Not bad for an afternoon's work + pics

[Mike_H]

Update

Update

Sorry its taken so long for an update here. My work schedule has exploded recently, and I'm putting in far too many hours (70+) Anyway, I have found some time to work on the bike. I have the front calipers repainted, but they turned out ****ty, so I will probably have to take them back to the sandblaster, and respray them, so no pics.

The big news is that I have figured out how to mount the seat, and its pretty clever, if I do say so myself...and of course, I do . Here are some pics

First, a pic of the pan, all trimmed up, and ready for foam and covers.

I am going to use 1/4 turn fasteners (trade name of Dzus) to mount the seat. I have welded in a support for the front two mounts... (wish I could take credit for these welds, but alas, I suck at welding. Thanks Dad!)

And then I made a bracket to hold the fastener to the seat. This bracket will be riveted to the pan, once the cover is on.

Continued in next post...

 

[Mike_H]

Here is a pic of the Dzus fastener

The back side of it grabs a spring wire, and holds everything in place. The head pictured here is captive to the bracket, so no missing parts. Should work out very well, I have two of these at the front of the seat, and will use one at the back.

 

[Bopi]

Looking at your rails, It seems as though you've got about 1/2 inch from the end of the rail to the mounting hole, not alot. If I make a set of plugs out of aluminum, with longer shoulders, you could then easily drill the plugs after the install to match your existing holes. The only issue then would be what style you would prefer for the show end. oh and the rails have an inside weld that you'll have to file or grind.

By the way, I used the foam from my old seat as I had plenty of it. After bandsawing the shape to a rough contour, i used a cheese grate planer to smooth the edges and round the corners. Then I pulled the leather around to the back, put a few stiches in it and then superglued the rest in place This works great if you glue the leather to itself. Nice and tight. The corners fold like a christmas package.

 

[Mike_H]

Looking at your rails, It seems as though you've got about 1/2 inch from the end of the rail to the mounting hole, not alot. If I make a set of plugs out of aluminum, with longer shoulders, you could then easily drill the plugs after the install to match your existing holes. The only issue then would be what style you would prefer for the show end. oh and the rails have an inside weld that you'll have to file or grind.

Good Eyes, I didn't even think about that. My brian kinda turns off when I see cool stuff that I "gotta" have. I guess I'm stuck with the current method I have, I welded bushings through the frame rails to help support the seat and fender, so a 1/2 inch is all I got. Doesn't look bad, it's just not perfectly even, and not nearly as slick as yours. Hell, I'll probably be the only one who even knows the discrepency is there...

 

[Bopi]

Just do a good job on the seat and no-one will notice the rails

 

[Mike_H]

Well, This weekend is shot. The wife wants to paint the living room, and since she let me buy a new bike...I guess I gotta help her. Oh yeah, did I mention I bought another bike. \\/ Its an 02 Yammy Warrior. Yup, a cruiser, but its a cool cruiser. It has 9800 miles on it, and already has most of the mods done that I would do. Here is a quick pic. I'll post some more in the Owners section...I'm still a GS owner, so that ok, right?

 

[beergood]

Nice ride, congrats.

Have fun painting the room.

 

[Mike_H]

Well, even though I got a new bike, I haven't forgotten the ol suzy. Last night she got brand new stailness brake lines, rebuilt calipers, and brand new chrome side covers for the valve cover. Have to work on her a little here and there so she doesn't get jealous This weekend, I'm planning on getting the seat wrapped up (no pun intended) and then I'll be left with wire harness and various electrical tidbits...Actually, all the electrical tidbits, and their associated brackets. Getting close though. Electrical and Paint, that it...

 

[RotaryRodder]

I assume your mounting the plate (dzus) to the frame and the fastener will be riveted onto the seat?

I just finished using a bunch of those on a car hood, and it works real well. I like your bike.

 

[Mike_H]

The Frame will have the wire on it, and the seat bracket w/ the fastener will get riveted to the seat pan. These fasteners will not be highly stressed, due to the way I made my seat pan. It hugs the frame pretty tightly, and fits into the valley between the fender and the gas tank. With my butt on it, I don't think its going anywhere.

 

[RotaryRodder]

ya my seat is just held on by 4 pieces of all-thread going through the frame... it lifts right off.

also.. if you havent found a source for those connectors on page 7,8 whatever here are some

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CATID=39&ObjectGroup_ID=121

 

[beergood]

Good timing on getting that new ride, just in time for some sweet Michigan weather.

