which model seats fit the xs650?

[hogfest50]

mine isnt the hinged type its the one that locks down

 

[hogfest50]

when i got the bike very recently i had trouble with the seat height so removed the rider part at the front peeled it back and scalloped a slice out with as mentioned on here a meat electric carver knife £5.00 from the market took out 1.5" can touch both feet flat now .

 

[gggGary]

The 2 clamp on style seats are 80 and up specials only. the size of the hump varies a bit, but that's about it.

 

[peanut]

I just read through my old posts to remind me and I found that the brackets of the roadster seat are about 10mm shorter than those of the stepped special seats so although everything lines up ok the roadster seat brackets will need to be either swopped with those from the speial or extended to make up the difference. Then the roadster seat should fit straight on.

Velcrose sounds like a good idea but I suspect you will find the seat cover won't stay in place when you are accelerating and braking it will slide off the seat base. There is no way it could be strong enough to resist those type of forces.

I think your best bet will be to cut the seat brackets off both seats and swop them over but if you want to retain the original seat it should be easier enough to grind off the hinge brackets from the roadster seat and add some metal to extend them by a few mm and the roadster seat should fit straight on .
You could always swop the various roadster seat covers and foam around to get the best combo but you'll deffo need to fix the cover with the proper seat clips if you don't want to end up dumped on the floor with the bike charging off into the distance lol

 

[peanut]

The 2 clamp on style seats are 80 and up specials only. the size of the hump varies a bit, but that's about it.

sorry to be dim gary but what do you mean by 'clamp on' ? where does that hinge from ?

My 79 special ll seat has side hinges and hinges sideways as does hogfests I would imagine.
I cannot remember which model my roadster seat came of now but it also has side mounted hinges in exactly the same position as the special does but the brackets are too short to bolt onto the special frame.

 

[hogfest50]

I just read through my old posts to remind me and I found that the brackets of the roadster seat are about 10mm shorter than those of the stepped special seats so although everything lines up ok the roadster seat brackets will need to be either swopped with those from the speial or extended to make up the difference. Then the roadster seat should fit straight on.

Velcrose sounds like a good idea but I suspect you will find the seat cover won't stay in place when you are accelerating and braking it will slide off the seat base. There is no way it could be strong enough to resist those type of forces.

I think your best bet will be to cut the seat brackets off both seats and swop them over but if you want to retain the original seat it should be easier enough to grind off the hinge brackets from the roadster seat and add some metal to extend them by a few mm and the roadster seat should fit straight on .
You could always swop the various roadster seat covers and foam around to get the best combo but you'll deffo need to fix the cover with the proper seat clips if you don't want to end up dumped on the floor with the bike charging off into the distance lol

peanut fortunately i can build another base and create a nice cover ive done this for a local guy B&H motorcycles here in cornwall many times .but thanks for the heads up !

 

[hogfest50]

sorry to be dim gary but what do you mean by 'clamp on' ? where does that hinge from ?

My 79 special ll seat has side hinges and hinges sideways as does hogfests I would imagine.
I cannot remember which model my roadster seat came of now but it also has side mounted hinges in exactly the same position as the special does but the brackets are too short to bolt onto the special frame.

mine doesnt side hinge it just drops down and locks in released by helmet lock and side release lever

 

[peanut]

sounds like a lot of unecessary work to me but not having seen the seats that you are dealing with Its impossible for me to form a meaningful conclusion.
good luck with the seat rebuild let us see the finished job I'm sure that it will prove popular.

 

[hogfest50]

I just read through my old posts to remind me and I found that the brackets of the roadster seat are about 10mm shorter than those of the stepped special seats so although everything lines up ok the roadster seat brackets will need to be either swopped with those from the speial or extended to make up the difference. Then the roadster seat should fit straight on.

Velcrose sounds like a good idea but I suspect you will find the seat cover won't stay in place when you are accelerating and braking it will slide off the seat base. There is no way it could be strong enough to resist those type of forces.

