New Seat. Grrrr.....
Only got up to 49° today. So no large scale outdoor painting. Small indoor jobs only. Cleaned up and painted the seat latch mechanism and lock assy. Installed with stainless hardware.
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Set the new seat in place and it didn't fit. Sumbich..... Had to pull the taillight and grab rail so I could see what was going on. The tabs on the seat were about 3/16 of an inch wider than the frame brackets they were supposed to slide into. Went down to the basement and measured original ugly seat. Sure as hell.... 3/16" narrower. So I took the ugly, rusted latch assy off the ugly seat to use on the beautiful new seat. Somewhere 'tween the basement and garage, my bulldog reared it's ugly head and said.....
"ain't no way were puttin' that ugly ass hardware on that bike... figure it out Jim." Right... gotta heed the bulldog.
Fix was actually pretty simple... yeah, famous last words. I slid two washers between the latch assy and the frame....
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Latch got pretty scratched up while trying to make the seat fit, but I figure it's gonna get scratched anyway in the normal course of pulling and installing seat. Let it be Jim.....
Set the seat on it and the tabs slid in perfectly.... and the latches were about an eighth of an inch short of engaging. F&%k.... Glanced at the ugly (but correct) hardware... bulldog bit me on the ass.... OK...OK... focus Jim.... Added two fender washers to each stud on the seat, reinstalled latch....
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And we have a winner.
A perfect fit.
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Reinstalled grab rail and hooked up taillight. Job done.... bulldog went and took a nap.
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Also.... finally found the upper engine mount hardware (don't ask...
), bead blasted, painted and reinstalled. Still needs torque but one step closer...
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