them for me. So I did. Started selling them and this is when the problems started. To make a very long story short, turns out that the Norton Factory used several different suppliers for their tanks. This was not a surprise but the problem was that some were different dimensionally. After doing some research and measuring tanks I found no less than 6 different sizes of Interstate tanks (as much as 2" in overall lenght) This, as you can imagine, makes it nearly impossible to design a seat that will fit all of them. I ordered a couple of more batches of seats and sold them only if we could predetermine that they would fit the bike. Wasnt a good approach and eventually I just decided that it wasnt worth it. No more was made.
Having been to the Corbin factory several times I can understand that they dont offer to make custom seats (unless you are there of course) The factory is set up very efficiently and to start taking orders for custom seat dimensions, would turn into a nightmare I am sure. The main reason Mike Corbin does not want to offer it is because he doesnt want to sell a product that may not fit. He would probably have more unhappy customers than happy ones if he opened the door to this service.
What I suggest as an option for the Interstate, is to buy a Corbin Gunfighter seat for a Roadster. Install the new, center post, mounting bracket on the frame. Then drill the rivets out of the front section of the seat and peel the cover back. Start cutting away the glass and foam (test fit often as the seat mount does not allow for any adjustment for and aft) Consider the thickness of the foam and material going back over the nose when you are done cutting. The glass pan is easy to cut, the foam can be cut with an electric bread knife and then sanded with a rotary disc sander. When you have it like you want it, reinstall the cover over the nose and secure with adhesive or re-rivet.
I have not built many Interstates over the years (2) but one is on the bench right now and I took the approach above to build the seat and it worked great. The seat turns out relatively short and gives the bike a race/Cafe' feel. Very nice look.
Also, as a side note (dont like to advertise on the forum) I have designed a 2-up seat for the Roadster based on the Corbin Gunfighter set. If you are intersted in details contact me at the shop. They will be ready in a couple of weeks time. I will try to keep a resonable stock level at the shop.
Thanks
Matt / Colorado Norton Works
