Making a custom seat for my Vulcan 500

[burkbuilds]

Well, I'm at it again. This will be my second custom seat for my 500, 3rd custom seat I've done overall. I would love be able to just purchase a seat that is comfortable to me and meets my specs, but that just doesn't seem to be an option on this bike. So, I've taken what I have learned from my previous two custom seat builds and started working on a new seat. It will probably be about another 3 weeks before I am finished, but here's what I've done so far with pictures. I started by purchasing a seat on e-bay that I could modify using part of the original seat pan. I wanted to have a single seat and I wanted it to have a release lock instead of bolting down like the Vulcan's OE seat does. I also wanted to be able to switch back to my old seat if I wanted to so the lock couldn't interfere with the OE fit.
After stripping the padding off the OE seat, I started cutting with a hacksaw to modify the pan.

http://s1.postimage.org/jQE39.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/149yf9o04/)

http://s1.postimage.org/jQJ2r.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14a1qcczo/)
I found a GZ250 seat and lock on e-bay and installed them.

http://s1.postimage.org/jQQwS.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14a6oyeh0/)
Then I checked to make sure it latched properly.

http://s1.postimage.org/jQT10.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14a8chqys/)

http://s1.postimage.org/jQVw9.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14aa013gk/)
I started by using some cardboard to make a template for the shape I wanted.

http://s1.postimage.org/jQ_vr.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14adb3sg4/)

http://s1.postimage.org/jR1_A.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14aeyn4xw/)
Next I transferred the pattern to some 1/4" plywood.

http://s1.postimage.org/jR4uJ.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14agm6hfo/)
I glued and screwed some blocking to the underneath side of the plywood to give me a place to attach some supporting material.

http://s1.postimage.org/jR6ZS.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14ai9ptxg/)
I thought I had some more pictures of some blocking I screwed into the seat pan but I seem to have missed those shots somehow. Here's a shot of some OSB screwed into that blocking.

http://s1.postimage.org/jRbZ9.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14alksix0/)
Next I added some more blocking to attach my perimeter plywood to.

http://s1.postimage.org/jReti.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14an8bves/)
I then cut some 3/8" "bending" plywood to get the shape I wanted and then glued and stapled it to the blocking.


http://s1.postimage.org/jRjsA.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14aqjekec/)
Okay, I'm having some connection problems here, so I'm gonna post this much and then make a second post with the rest of the stuff in it.

[burkbuilds]

Still having trouble uploading the pics. Hopefully this will start working again.

http://s1.postimage.org/jRKU9.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14b8qbdtw/)
I cut and shaped some pieces to go on the sides up towards the front.

http://s1.postimage.org/jRNoi.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14baduqbo/)
In case anybody is wondering why I'm using wood, it's just that my skill set is in wood. I've been a woodworker since childhood and a carpenter and cabinetmaker most of my adult life. If I was a welder or sheet metal worker, then this would probably be done in metal. I've always believed that you should lean on your strengths whatever you are doing, so I chose wood as my material for the base. I realize that this has some weaknesses.
To help solidify all of this and make it watertight, I fiberglassed the entire structure back to the seat pan.


http://s1.postimage.org/jRPTr.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14bc1e2tg/)

http://s1.postimage.org/jRXmS.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/14bh004as/)

http://s4.postimage.org/h8r7A.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ysgsuld0/)
Well, I still have a lot more to do, but I had to stop and head back to school, so I'll have to wait until next weekend to finish the fiberglass. I'll try to post updates as I go. I'm hoping that I can finish the fiberglass and the foam next weekend and maybe get my wife to take it to the upholstery shop for me. :)

[SuziQ07]

This is so interesting. Thanks for posting the detailed explanations and great photos. I'm not a fan of the seat on my 2009 Vulcan...it looks like an overstuffed pillow in my opinion. Of course I looked at various after market websites such as LePara and Mustang. There doesn't seem to be any other options out there. Did you already post a photo of the first custom seat you made for your Vulcan? Your woodworking talent is impressive!

[burkbuilds]

Suzi, here's the current seat on my Vulcan. Not much to look at, but it's more comfortable to me than the stock seat was.
http://s4.postimage.org/hfa9S.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/z09y7lb8/)


http://s4.postimage.org/hfcF0.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/z0blqxt0/)


http://s4.postimage.org/hfhEi.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/z0ewtmsk/)
As you can see, I mostly just added foam to the original seat and had it re-upholstered. This time I wanted to create a completely different shape for the base and then just add about 2" of foam. I want more support under my thighs and on the sides of my butt to help distribute the load over a larger area, hopefully making it much more comfortable. I could just spread out the seat pan where it is, but I'm long legged and wanted to have the additional height so I'm sitting more like I would in a comfortable chair. I do a lot of riding, and I'm on this bike for several hours at a time a couple of days each week. I've put just over 24,000 miles on her since I bought her new 18 months ago.

[alanmcorcoran]

This is great! I can't wait for the ending. I'm looking at it on an iPhone but I want to check it out on a full size screen when I get home.

