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Introduction
- Thread starter Hunter Shelby
- Start date
What seat pan have you sourced?
Looking at what you have there says that it was a liftoff seat. The mechanisms for the liftoff seat have been removed though you still have the slots in the forward section of the frame for the fork under the pan to insert into. Keep the fork handy as it may become an important piece of a seat mod.
Back to the question....... What seat pan? The '78/'79 hinged Special seats are the most aesthetically pleasing, IMHO, and can be adapted to your situ.....thinking I've got a couple of 'em collecting dust around here. No foam or covers, just pans.
What grab rail are you using? Might affect the direction you go in the mod.
Looking at what you have there says that it was a liftoff seat. The mechanisms for the liftoff seat have been removed though you still have the slots in the forward section of the frame for the fork under the pan to insert into. Keep the fork handy as it may become an important piece of a seat mod.
Back to the question....... What seat pan? The '78/'79 hinged Special seats are the most aesthetically pleasing, IMHO, and can be adapted to your situ.....thinking I've got a couple of 'em collecting dust around here. No foam or covers, just pans.
What grab rail are you using? Might affect the direction you go in the mod.
Looks like you still have the front mounts, the rear not so much.
Might be easier to adapt an earlier special seat from a 78-79, that uses two hinges and a latch?
Might be easier to adapt an earlier special seat from a 78-79, that uses two hinges and a latch?
The 3 arrows are the welded mounts on the frame.... The green arrow is where the latch mounts. The red circle is the latch assy.
My old '83 that had the liftoff seat converted to a '78/'79 Special hinged seat. Note that Special seats have the lower angle to match the sidecovers.....
Standard pans are horizontal to match theirs. A terrible faux pas to mix them - to my symmetrical eye.....lol.
I'll add that this was done by adding the forward fork mount to the pan, adding some rubber bumpers strategically to the underside of the pan to keep it from flopping around on the rails and then securing the rear of the seat with a bolt through the center of the rear frame loop, which matched perfectly with a factory hole in the seat pan that was there already. Gravity and friction held it in place. A nut or a wing nut could be put on the rear bolt where it protruded out under the rail.
Other options are to find the entirety of the liftoff mechanisms or find hinges for a hinged seat and break out the welder.
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Hunter Shelby
XS650 Member
The slots are still there; the aftermarket seat fits in those; the seat I’ve sourced has the forks for the slots and a mounting bar across the back; I think it can be persuaded to fit; just need something to fit it to...
You'll most likely need to do some tweaking to get the seat to fit. Have a read here.
Maybe you can get the missing frame parts from someone who's cut them off as part of a custom project. The lever and latch assembly on the right side should also be readily available. Also keep in mind, the back of the seat is going to be "open" as the original tail light was fitted there .....
Jimbo W
XS650 Enthusiast
Welcome to XS650 ownership David. Had my '80 Special 2 for 15 yrs.
I'm also in Devon, UK, Daniel, I never see another XS though!
I'm also in Devon, UK, Daniel, I never see another XS though!
Jimbo W
XS650 Enthusiast
Actually, that was a dumb thing to say - forgot I have a pal with a '72 XS2! Lives in Newton Abbot & I'm in Exmouth.
