82 1100E Seat Mod and Paint Thoughts

[Mark M]

Couple of questions:

1) Has anybody modified the shape of the seat pan where it comes up onto the tank? My 1100E seat is quite square at that point and the outer corners stick out and foul my legs , forcing me to keep my knees opened away from the sides of the tank. I would like to pull the cover back and take an angle grinder with sanding disc and re-profile that area to a narrower, more rounded shape to let me tuck my legs in tight to the tank sides.

2) I am thinking that new paint may happen in the next few months. I like the paint scheme on Isleoman's 1100E (actually, I love the whole bike), and I am thinking the same color scheme, except with a white base instead of the champagne base. The red would stay the same.

What does the group think?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Dogma]

Myself, I think the red/white wouldn't contrast as well as the red/champaign. Perhaps with a darker red. Disclaimer: I do have a slight red/green colorblindness.

Not much opinion on the seat. Is there an after market seat that can be used instead of modifying an original pan?

 

[Mark M]

Myself, I think the red/white wouldn't contrast as well as the red/champaign. Perhaps with a darker red. Disclaimer: I do have a slight red/green colorblindness.

Not much opinion on the seat. Is there an after market seat that can be used instead of modifying an original pan?

Well, the red/white is actually the RD400 Daytona color combo and it looks great on that, to my eyes. Of course, I am not really a fan of champagne, so that does bias me away from it as a base color.

Isleoman's seat is a Corbin I think and it is shaped similar to what I am thinking. The only thing is, my seat was recovered just before I bought the bike and it is in great shape. I could simply pull a few staples and then re-work the pan and staple the cover back down at no cost to me, beyond an hour or two of garage time. A new seat is $$$ for something I already have.


Mark

 

[buster]

I say modify the seat and let me know how it works since mine is the same way. I have to recover anyways so if rounding the corners is the way to go than I can do that while I have it off.

Also I like red and white my first bike, an FZ8-[ am i allowed to say that? was white base with red and I liked it so much after my brother dropped it I had it done again.

 

[hp1000s]

Mod the seat...you've gotta' be comfortable!

 

[saffa]

love that bike .....have one in the garage in bits ...undergoing parts accumulation


be happy if it turns out anywhere near a s cool as that

 

[Craiger]

I love that bike, too. Got one in the garage....but in one piece. :-D

Curious to see what you come up with on the seat.

 

[posplayr]

Sweet

Sweet

That is a very nice bike, the more I work on mine (basically stock), the more I appreciate bikes like yours.

I guess I would be partial to the silver and red especially with a Corbin seat like that with the matching color on the rear. A white seat area tends to look a little dirty with only a little wear, so I would rethink the seat if I went white.

Posplayr

 

[Mark M]

That is a very nice bike, the more I work on mine (basically stock), the more I appreciate bikes like yours.

I guess I would be partial to the silver and red especially with a Corbin seat like that with the matching color on the rear. A white seat area tends to look a little dirty with only a little wear, so I would rethink the seat if I went white.

Posplayr

Not my bike in the pic, it is Isleoman's. Mine looks nothing like that, it is very cosmetically challenged (ahem).

My seat cover is solid black, so there will be no white cover at all. But I think white/red in the same pattern as the one I posted would look excellent.:-D


Mark

 

[Mark M]

Mark

I like you idea for the white/red color combo. Are you thinking of an ES fairing or are you planning to leave it in the E configuration. The only thing about my bike that doesn't seem quite right is the plain champaign tail, so I'll be interested to see how you transition the colors from the side covers to the tail.

Yep, it will stay an E. I much prefer the bare bike to the ES configuration. For the tail, I am thinking of carrying the red/black pinstriping back off the side covers onto the tail in a panel similar to what you have shown there, with the black pinstriping around the red. I am not sure if the red would stay as a panel on each side, or cross over the top of the tail for a loop onto the opposite side of the bike.

The chicken strips on the front never seem to go away. My GSXR1K has the back tire scrubbed to the edges and there is still a good 1/4"-3/8" of untouched rubber on the front. Just seems to be the way the 120F/180R (or 160 or 190) radial combo works.

Mark

 

[groundshock]

I could spend all day looking at Isleoman's bike. Finest on the site, IMO.

 

[Mark M]

I could spend all day looking at Isleoman's bike. Finest on the site, IMO.

I do. It is set as my wallpaper on my work computer.:-D

And yes, it may be the nicest bike here. Certainly the nicest with 100K+ km's on it.

Mark

 

[Mark M]

All right, an update. I pulled the seat off tonight with good (bad??) intentions of attacking it with a hacksaw and grinder. As I looked at it, it became apparent my plan will not work. There is a lip that runs all the way around the seat pan and projects forward towards the tank at the front of the seat. If I were to round off the square corners of the seat, the lip would go with the material I remove, leaving a large gap between the seat and the tank. There is already a gap that I don't like, so making it worse is not an option.

