MotoLanna/Hellboy cafe seats and adapting to a 81 special frame

[Inevitable]

Has anyone had any expierence and know what exactly needs to be fabricated in order to adapt one of these seats to a 1981 xs650 special frame?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cafe-Racer-...s&hash=item2a2146d4f4&vxp=mtr#ht_11967wt_1397

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cafe-Racer-...es&hash=item1c2a1aa61d&vxp=mtr#ht_2304wt_1397

Any detailed feedback would be great.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Mharrington]

Ill take a stab: I installed a fiberglass tracker seat on my 80 Special. As with my seat I bet with the cafe seat you will need to cut off the oem seat hinge mounts and any brackets- seat latch helmet lock. Then grind off any remaining metal. On my bike the frame is visible so I filled in the grind scratches with filler and sanded smooth. Heres how I mounted my seat:

I am not a welder. I cut some lengths of steel stock and self tapping screwed them across the frame bars. The white things are 1" thick slabs of polyethylene I cut on a table saw. This plastic is very dense and durable. (Gas cans) It is screwed to the metal stock. The heights, angles and order match the contour of the fiberglass seat/fender. The rear tallest bracket is metal bent on a vise and riveted/screwed together.

YOUR SEAT has these tabs in the front:

I believe the front of your future seat will lock into some slots you will make- maybe like a battery cover on a TV remote. Then you use some velcro at the back of the seat to affix it to a rear brace you have installed. Make sense? I made my seat so it was not supporting my weight- thus the support slabs every 3 inches. Hope this helps!

Nearing completion- I sure hope it runs!!

 

[Inevitable]

Your bike looks great!

I appreciate the stab at helping me out, I really do. I was hoping to find someone who had actually accomplished the task using the seats I linked as I have seen several people interested in them. If its as simple as inserting the slots in and finding a way to ad-hear the back half I am rather confident I can do that, I would just like a little reassurance from those on the forums who have actually installed the seat.

I'm still about a month out before I get to the finishing details such as the seat, but I was hoping to get a head start on that. If I can't find the reassurance by then I'll probably just jump in the deep in and see what happens, I'll keep you and the forum updated once I do come to that point.

 

[Mharrington]

Thanks for the compliment. Im sure someone who has done it will chime in. You should email the seller and ask what are some means their customers are using to mount their seats. Id get aggresive with the google searches too- "Mounting a cafe race seat" good luck!!

 

[strohk]

I had a Hellboy seat and an 81 frame not too long ago. The tabs at the front of the seat actually fit into some slots that are already on the frame just behind the tank bolt. They work perfectly and the seat slides right over the tank bolt so it's hidden. I now have a 77 standard and it doesn't have the slots for the tabs, so you've got a better starting point in the front, anyway.

The rear is a little more difficult. If you check out the Motolanna site, they have a picture that shows the rear mounting stud location. Unfortunately, on the XS650, they don't really line up with anything. I was going to try some rubber lined P-clamps that I found at the hardware store to go around the frame rails, but didn't get that done before I sold the seat and frame.

The seat is quite a bit shorter than the frame, so you are going to have to cut the rear loop off. Since you have a Special, it works better since the rear shock mounting points are closer to the front of the bike (the shock mounts are closer to the start of the rise of the seat bubble.)

Here is a Deus bike with a similar seat on a Special frame. As you can see, the frame rails still stick out a bit.

Sorry that I couldn't completely answer the mounting question, but it hopefully gets you started.

 

[Inevitable]

Thanks Strohk!

Quick question for you....I understand you scraped the seat, but did you ever get a chance to figure out how comfortable it was?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[strohk]

I probably sat on it for a grand total of two minutes. I probably wouldn't recommend touring with it, though. It's definitely built for looks, not long distance comfort.