Finding my standard...

[willis]

Yes, they are stainless from Cone Engineering. I bought them several years ago for my tracker project but never used them. I had a track mount welded on, which is why I drilled and tapped the flat stock with 2 mounting holes. I want to be sure they are very secure.

Cone Engineering makes larger units. I actually almost bought a pair of their “18 Quieter core units instead of the xs2 replicas. They are a little spendy but look really nice. They offer several different styles. Dime City Cycles sells them too, but I ordered directly from Cone Engineering.

 

[willis]

 

[willis]

The Easter Bunny came early, all the way from Vietnam! I ordered a custom seat on eBay about a month ago and it finally arrived today.


The company name is Texavina and they sell a lot of custom seats for a variety of bikes. Our resident TZimmerm has one of these on his 77. Since i am trying to emulate an xs2, I wanted a tuck and roll pattern. But the styles they offered wrapped all the way around the pan. I was looking for a pattern that was just on the top with a standard sidewall. I contacted the seller and asked if they could customize one for me and model it after an SR seat they offer. They replied back within 12hrs and said no problem and told me how to order.

I’m very happy with the quality with one minor exception. On these seats you have to reuse your stock hinges and latch. The seat itself is about a half inch narrower and the latch bolt holes do not allow enough clearance to mount the latch. I’m sure I can figure out a work around but it may take a bit. I’ll likely have to procure a second latch to modify, but it is very fixable. I will do a separate thread on the seat so any others that search that name can see my findings. The strap is removable too. For the price, these seats are a very good deal.

 

[Mailman]

The Easter Bunny came early, all the way from Vietnam! I ordered a custom seat on eBay about a month ago and it finally arrived today.
View attachment 163897
View attachment 163899 View attachment 163900
The company name is Texavina and they sell a lot of custom seats for a variety of bikes. Our resident TZimmerm has one of these on his 77. Since i am trying to emulate an xs2, I wanted a tuck and roll pattern. But the styles they offered wrapped all the way around the pan. I was looking for a pattern that was just on the top with a standard sidewall. I contacted the seller and asked if they could customize one for me and model it after an SR seat they offer. They replied back within 12hrs and said no problem and told me how to order.
View attachment 163896 View attachment 163902
I’m very happy with the quality with one minor exception. On these seats you have to reuse your stock hinges and latch. The seat itself is about a half inch narrower and the latch bolt holes do not allow enough clearance to mount the latch. I’m sure I can figure out a work around but it may take a bit. I’ll likely have to procure a second latch to modify, but it is very fixable. I will do a separate thread on the seat so any others that search that name can see my findings. The strap is removable too. For the price, these seats are a very good deal.

That’s a great looking seat! I’ve looked at their offerings before, they seem to offer a good product. Let us know how you like it after you’ve had some time with it.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

The Easter Bunny came early, all the way from Vietnam! I ordered a custom seat on eBay about a month ago and it finally arrived today.
View attachment 163897
View attachment 163899 View attachment 163900
The company name is Texavina and they sell a lot of custom seats for a variety of bikes. Our resident TZimmerm has one of these on his 77. Since i am trying to emulate an xs2, I wanted a tuck and roll pattern. But the styles they offered wrapped all the way around the pan. I was looking for a pattern that was just on the top with a standard sidewall. I contacted the seller and asked if they could customize one for me and model it after an SR seat they offer. They replied back within 12hrs and said no problem and told me how to order.
View attachment 163896 View attachment 163902
I’m very happy with the quality with one minor exception. On these seats you have to reuse your stock hinges and latch. The seat itself is about a half inch narrower and the latch bolt holes do not allow enough clearance to mount the latch. I’m sure I can figure out a work around but it may take a bit. I’ll likely have to procure a second latch to modify, but it is very fixable. I will do a separate thread on the seat so any others that search that name can see my findings. The strap is removable too. For the price, these seats are a very good deal.

I'm surprised to hear about the innacurate latch fitment. I bought 2 custom seats from Texavina and everything was hunky-dory; their reputation is for correct fitment all-around.

 

[willis]

I don’t know if it’s because it’s a low profile seat or what. I’ll dig into it a little more but I don’t see any way of it fitting without modifying the latch pin.

 

[willis]

So I set forth today with plans of fabricating a new seat latch. I still have a big chunk of 3/8 flat stock which happens to be the same thickness as the latch. My thoughts are to measure, cut, bend, grind and file a new latch. The only concerns I have are that the factory latch consists of 2 pieces of steel sandwiched in a rubber bushing. They rubber mounted this for some reason I’m sure. I’ll give it a shot though as I don’t see any way the factory latch will fit.

After thoroughly measuring everything I drew up a template to cut from the flat stock. My plan is to rough cut and bend it up first, then drill the mount holes and come back to finish trim it out. I’ll have to figure out a way to mount the spring, but let’s just see if I can manage to fab this out ok first.

Now this is where I hit a little speed bump, or rather it hit me. While I was grinding and bending the flatstock, I managed to pull my vice right off the workbench. Shame on me for having it so crudely mounted in the first place.

