Single seat conversion...Any thoughts?

[Guest]

Partly out of boredom... partly because I don't carry passengers, I came up with the idea of turning my GS450L into a single seater. It has an adjustable sissy bar that I can slide up to be the drivers backrest. I'm starting with an old seat from a 450T. The cover is pretty well shot but the foam is still good. I cut the foam right behind the middle leaving an open pan that I plan to mount a bag on. I want to over stuff the seat a bit since I plan on using the bike for some weekend trips. Anythought on a new cover for the seat? Any other suggestions on things I may have missed? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Evil Hobbit]

I'll be watching this discussion closely. I've been entertaining the idea too.

 

[isaac]

Since it's an 'L' model, since you're doing that I say just do the rest of the rear too. You could lower the back end an inch or two, get a curved rear fender off an old british bike or a harley, and paint it all flat black or dark gray as seen here with a CB750: http://ratbike.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=show&action=display&num=1079729693

I personally think that looks badass.

 

[Evil Hobbit]

Actually, I'd just like to hack off the rear fender on my "E" and install a panel under the tail piece and have someone that knows what they are doing redo that **($)@@&# seat. Both it and I are too old. (I'm not sure if its my padding or the seat's :wink: ). I think I need to retain the thickness, I've got longish legs but contor the seat so it's not like an aircraft carrier deck.
Oh dig this I called Corbin. They said they'd be glad to customize a seat for me if I could bring the bike to them in California. I explained that i was in Cincinnati. I thought they could go to their store room of old designs and pull the plans off the shelf and make it. I'm sure at one time Corbin made a seat for a 1980 GS1100E. I could be wrong.

 

[Guest]

I plan on over-stuffing the seat and rounding it off a little. Not being that great with upolstery, I'm still trying to figure out how to do a simple cover without having to have a shop do it. As for the other mods, I'm taking it one step at a time. I like the chrome so that's not going away. Lowering the back is a possiblity. I did some quick measuring on what I have so far and it looks like I could fit a sleeping bag and some other gear on the tray that will be behind the seat...Kinda makes me think of Steve McQueen's '47 Indian chopper.