Custom seat ideas

[willis]

So I already have a beautiful seat from Wes at Counter Balance, but I had some materials laying around and thought I would try my hand at making my own. After researching some threads I found a direction to head and went for it. My bike is more of a scrambler look righ now but like having options for mixing it up. I am not done with this yet but am contemplating a couple different designs. Love to see pics of your custom made seats for ideas.

I started with a flat piece of 16ga galvanized steel for the pan. I cut out the rough shape and started to bend the rear to match the hoop. Not having a torch, I resulted to very crude method of parking my truck tire on the end and manually lifting the pan to create the bend. Worked surprisingly well. Cut the nose section off the stock pans and epoxied it on mine to create a pocket to cover the tank mount.

Next the foam. I am using a camping sleeping mat from Wally World. Rough cut shapes and glued together with contact cement. Trimming it up with a metal saws all blade by hand and then sanding down with 100 grit paper. Many layers and shaping in multiple stages. Also using a 4" grinder with a flap disk to smooth out. Careful though as this cuts FAST! I am happy with the progress but am considering a cafe seat too as I have not glued the foam to the pan yet.

Upholstery, I will farm that out for sure. All in all, I really enjoy the foam shaping process.

 

[willis]

More pics

 

[willis]

Only letting me upload one at a time ?

 

[TLCbobber]

looks pretty good. have yourself a go at leather tooling, would look sweet with a nice tooled top. did you have a sit on it yet? bet ya did lol
reminds me of a thread I read a few years ago where a guy bent his solo spring seat by driving onto it with his truck. think he propped it on a block of wood or a kerb or something, bent it just right... the look of your pan reminds me of a seat somebody made with a skateboard deck

 

[willis]

The pan was really simple to make, but the material i had is way overkill. A little heavy and hard to work with. Next one I will source some aluminum sheet (maybe a road sign). I don't think I have the skill or patience for the hand tooling though. Just a nice diamond stitch design. For another $10 camping mat I am really considering a cafe type seat with rear cowl. While the mat is a little dense and stiff, it is cheap and easy to work with. There are just so many different cowl designs and sizes. Trying to find one that will fit well with the stock rear hoop.

 

[itschrisb]

I need to make a seat so badly for mine, I've had the pan cut for awhile I just haven't done anything with it. This post inspires me to get it done now. How will you go about securing it?

 

[willis]

The front will have a little L bracket that slips under the tank mount. The back will bolt to the cross brace that I already had welded in to mount the Counter Balance seat with.