Seat Pan Repair

[Adler]

who is this posseux? why can he help me? and why cant i find him in the member list?

Also, Thanks for all the help.

EDIT: Its spelled Pouseux, thats why I couldnt find him. Also, Montreal is pretty far from me...

[psyguy]

Also, Montreal is pretty far from me...

Nah, it's quite close to you from where I'm standing

Pouseux regularly sells GS parts and I have bought from him a few times, that's why I thought he might be able to help you.

but good luck whichever way you decide to go!

[Nessism]

To stop further rust on a seat pan, using a high quality rust sealing paint like POR-15 is recommended. Of course you want to remove as much of the rust first as possible but following up with a paint like this will keep the cancer from growing.

[SqDancerLynn1]

If you want to give it a coat of bondo ? Use long strand fiberglass bondo

[GSJONNY]

Replace or refabricate

One of the problems i have in the uk, is that parts for the gs550L are in less abundance, a fact ebayers are well aware of, and the crusty parts that are offered carry short lives with little guarantee + an often ridiculous price. So back to the point - the seat. I have one in similar state, and i am looking at strengthening mine with torsion like bars, and fabricating a new double rim with metal. i`m gonna allow room to clamp the seat cover between 2 rims so it sandwiches securely around the inside without creating weakspots ie rivet/screw holes. This is a low priority at the mo as i have some electrical system troubles - but when i get round to it i`ll be more than happy to share said seat project. Good luck

[Adler]

Alrighty, small update, I went ahead and coated the thing in some crappy rust paint, I wasnt too careful and it looks terrible, luckily noone cares.



Then I went ahead and cut myself a nice chunk of metal from some scrap (airconditioner housing) and riveted it onto the worst of the damage.


(mmm feet)

Do you guys think I should put more sheets? maybe on that front area...?

[Planecrazy]

Good start!

As for the answer to your question, the short answer is "yes." I would definitely add more strap to the swiss cheesy parts, just for insurance. In the end, nobody will see any of it, save the rivets on the other side. Like you said, nobody is going to see or care what it looks like, so function (and comfort) are king! If you coat it in an epoxy paint you'll also probably do a nice job of sealing out the moisture and prevent more rot from happening too quickly...

Looking good so far!

Regards,
Steve

[Adler]

I heeded your suggestions and im a little bit proud of the results.



That was not easy to mould to all those curves!!!

[Hodado]

My seatpan is in simular condition,still looking for replacement.I think your repairs will work for a while,depending upon how much time you spend riding,two up or not etc.The front section seems a little iffy

[argonsagas]

That looks pretty good. Especially compared to what I have done.

My attempt was not repairing a same shape item but fabricating an E pan to fit a G bike. The additional metal was welded into place and while it might be a bit stronger than the riveted version, I had not done any welding in many years and the result looks much less attractive than yours.

[sabreman-v65]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-Suzuki-GS550-GS-550-L-Original-Seat-/250667286068?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a5cef3e34#ht_2004wt_854

[Adler]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-...#ht_2004wt_854

Thanks, but the later years wont fit on the '79. They switched the mechanism from the side to the front.

Im going to add some more sheets tomorrow and then its on to figure out how to fix all the broken tabs. One idea was to use a product by EASY GARDENER made to fasten screen material to wood, and i may do that, but im open to other suggestions.

[Bill Alexander]

My Seat Reconstruction

I didn't notice this thread until now so I hope this isn't too late to be of assistance (if it is useful at, that is).

My seat was in slightly better order than yours and didn't need any replacement steel. There was plenty of rust underway and most of the little tines for holding the seat cover were gone.

First it treated and painted with POR15 products (I have used POR15 throughout my restoration and have become a believer in the product). That gave me a nice clean solid base to work from.


The main issue then was to figure how to repair/replace the cover fixings. After looking around at various things and noting that a lot of modern bike seat covers are simply stapled on I came up with my ingenious solution.

I actually glued thin strips of timber (a thin plywood in this case) around the inner edge of the seat with a locally available polyurathane glue (called Gorilla glue). The POR15 with the glue means the timber is well and truely attached to the metal. I did make the mistake of not checking before fitting the timber and found it inteferred with the hinge and lower skirt fitment - just a matter of extra work to chisel out the offending areas.

Once the wooden strips were in place it was simply a matter of fitting the seat foam then the cover and stapling the cover around the bottom edge into the wooden strips. A good tip about this part of the job (I read it from others before doing the job) do it on a nice sunny day with the cover nice and warm and flexible.


I am pretty happy with the final result. Haven't done an accurate calculation but I beleive the whole cost, excluding labour, was well under NZ$100.





Hope this is helpful or if not at least a little bit interesting

[Adler]

Thanks Bill,
That looks great! Wood strips was an idea my upholstery guy had, and I mentioned it on here a few weeks ago (different thread). Someone mentioned that the wood would be prone to rotting and that ABS strips would probably be more robust (I think it was spyug).
Still it looks great on yours and that is a very good option. I even have gorilla glue! (very cool stuff)

[Bill Alexander]

Thanks Bill,
That looks great! Wood strips was an idea my upholstery guy had, and I mentioned it on here a few weeks ago (different thread). Someone mentioned that the wood would be prone to rotting and that ABS strips would probably be more robust (I think it was spyug).
Still it looks great on yours and that is a very good option. I even have gorilla glue! (very cool stuff)

I did consider more "hi tech" materials than the wood but in the end I think rot will only be a risk if the wood gets wet and stays wet too long. In this case I don't expect the seat to spend a lot of time in rain anymore and even when it gets the odd shower it is actually up under the lip of the seat base and fairly protected from the rain. In fact I have a feeling the ply I used was actually marine treated too, plus, I just remembered it received a coat of paint before final assembly !!!. I think it will last long enough for me - Guess I will find out in time.