The worst of it was that the opposite end that I had previously cut out my muffler brackets from was very pointy. Well the pointy end landed on the top of my boot with quite a bit of force, not to mention a 4” vice still mounted on the other end for weight. The plate poked right through my leather boot and gouged my foot pretty good. Impact was about an inch below the base of my big toe. Nothing broken but I’ve got a pretty sore foot with a significant gouge. No stitches required fortunately though. But I’ve already been fighting pretty severe neuroma in that foot so this did not help at all.

So now I’m on a regimen of ibuprofen and elevation for the night. I keep bleeding through bandages and socks whenever I try walking too much. I’ll get back at it later this weekend, hopefully with better results. Oh ya, and after I mount the vice solidly on my new sturdy workbench.

 

[Mailman]

Oh ouch! My foot hurts just thinking about that ! Take care of that foot, you’re gonna need it! Feel better soon.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

The plate poked right through my leather boot and gouged my foot pretty good. Impact was about an inch below the base of my big toe.

Yikes !
Sounds quite painful.
Hope you take good care of that injury.
I really whacked my right shin on wednesday of this week when my foot slipped off the kickstarter of the DT3, but I didn't "give it a rest" or enough ice the first two days, and now I'm paying for it, bloated up and throbbing. Its the TV and beer for me for a couple days.

 

[Jim]

Nothing broken but I’ve got a pretty sore foot with a significant gouge. No stitches required fortunately though. But I’ve already been fighting pretty severe neuroma in that foot so this did not help at all.

I really whacked my right shin

Ouch!! Both of ya.
I've got bad mortons neuromas in both feet too Willis. I feel your pain.
My foot on Xmas day when my centerstand pinned my foot to the floor.



I think us old guys need to start bein' extra cautious these days. With this virus in the wild, a trip to the hospital for us could go south in a hurry.

 

[Jim]

Sorry for the hijack.... I'm curious Willis, have you tried the shot regimen for your neuroma yet?

 

[willis]

I got them once. Those cortisone shots hurt like a MoFo! Feet felt great for about 5 days then it was back to normal pain. Doc will only give rounds of 3 shots per year. She said another round might help. Some people it works well for they say. Well my insurance didn’t cover much. I paid 300 out of pocket for them. I would do it again if I was going on a trip where I knew I’d be on my feet, but for just 5 days of comfort I’m not so sure it’s worth it. I’m 45 but some days it feels like I’m 90 and walk like it too.

 

[willis]

On a positive note, I spent a little time working on a new latch. It works, but I made it about a 1/4” long. It would be an easy fix if I had a welder, but I don’t. Good enough for now. I may remake another now that I know what to do. I still have plenty of materials left. My wife is suppose to start working 2nd shift next week taking care of COVID patients so I may get some extra shop time.

 

[MaxPete]

Ouch - so sorry to hear about your foot injury Willis - but I must say, that seat looks really nice.
Pete

 

[willis]

Not to worry. The foot is ok, just a little sore. Didnt help my neuroma at all though. Everyone else’s injuries look way worse than mine.

 

[willis]

Chip, chip , chip away at the stone...
Been waiting on a few parts to come in and also cleaning out some of my extra parts stash to free up a little cash flow. I had been thinking for a while of possibly changing up my tail light. Since this is not a restoration piece, I think it would look nice to slim down that bulky brake light some. Lots of options out there but the one I keep coming clack to is the old Lucas style light. Well I happened to come across a light minus the housing in my parts stash so I figured I’d give it a shot. I found a chrome housing on eBay for under $20 shipped so I figured what the hell, I’m in it pretty cheap if I don’t like it. It’s a cheap little light with a self grounding bulb, which I don’t like. So I scrounged another old tail light from the stash that has a grounded 3 wire bulb that will plug right in to the harness. So far it’s loosely mocked up but I am pretty happy. Just had to make a custom filed spacer so the mount bolt would pull flush with the curved fender.

Before and after


I’ve got to say, I am liking the trimmed down version quite nicely with the older smaller gauges, short signal stalks, low profile seat, cone mufflers, and now the tail light. It’s pulling together real nice. I’ve got a new headlight ring coming Monday to replace my damaged one. Also got some stainless hardware to dress up the side covers a little.

 

[lakeview]

New light visually takes pounds off the bike! Gives it a different balance - I like it.

 

[willis]

Almost went with this guy from MotoLanna.

but at 63 bucks plus shipping I wasn’t so sure. The size is about the same as the stock turn signals too which worried me a little they would all look the same. That and I want to stick with incandescent bulbs for now. I’m a cheap ass so for 20 bucks I think I made the right decision. I can always buy a cheap LED replacement for the Lucas light if I decide against the incandescent.

 

[Mailman]

New tail light looks great! I’ve always liked those Lucas style lights, and it looks right at home on your resto mod!

 

[member28833]

Lucas Style ! Right on.
Picked one up today even Locally for the 79 Special II .
Test mounted it up with a rubber mounted chrome plate frame and Vintage 70's reflectors.
Extra bonus pics for the Shop pics.-RT