Seats

[cman9898]

Good morning
i have an 82 gs550 that has a rather uncomfortable seat on it. I’m looking to replace with a comfortable single rider seat. The problem is I don’t know what fits, and I have neither the tools nor the skills to cut up a frame. The seat bolts down to a medal plate. I’ve put a picture in, anyone with some ideas or could point me in the right direction would be helpful.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

I hate to be the one to say this. But with neither tools nor skills, consider selling what was the PO’s dream of a cafe racer come unridable lump. The PO cut the frame and mounted this poor excuse for a seat for a “look”. Consider passing this on to someone who can try to make it better and get yourself a complete motorcycle with a seat designed to hold a human a$$ in comfort.

[Suzukian]

You could take that seat the a boat cushion maker, and he could cut up foam, discussing what you need, and turn that slab into a very comfortable seat. The length of the seat allows for much movement forwards and backwards, I wouldn't be to quick in getting rid of that. That is all you need to do. You can buy foam anywhere, and Naugahyde too. You could cut up the foam with a serrated knife and teach yourself (maybe with the help of (YouTube videos), how too make the seat that is more comfortable. I see a lot of potential with that seat, it's just the foam that's wrong. I wouldn't get rid of a working motorcycle because of a seat. I repaired the seats on a 1973 450 SL Mercedes that I flipped by using the methods I described above. I used a Mercedes MBTex cover, but did the foam and Horsehair myself, having never don so before. The guy who purchased the car never questioned the seat. I made $3K off of that car.

Here's a ton of YouTube Videos on how to fix your seat.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=How+to+refoam+a+motorcycle+seat

[rphillips]

A cafe' bike isn't allowed to be comfortable. I think that kind of seat is a requirement on them..

[Rich82GS750TZ]

cman, as Suzukian points out, if you’re so inclined, the seat you have, such as it is, can be made better, but you’ve gotta deconstruct what’s there or use it as a starting point to build upon. Yes, many have made custom café seats, chopped frames, cleared out the triangle where the battery and other electrical components once lived, and have done It successfully.

Urban Monk TV YT channel is just one of many you could study to make a comfy seat. The bike he rebuilt just so happens to be a GS 550, older than yours but essentially the same.I’ll link one of his videos below that details a bit of the seat construction. I watched the whole series over a number of years. Not because I was at all interested in a café build, but because I appreciated his demeanor, explanations, attitude, trial and sometimes error method of making the bike the way he wanted it, being thorough on the maintenance items, rebuild everything, paint prep and finishing touches. This guy has the tools and the skills and the patience of Job.

Speaking of electrics, one big reason POs abandon café projects is a failure to properly understand and re-orient the battery and charging electrics properly. Does your bike run and charge properly?

[Suzukian]

Really good points about people dissecting their bikes without thinking it out. Done right, you can lower the batteries mass. Put a rear fender back on, whatever style you want, and take if off the seat, it will do wonders to the look of that seat. It's the cushion pad and a new cover that needs to be made, the seat itself look like a paint job and some touch up would make it fine. If you were stuck on a one seat bike, you could easily fiberglass that seat into a once place seat, but you will regret it. I guess it depends on how hard you drive. Half the fun is learning how to do this stuff. It's not hard. I wish YouTube existed back in my time. Back then everything was a secret and people wanted way too much for what they were doing.

[cman9898]

Thank you everyone for your help. I found a couple folks that do seat work, and I’ve been watching urban monk, he’s a great source of inspiration. This was my first bike, and I dove way to deep. Luckily I’ve got another bike that’s my regular, I’m working on gaining the confidence to do real work. Bike runs and charges great just had the carbs rebuilt and tuned.

[Suzukian]

Never get rid of a bike you love. You will never get it back, and regret it forever. You own it, you ride it, if it breaks down, you save your pennies and fix it, and you still have it. I'm 65 and still own the first motorcycle I've ever purchased, when 17 years old, and the 2nd one too! I've been offered a lot of money for my CB400F Honda, but my son gets all of my bikes, the other two being my '83 GS750ES, and my 2003 Kawasaki ZZR1200.

[Rob S.]

Never get rid of a bike you love. You will never get it back, and regret it forever. You own it, you ride it, if it breaks down, you save your pennies and fix it, and you still have it. I'm 65 and still own the first motorcycle I've ever purchased, when 17 years old, and the 2nd one too! I've been offered a lot of money for my CB400F Honda, but my son gets all of my bikes, the other two being my '83 GS750ES, and my 2003 Kawasaki ZZR1200.

As Jack Nicholson said in "The Shining":

"Words of wisdom, Lloyd, words of wisdom!"