[Water Warrior 2]

Wow, looks like a work of art in the making. I thought the first seat mod was impressive but this one looks to be a real winner from the ground up. One more week eh, then some updates.

[burkbuilds]

Okay, well over the weekend I managed to get the rest of the fiberglassing done, painted the new pan, and installed the foam. Then I test rode it several times and made adjustments to the foam until I was pleased with the way it felt to me. Here are a few shots of the progress I made.

http://s2.postimage.org/sAkhr.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m0x35kis/)Here is the pan after I added some more layers of fiberglass, sanded it down and then painted it with some high gloss black spray paint.


http://s2.postimage.org/sApgJ.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m10e89ic/)

http://s2.postimage.org/sAug0.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m13payhw/)
Next I glued some 1 1/2" seat foam from Sargents Cycle products to the pan. I shaped it with a hot knife I bought on e-bay and a surform file I got at Lowes.

http://s2.postimage.org/sABKr.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m18nwzz8/)


http://s2.postimage.org/sALJ0.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m1fa2dyc/)
I use a spray on contact cement to adhere the foam to the pan and the layers of foam to each other.

Once I had this to a shape I liked it was time to put it on the bike and try it out.


http://s2.postimage.org/sATcr.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/1m1k8offo/)
After about a 45 minute test ride I decided that it was comfortable to sit on, but it was a little to high, so back to the shop for some trimming down work.

I took the hot knife and removed about 3/4" and then used the surform file to smooth everything back out. Then back to the bike for another test ride. I did this two more times and my final result looked like this.


http://s1.postimage.org/D8YoS.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/27h9caev8/)

Friday afternoon I spent a few minutes at the upholstery shop talking with Ron, owner of Brothers Upholstery, about the project. Ron has done two previous seats for me and he does great work. He's also a rider and he has a good understanding of bike seats. We discussed my project, materials and shapes and schedules. If my wife can get this to him early in the week he should have it back to me in a week or two at the most. That's pretty consistent with the time for the other seats he's done for me and I feel confident that I should have this back no later than two weeks. Ron would love to make this a more decorative work, while I'm more interested in smooth lines and function, so he's probably a little disappointed, but since I'm the one paying, it will be just plain smooth seat vinyl, not patterns or logos or mixed colors. In the past he's used a high quality seat vinyl and I've had no problems with either seat. They have held up well. I put about 11,000 miles on the first seat and over 24,000 miles on my current seat, with not tears, abrasions or anything at all wrong. Ron tells me he now has an even better vinyl, thicker and the new stuff can stretch in two directions not just one, so this should be a very good quality cover. When it all gets finished I will post some more pics.

[Water Warrior 2]

Hmm. Looks much more supportive than the factory seat and the other one you created. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[burkbuilds]

I got a call from the upholsterer today, so he's already working on it, maybe I'll get it ahead of schedule.

[burkbuilds]

I think my upholsterer likes working on bike seats. My wife dropped it off Monday afternoon, and the man calls me Wednesday afternoon and says it is ready for pick up, yeah.
I got home late this afternoon and the seat looks good, so on it goes. Here are a few shots of the finished seat. Now I've got to build a new trunk to go with it.


http://s3.postimage.org/QFNY0.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2yxn8jxhg/)

http://s4.postimage.org/M9BPA.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2prw96z6s/)

Got my wife to snap one with me sitting on it in the driveway. Tomorrow, road testing.

http://s4.postimage.org/MaeJS.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2psmpsj38/)

[Easy Rider]

Here are a few shots of the finished seat. Now I've got to build a new trunk to go with it.

I like the shape; kind of like a tractor seat.

Looks a LOT taller though. Do your feet still touch the ground ?? :roll: :crackup

[Water Warrior 2]

Gotta say it BB. The new seat looks a little strange but dang it, it looks like it will work great. Should be a great long distance seat with proper support and good posture. The upholsterer did a nice job too.

[mrlmd1]

Nice job.
That seat is homongous. Are you sure it's not a porta-potti in disguise? (j/k). Looks like it should be pretty comfortable.
How much did you raise the seat height to fit you?

[dentheman]

Is it as comfortable as it looks?

[alanmcorcoran]

Nice job.
Are you sure it's not a porta-potti in disguise? (j/k).

I was thinking the same thing. Looks like you could lift up the "lid" and take a dump enroute. Now, that would be a seat that would attract a lot of attention!

[burkbuilds]

The Upholsterer made the same comment about the look. I'm more interested in the comfort level on long rides, besides, when I'm sitting on it you really can't see the top

of the seat.
It is huge looking, I don't care for that either, but again, I'm looking for what fits me best not what is stylish.

I can still put my feet on the ground, but if I want to be completely flat footed I have to slide forward a little. The new seat height is about 32"-32.5" which makes it

about 4" higher than stock seat height.

The seat is very comfortable, although I've only had the chance to take about a 45 minute ride so far. I'll have a two hour trip back to Atlanta later this weekend, which

should tell me whether or not I have succeeded in making this seat comfortable on long trips. I'll let you know what I think afterwards.

