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Going to make my seat

  • Thread starter Thread starter Qckslvr
  • Start date Start date
Q

Qckslvr

Guest
I have been looking at different caf? seat pans for a while now. Actually since I bought the bike pretty much. Then I saw some one post that they took an old fuel tank from there bike, and cut it up making it into a seat cowl. This sparked some ideas, and now I am moving forward. So I am taking my old GS550 tank and I am going to cut the back of it off. I will then shorten the stock seat pan on my bike and graft the tank to it. I picked up an Aprilia RSV tail light assembly on e-bay that I will also graft in to the fuel tank/cowl. This tail light will also be my turn signals as well.

I shall post more pictures next week, when I start cutting and grafting. :D I need to go buy some brazing rod this weekend. I think my mig will be too hot for this project.

tankchop.jpg


ApriliaLight.jpg
 
Timley post I am about a month out from doing the same thing to mine
look forward to seeing your progress
 
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to pay our respects and grieve for this fine GS fuel tank, it lived a good life and will be missed by ........... :'(
 
Flyboy said:
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to pay our respects and grieve for this fine GS fuel tank, it lived a good life and will be missed by ........... :'(
Click to expand...


It lived a good and fruit full life. So instead of sending it to the big scrap heap in the sky, it shall live on in part. :D
 
Yes, yes.... I have seen many people use an old gas tank for the seat cowl and surprisingly, it looks good!

I'll be watching this one!
 
Subscribed! I can't wait to see how it turns out. I have an old GS550 tank as well. Maybe I'll try this out if it looks good. Can't wait to follow along with your progress!
 
We used an old rusted out GS 550 tank for the seat cowl. Not only was it cut like you show in your picture but was narrowed by 3".
 
Small update for all of you watching. I am brain storming the tail light. I am trying to decided if I am going to mold the tail light into the cowl, or go for a more OEM cut to fit look. The tank/cowl is the right width for the stock seat pan. All I have to do is trim the pan to fit it. I will be able to retain the stock hinges and bumpers. I also need to remove the rear shocks and check suspension travel. I am a little worried about that.

Chopped up and looking good so far
cowl1.jpg


Inside of the tank had a lot of scale, but no pitting, or bad rust. It was a good tank.
tankinside.jpg


I sat some bricks on the seat, and sat in multiple positions. Then I placed some tape on the seat that also represents the thickness of the back pad. Here is the cowl sitting on the bike.
mochup.jpg
 
UPDATE TIME.

I am quite impatient, so I have dove into my project with out my tail light. I know better, and should have paid for the expedited shipping but didn't.

So I pulled the old leather jacket off, of which I kept. I think I might use it to cover the new seat :D. Low and behold there is the old foam pad that is quite distressed. I pulled the pad off, and it did not surprise me what I saw. The rust beast had taken a strong grasp of my seat pan. So I bead blasted where I needed to do my work, and trimmed it to fit the rear cowl.

Tonight I will do another fitting, and make sure everything is where I want it. If all is good it will get a couple of epoxy dabs to hold things in place. Then bring it to work where I can braze it. Then I can trim it out to fit the new tail light when it gets in. I will be removing about 10"s of frame :D

To refinish the pan I will completely bead blast it, after it is fitted and ready. Then I will treat the pan with POR 15 rust primer. Then a coat of primer, some bondo, K200 primmer filler, and nice coat of deep red with black metal flake. :D By this time I will have the tank off and prepped as well.

seat1jpg.jpg


seat2jpg.jpg


seat3jpg.jpg


Also I will be taking about 1.5"s off the foam pad. But the foam is very dense and I am trying to find the best way to cut and shape it.
 
Qckslvr said:
will it damage the carving knife? I do like to cut turkey with it :D
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I'd just go and get a cheap electric from your local Wal-mart...My wife would kill me for trimming anything non-edible with any of her kitchen cutlery,damage or not. (and she rides!)
 
four_shot said:
I'd just go and get a cheap electric from your local Wal-mart...My wife would kill me for trimming anything non-edible with any of her kitchen cutlery,damage or not. (and she rides!)
Click to expand...

I am the chef in the house, wife can burn water. :(

And I do have an electric carver, I have also been reading up on hot knives.
 
I've talked to many folks who've used an electric knife for shaping seat foam. Works like a charm. I saw a show on tv where a guy was using some kind of rasp for the edges and to get a nice smooth surface. Not sure what kind of rasp though.
 
Looks really sharp! Nice work cutting that tank. Use the electric Carving knife! It'll be better than buying a Hot Knife which will get very little use after the seat is finished. Just sayin'!

-Gumbo
 
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