How to: Brat style flat seat on the cheap!

Tron

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Hey everyone, Heres a quick how to on making a cheap flat seat, great for 2 up, from materials you can buy at the local shops.

Materials:

1 Lexan plastic snow skate, or skateboard deck.
1 Yoga Mat
Jig Saw
Rough grit sandpaper
All purpose glue
Leather, large enough for your seat
Heavy duty stapler, and staples


Step 1: Make a cardboard template of the size and shape of your seat.

Step 2: Take your board and transfer template onto the board. This step counts, measure twice

Step 3: Cut general shape out with jig saw. I cut a channel (not in pictures) into the front of the board that will allow it to slide into place using the existing seat/tank mount. it was about a 1/8" wide by 1 inch deep.

Step 4: Use your rough grit sand paper to round of the edges of the board, and smooth out your cuts. With the plastic board I used it went very quick and easy to do. If your using a skateboard, a file may work better for you.

Step 5: Cut your yoga mat to shape. On mine, Since the board had a layer of foam already on it, I only used 1 layer of the yoga mat, but put a bit of a step up on the front of the seat. Gives the seat a little extra character and shape.

Step 6: Paint on a layer of your glue, stick the yoga mat on, and get some weight on it for the glue to dry. I actually used carpenters wood glue and it worked great.

Step 7. Trim up foam if necessary, cut your leather similar shape to board with about 2 inches all around. Lay the leather down, and start stretching and stapling. This step is basically just playing with the leather till you get it stretched across nicely without creases.

Step 8: Ill be adding a small mount from the hardware store on the rear of the seat that will allow me to screw the back end into the top of the stock seat hoop. It will be painted black and nearly undetectable.

And your done!

This was my very first seat build, and I really lucked out with the board. Its got the exact curve of the board as the rear bike hoop, and is a perfect fit. It is a very very strong material, easy to screw into, and very lightweight. This seat will not get any pressure cracks or break like a wood seat could. I like a thin, firm seat, but if you want it softer, some thicker foam will do you just fine. Anything from a camping pad, carpenters kneeling pad, or just some scrap closed cell foam works great.
For the leather, try and get some that has a bit of flex/stretch to it. You can also use an old leather jacket or couch.

Enjoy! and Good luck. Pictures of it on the bike will be posted in a day or two.
 

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Heres 1" foam, on the XS650

As well as a flat aluminum one on my cb650
 

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Last edited:
Inventive! That approach would lend itself to a deeper seat too. (I'm just thinking about my old bones:laugh:
 
...makes my old butt hurt, but I like your style! short rides, no problem! I built a plywood seat for my first test ride! :doh:
 
Looks good but this old guys back would need a little more padding.


Hmmn, The neighbor kid leaves his skateboard out and we have a leather couch at work. I doubt they would care if I borrowed a little material from under the cushions.
:D
 
Do it furious!

A little extra padding would be easy to do, and would probably make it look more bratstyle then mine anyways.


The mount was really easy, just drilled a hole in the board and threw the tank mounting bolt through that and on the other end just a bent piece of flat stock.

Keep the comments coming.
 
What did it cost you to make the seat? And what board did you use? I havent been able to find a 9" board for less than $40. Looks sick and I want to do something similar. Thanks
 
that looks about as comfortable as those clear glass cones you can find at adult stores...

just kidding...I sit on one of these on my mountain bike:
Wells_CX13_roadbikeaction.jpg


I've actually thought of appying the "love groove" idea to a hard motorcycle seat.
 
Those BG saddles are great... I even ran an Toupe on my CX rig. Took me a long time to warm up to anything other than my old Flites, though. My only gripes with the Specialized stuff would be they don't hold up well to abuse.

Regarding the OP's seat, I would think that the rubbing on your inner thigh without any padding height in the center would get uncomfortable pretty quick.
 
What did it cost you to make the seat? And what board did you use? I havent been able to find a 9" board for less than $40. Looks sick and I want to do something similar. Thanks

I happened to have the board lying around already, as well as the yoga mat and leather. So it cost me a few dollars for some hardware.

Something like this, http://www.amazon.com/H2O-Audio-Snow-Skate/dp/B0000AMA6N/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1326483348&sr=8-15

And bbillington,

Its not a problem. The only time my inner thighs are in contact is during stops with my feet down. When riding, its not a problem.
 
that right there is a 77..

heres a recent pic..i feel i need to whore them out a little bit,
 

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If you can't get your hands on a skateboard it's not too hard to cut slots into any old board and bend it to the curve you need before gluing the slots to keep it in place. Plywood can easily do the same thing. Just don't do too much bend in any one spot.

With more padding my candy ass would like your seat.
 
Thanks for sharing your build process. Couple of questions b/c I can't see underneath it:

What did you use between the seat and the frame?

Also, I see where you attached the front of the seat (using the stock seat bolt) but how did you fasten the seat on the middle and rear (if at all)?
 
It is mounted in the rear with a piece of curved flat stock steel around the rear hoop and tapped into the board and frame. Its completely hidden by the license plate the way I have it set up but I think you could go at the mounting a few different ways
 
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