My '73 850 rebuild..

The main job of the seat is to keep your backside happy. But unfortunately you are going to look at it every time you climb on and off the bike. So, you certainly want it to look neat, if not perfect. If I were doing the job myself I would pull the cover off and fit the seat without the cover. Make sure the pan and foam are shaped the way it needs to be before you stretch the cover on. I remember fooling myself years ago on some bucket seats I did that since the foam was soft it would mold to the stretched material. Wrong! The material will continue to stretch and work until it fits the shape of the foam. So the foundation is important. Then you gotta make sure when you pull it on that you don't pull one side more than the other. A heat gun can help get rid of the bunching. The cover should seem near impossible to get on when cold.

That gap at the front. I would want it even, but a slight gap between the seat and tank can keep it from rubbing off your paint. My interstate tank has a rubbed spot there that no ammount of polishing and waxing is gonna get rid of it. I only see it when the seat is off, but it is removing the paint slowly from the tank. You decide how to deal with it, this is just a heads up.

Russ

Edit // Meh

GRM 450 said:

Jason, you're not pickey, the seat job is crap......

Sorry but it is. Looks like the result of over medication.

graeme

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Amen. If this person couldn't get it right the first time, get your money back and move on........ Pony up the difference and get a Corbin. Well worth it in the long run. You have far too much invested in time, money and more time and more money. No sense in penny pinching on the seat at this point in your progress. You have done a great job so far, my compliments.

She's going to make it right but thus far, I'm not particularly impressed. Crazy, since she came so highly recommended!

If she can't make it look good, then I will indeed say no thanks and go somewhere else. It wasn't exactly "cheap", so yeah..

-Jordan

Hello Jordan,
I have a Mk3 Interstate, and have a set of Roadster gear that makes a change from the Interstate set up.
I had a Roadster seat pan upholstered to look like a Corbin gun fighter, the fellow did a good job with the foam and covering, but I am going to get him to move the hump back slightly and lower the top of the hump about 1 inch. Just so I can sit further back.

If you want, send me your seat, I can fit the Interstate tank and take my bike to the seat fellow with your seat so he can make your seat blend into an Interstate. Then I'll send the seat back to you.
He is slow though. (Ergo Seats)





Do you have "Work Experience" over there? That's where school kids get to work at a business for a week or two to see if they are keen to do that particular job. Or if they are suited.
Maybe you upholsterer had a work experience kid in the week they did your seat?

Graeme

Wow. That's a very nice copy of a gunfighter.

Part of the problem with my seat is that I gave her an unmodified stock pan to work with. In order for the seat to really look like a Gunfighter, the front edges really needed to be tapered in narrower.

That's no excuse for the bunching at the back of the seat (that's simply unacceptable), but still. Something else about the seat near the hump is just not 'right' in terms of not looking like a Gunfighter but I can't place it (is the angle on the hump not sharp enough?). I don't know what to say to help her fix it. :/

If she can't get me what I want, I'll probably send you my seat. I'll let you know how it shakes out in the next few weeks. how expensive is your guy?

-Jordan

I think it needs to flow off the tank, then flow up then down over the guard. It depends what look you're after?
It will be harder with an Interstate as the seat isn't as long as a Roadster seat. Maybe keep the hump lower to give the illusion of a longer seat?
I took copies of seat pictures, and a roadster base for him to start then the bike so he could blend the curves. Then he covered it. Cost about $225 from memory. (AUD, so that's $7525 USD)
Graeme

$7525 USD, eh? LOL

At this point, I'm going to ask the local upholsterer to even out the front (should just need a bit more padding) and to TRY to add 1/2" or so of padding to the bottom to help it hug the fender better. That might be harder than it seems though as she only left probably 1" (max, and less in some spots) of extra material under the pan. If she has to redo the entire cover, I don't think that's my fault. I asked her to add some padding to the bottom and she must have forgotten. I guess next time I'll have to just remember to give an itemized list prior to handing the pan over.. :/

The wide front probably just is what it is right now. I screwed that one up by not modifying the pan before handing it over to her to work on. Guess I didn't realize it was so damn wide.

-Jordan

Hey Graeme,
when are you sending your seat off?
I like the look of yours and I could send Ergo my pan at the same time.

Cheers

Dave

Hello Dave, where are you?

I'm not in a hurry to get the seat altered, (read other hungry 2 wheeled conveyances) but if you're in Brisbane PM me and you can borrow the seat and take it to John at Ergo with your seat pan.
He is about 2kms from me.

Graeme

Graeme, PM sent.
I reckon you could round up quite a few Aussie folk wanting a decent seat!

Dave

Fender stay and bronze exhaust nuts chromed:



I hope the unchromed portion above the threads doesn't look too bad once installed:


Overall, they look pretty good (ouch at the $80 cost). Now I can mount my front fender and exhaust!

-Jordan

nice! Which chromer did you use?

Eh? I dropped them off at the local chrome shop.

I took the nuts back and they said they'd fix them since they didn't chrome them down to the threads. They put it in their notes but it was still forgotten. They should be ready early next week.

I officially hate Emgo.

We got all the fluids in the bike and got the oil pumped through the system, so we put some gas in the bowl of the carb and fired it up. Worked great and sounded awesome..

We filled the bowl up again to run it some more and the stupid Emgo kickstarter bent as dad was kicking it through. We heard a loud pop and the kickstarter was locked under the muffler (it installed a nice, big scrape on the way down). Sheared off some of the teeth in the kickstarter shaft in the process, too. Fantastic.

I guess it's true: If not for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Jesus.

-Jordan

Don't go feeling special on luck on folding up new item or it failing before installing.
Might be a bit advanced for back pressure to add to kicker loads.

You went cheap. No sympathy.

That's like complaining that your Big Max wasn't a gourmet dinner. :roll:

swooshdave said:

You went cheap. No sympathy.

That's like complaining that your Big Max wasn't a gourmet dinner. :roll:

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Meh. Going a bit cheaper shouldn't result in catastrophic failure within the first 15 uses. FWIW, Emgo starter = $65. Didn't feel the need to spend $250 for one from OldBritts. Obviously Emgo kickstarters are just crap (or I just got a craptastical one). Thanks for the sarcasm, though. Dually noted and appreciated. :roll:

Hmmm, that's surprising, it doesn't take much of a piece of real metal to make a kick starter lever unless it's junk. At least I know now, you should get your money back though if you whine enough. Where did you buy it? Side benefit of the 'S' is the kick-start lever is no where near the exhaust. I've heard all the horror stories about new silencers, not that I don't like the look of them.

Dave
69S