I think your best bet will be to cut the seat brackets off both seats and swop them over but if you want to retain the original seat it should be easier enough to grind off the hinge brackets from the roadster seat and add some metal to extend them by a few mm and the roadster seat should fit straight on .
You could always swop the various roadster seat covers and foam around to get the best combo but you'll deffo need to fix the cover with the proper seat clips if you don't want to end up dumped on the floor with the bike charging off into the distance lol

peanut i use glue or pop rivits to hold the cover on and glue to hold the foam to the base velcro was an idea to hold the whole seat to the frame some how not a best idea.

 

[hogfest50]

i will post all pictures if this helps anyone all the better .

 

[peanut]

peanut i use glue or pop rivits to hold the cover on and glue to hold the foam to the base velcro was an idea to hold the whole seat to the frame some how not a best idea.

I've seen pop rivets used before with washers but to be perfectly frank its a bit of a cowboy job . There is no way that a pop rivet and washer can evenly distribute the fixing loads of a bike seat and before long they will tear out .

using the proper clips along the bottom edge of the frame distributes the tearing forces 10x better than a pop rivet ever could . Clips are still the de facto method that manufacturers use to fix all vehicle seats to a frame for very good reasons .

 

[hogfest50]

peanut i use glue or pop rivits to hold the cover on and glue to hold the foam to the base velcro was an idea to hold the whole seat to the frame some how not a best idea.

 

[hogfest50]

peanut a couple of my bike seats with covers i made for it it was a road king custom and the xs650 with the foam i cut out

 

[hogfest50]

most modern bike seat bases are now plastic i use stainless steel staples to fix them the pop rivit method works well but you have to decide where you can use this method not all seat bases would take them properly and you are exactly right they would not be used or any use on these xs seats the lip is so tall it would pull off in time i may well use glue but the heat resistant stuff , used in camper vans on the sides and roof it doesnt come off with heat .

 

[hogfest50]

I just read through my old posts to remind me and I found that the brackets of the roadster seat are about 10mm shorter than those of the stepped special seats so although everything lines up ok the roadster seat brackets will need to be either swopped with those from the speial or extended to make up the difference. Then the roadster seat should fit straight on.

Velcrose sounds like a good idea but I suspect you will find the seat cover won't stay in place when you are accelerating and braking it will slide off the seat base. There is no way it could be strong enough to resist those type of forces.

I think your best bet will be to cut the seat brackets off both seats and swop them over but if you want to retain the original seat it should be easier enough to grind off the hinge brackets from the roadster seat and add some metal to extend them by a few mm and the roadster seat should fit straight on .
You could always swop the various roadster seat covers and foam around to get the best combo but you'll deffo need to fix the cover with the proper seat clips if you don't want to end up dumped on the floor with the bike charging off into the distance lol

 

[hogfest50]

this is the intended seat with some fettling and a new bespoke cover "not riveted on " probably glued if the metal spikes are knackered .

 

[peanut]

ah I see the problem .
thats seat is not a late roadster seat in fact it doesn't look like any roadster seat I've seen before . Someone else is sure to confirm.
I have my doubts if it is a XS650 seat .

Nice work with the other seats by the way . I would like to have a custom seat made but the shipping from the US would kill the deal.

 

[hogfest50]

youre right i double checked its a 1981 xs650se but found the same shape saddle or seat on a roadster i found this picture.note the side panels are the same as on mine.

 

[hogfest50]

thanks done quite a few over the years i shipped a 5.7 litre boss hoss over from houston came in a crate outside the door shipping was £6,500 exchange rate was good back then think it was $1.62+ back in 2005 the bike was £15,000 in the days i had money to burn .

 

[peanut]

yes that looks like a similar pattern seat but the damaged seat in your picture is more stepped than the 83 roadster seat.
Check the seat I have fitted to my bike (image page 4 )
If you can get one of those in good nick at a good price it should fit straight onto your 79 special with a little hinge bracket adjustment.