I have seen Plastek mentioned as a method of building up side cover tabs and other pieces. Could I use it to build up a new lip after reshaping the seat? Otherwise, I was thinking of Gooping some scrap wood pieces around the edge and shaping them into a lip. I would like a plastic material for weather and rot resistance, but wood may have to do if I can't find a plastic product.

What do forum users who have used Plastek think of my chances of it working?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[buttonhook]

I sent my Ninja seat to www.greatdaytoride.com and he did a great job custom fitting my seat. It is now comfortable and for a ninja thats saying something!! I rode it for almost 12 hour on fri. He reshaped my seat to fit me and reduce pressure on my sits and tail bone, lowered it 1" and placed (3) medical grade wheelchair type gel pads inside the seat. Total cost w/gel inserts (for both front and rear) $90 plus shipping (both ways) total of less than $140.00 and a 5 day turn around (from here) there and back.(I think he was going on vacation sometime soon??? The dates were on his web site.)

The owner is the only guy that works on the seat so it is a custom seat. One thing if you send it to him it will come back "looking" exactly the same you will swear he didn't do anything,but when you sit on it.....all the difference in the world. He told me "that if you can tell I've worked on it then I havn't done my job". You just have to tell him what problems you are having that you want fixed, a picture of the bike w/seat on it, your height and weight, and what options you want. presto chango your seat is fixed. I highly recommend the gel inserts.

I'm sure he could reshape your seat so it will work for you. might end up being cheaper in the long run.

 

[Mark M]

I sent my Ninja seat to www.greatdaytoride.com and he did a great job custom fitting my seat. It is now comfortable and for a ninja thats saying something!! total cost with gel inserts(both front and rear) $90 plus shipping (both ways) 5 day turn around (from here) there and back.

On mine its not the foam, its the shape of the seat pan at the very front that bothers me. It has square corners that stick out right where my legs cut across that edge of the seat, forcing them out away from the tank. If the seat had a more rounded shape there, I could hold my legs up against tank sides and it would be much more comfortable. I just need to reshape that tongue on the seat pan and all would be fine.


Mark

 

[buttonhook]

Contact him, tell him what you problem is. He might want a picture. But he will tell you if he can fix anything or not. He also might be able to taper the foam or seat pan so that you dont have that sharp edge anymore but instead have a tapered edge that your legs will fit into.

my problem was the seat pan as well it had a sharp edge under my sits bones(ouch) along the edge of the seat. I don't know what he did but I don't feel them anymore.

 

[Mark M]

Contact him, tell him what you problem is. He might want a picture. But he will tell you if he can fix anything or not. He also might be able to taper the foam or seat pan so that you dont have that sharp edge anymore but instead have a tapered edge that your legs will fit into.

I am about to get rid of that edge on my own. I went out and found some Plastex ($19.99 for the small kit at my local Home Hardware) and I will be building up the lip with that. I figure I can form a dam with masking tape and lay the Plastex into that to match the contour of the existing lip. If the Plastex works as advertised, it should be no problem.

I will take pics and update this thread with my progress.

Mark

 

[Mark M]

Well, stage 1 has been completed. The seat pan is reshaped and I have a layer of Goop curing for a new lip. It will take one more layer of Goop and then I can shape the lip and staple the cover back down. I test sat the new shape and it is a big improvement. I can still feel the lower part of the front tongue a bit, but the upper part is completely out of the way now. Some rearsets and I should be set pretty well on the ergonomics front.

Pics to come after I open an Photobucket account, never had to host my own pics before...

Edit: Pics Added

In this one you can see the gap between the seat and tank.

This one shows the square corners at the far end of the seat that bother me

Here is the seat cover peeled back

The new shape marked with a paint marker

Mark

 

[Mark M]

More pics

Here the corners are cut off. I used a hacksaw for this, it worked no problem.

Everything rounded off using an angle grinder and sanding disc.

The Goop drying in place.

Mark

 

[jwhelan65]

jwhelan

jwhelan

Wow! This bike is awesome!!

I have this exact bike sitting in my garage in running condition, I am getting ready to do some modifications on it very soon, my everyday ride is an 06 FZ1. I have a few questions about your GS if you don't mind.....

What year and model did the wheels, swingarm and front forks come off of ?

Also what kind of exhaust does it have? Looks like a slip-on... Mine has a 4 into 1 Vance Hines that needs replacing. I really want to do a complete redue on my GS by adding some late model features without taking away from the integrity of the 1982 style.

Not sure where to begin....

Thanks

Joe