For those not in Michigan, it was sleeting today.

 

[Mike_H]

Sleet....****. I wish it were sleeting here...It might be now though. I walked out of the plant at about 6:00 P.M. and there was 4 f'in inches of snow on my car. Good thing I got a ride in yesterday, while it was sunny.

 

[Mike_H]

Update:

Got my trim profiled, sanded and stained. Progress on the wife's living room update is coming along nicely. Notice the freshly painted walls...

Oh wait. This is the wrong forum. Sheesh. My wife knows me too well. Lets me buy a new bike, then the living room gets torn apart..."I want new trim, and paint, and pictures, and a couch, and..."

Anyway, I haven't been able to work on the suzy at all lately due to the weather sucking my butt, and on the nice days, I've been putting some miles on the yamaha.

I do have my brakes installed, and new lines run. I have my seat trial covered with the ultra-dense closed cell foam, and trial covered with the foam batting I am using to give it a smoother profile.

Gotta get some trim up in the living room though. She disassembled my home theater, and I haven't watched a Tiger's game on my big screen HD TV yet!

 

[Mike_H]

Well, I just couldn't stay away. Wifey outta town for the night, so instead of working on the living room, I was in the garage. Shhhhhh....don't tell her that. Anyway, I got the various brackets in for the electrical. What a PITA. I can't imagine trying to put pods on my bike. Without the airbox and filter housing, the electrical would have not place to mount. The R/R, ignition, and fusebox all mount to the filter housing. The rest of the stuff mounts to the battery box. Dang Japs and their tiny fingers. I figure i'm about 75% done with the electrical. Just need to route the harness and start plugging stuff in. I also need to hack and splice a couple places to make my new Turn Signals and rear brake switch work. Fun, Fun.

On the body front, I found a local seamstress who may be willing to work on my seat. Need to give her a call, and see if she want to do it. I guess my Dad's business uses her quite a bit for various things. We're getting close now.

 

[beergood]

Ha!, just got home from wings game angry loss bar time and read your post.

Maybe tomorrow when I am sober I will tell you about my electrical wiring/re-routing nightmare. Electrical is close to voodoo.

 

[geerhead]

Ha!, just got home from wings game angry loss bar time and read your post.

I was angry as well. And I'm in Calgary! At least Vancouver won.

 

[Mike_H]

Wow, it has been a while...5th pages of posts. And I still don't have ol suzy done Been spending too much time on New yammy, and old yammy. Old yammy is a 1990 wave runner 500. That project is now done, and ready to enjoy for the summer. The New Yammy (warrior) is F_in awesome. got about 2,000 miles on her now, and my rear tire ain't gonna be much longer for this life. Sticky radials and 100 ft-lbs of torque don't go together very well

On the project front, I did get the seat completed, now just need to finish the mounts, fix up a couple odds and ends on the electrical (turn signal, ground wire, and brake lights) and then finish the body work. Kinda ran outta money for working on the old girl, and time has been pretty tight. Doggone house maintenance and wife maintenance gets in the way of my hobbies

 

[jimcor]

Wow, it has been a while...5th pages of posts. And I still don't have ol suzy done Been spending too much time on New yammy, and old yammy. Old yammy is a 1990 wave runner 500. That project is now done, and ready to enjoy for the summer. The New Yammy (warrior) is F_in awesome. got about 2,000 miles on her now, and my rear tire ain't gonna be much longer for this life. Sticky radials and 100 ft-lbs of torque don't go together very well

On the project front, I did get the seat completed, now just need to finish the mounts, fix up a couple odds and ends on the electrical (turn signal, ground wire, and brake lights) and then finish the body work. Kinda ran outta money for working on the old girl, and time has been pretty tight. Doggone house maintenance and wife maintenance gets in the way of my hobbies

Undersand about the house and the OL, but hey, you got a responsibility to the peeps here, bro. 18 pages into the project is nowhere to leave us hanging! [-X...jk, well sorta +/-.

 

[HammerHead]

Undersand about the house and the OL, but hey, you got a responsibility to the peeps here, bro. 18 pages into the project is nowhere to leave us hanging! [-X...jk, well sorta +/-.

Yah Mike, Somehow I got removed from this tread and it is exciting to see the progress you have made from the guy that knew nothing about fiberglass some time back, GREAT Job.
Now we need to see the final results of your seat..........so 'geter done'.