The backrest is way to low now and rubs the top of my hip bones uncomfortably, so today I'm working on a temporary solution, I may do something different later.

Next project is to redesign the trunk and move it forward a little. I'd like the back of it to be about even with the tail light. Right now the back is hanging over about 4"

past the tail light. I want to end up with a slightly larger trunk with luggage rack on the lid. I use this as my main transportation and more room for groceries or enough

room to carry an extra helmet for different weather conditions would be nice. Nothing beats a modular helmet for keeping the cold and rain out, but if it's warm weather

and dry I'd rather have more air movement, so I'd like to have enough room to easily accommodate the extra helmet without having to give up the entire trunk to it. Same

goes for my heavy riding coat. Some mornings I wear it, but by late afternoon I'd rather put it in the trunk, but it takes up every bit of room in the trunk all by itself,

which limits what else I can carry.

Thanks for all the comments. :)

[burkbuilds]

I was able to elevate the backrest 3" using some checker plate aluminum. I'll try this out and see how it feels. More adjustment or a different design may be required.

http://s1.postimage.org/74BcA.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ed0pz6ys/)

http://s1.postimage.org/75t4J.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ee13sttw/)

[Water Warrior 2]

BB, it looks like you have turned a 500 street bike into a long distant commuter without spending a bucket of $ and relying on your individual needs to determine the results. A big congrats on a plan well thought out. :2tup:

[burkbuilds]

Thanks WW, I'm heading out for Atlanta in a few minutes, should be able to tell if this is going to be a good solution for long trips in a couple of hours. I'll post my thoughts, but I've got a paper to finish and some other homework to do so it may be later in the week when I get a chance to log it on here.

[burkbuilds]

Quick note: I just finished a two hour ride on the new seat. The seat was very comfortable. I felt about like I do sitting in a nice chair for two hours at the end of the ride. The back rest is still a little low so I've gotta figure out a way to bring it up about another 1" - 1 1/2"

[burkbuilds]

Update: I took a 4 hour ride yesterday through the Georgia Mountains and some National Parks and the seat was great. At the end of the ride, I felt about like I would if I had spent four hours sitting in a nice chair in my living room. Very comfortable. I think I could ride this all day and not be in pain after 8 hours on the road. Guess I'll have to test that theory out sometime. Maybe another run down to Panama City Beach when the weather warms up.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds like your redesign worked out very well. When a 4 hour ride feels good you are ahead of 99% of other riders.

[burkbuilds]

I was actually feeling more comfort after those 4 hours than I usually feel after about 45 minutes on my old seat, which was an improvement over stock. I realize that seating is very individual. I've heard you tell about Linda riding the GZ across Canada and being fine with the stock seat, for instance. I would bet that few people would find my seat comfortable, but it wasn't made to fit anybody else, just me. If someone taller, shorter, or with different length inseam tried my seat it probably wouldn't work for them. Motorcycle seats are the only non adjustable seats consumers seam to accept without question at purchase. I mean, if you went to buy a car, and the seat wasn't adjustable, you'd probably walk away from the purchase. Maybe mfg's need to give that a little more thought and offer seating options for different size people or figure out a way to put the seat on a rail system to slide forward and back, up and down and still look good. Gee, even a bicycle seat has more adjustment than a motorcycle seat does. I bet they'll just keep cranking out the same stuff and let the consumer go to custom seat mfg's though.

[Water Warrior 2]

So very true BB. Stock seats are too much of a comprimise to work properly for most folks. Oem stuff has to look good and be cost effective. I rode the Weestrom 15 minutes at a time for the first 3000kms. The gel seat was an improvement but now my old butt says it is time for a custom seat.

[Sarris]

I've always been a Mustang Seats fan until I got my Harley Street Glide. It has the most comfortable seat I've ever been on, OEM or otherwise. Comfy enough for all day rides and very supportive for my weight. It's like they made it custom for me. I've never had a better seat.

:)

[b1pig]

well. there are always different tastes in the world. i had a Corbin saddle on my GSX1100G. got THE last one in stock at Corbin at Bikeweek'99. i thought i wasnt going to like it because it was so firm, but it was perfect. literally. lowered the seat height by 1", form-fitted and the passenger's part was also firm and had a kicked-up section between the front and rear that kept the passenger from sliding down onto the operator. perfect. (i miss that bike sometimes)

sargent seats makes some custom stuff too.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sarris, the H-D makes a good LEO bike because the seat is good for long hours in the saddle. A big generous seat that offers more support over a larger area is always best.
I did see(many years ago)a Suzuki GT 750 with a horse saddle on it. Looked pretty comfy with a sheep skin on it.

[Easy Rider]

I was actually feeling more comfort after those 4 hours than I usually feel after about 45 minutes on my old seat, which was an improvement over stock.

Where is this seat guy ? I might like to pay him a visit.

I've still got my stock seat stashed away and instead of selling it, I might like to get it "fixed"........since the Mustang I got doesn't help my much on long runs.

[burkbuilds]

I've heard he only works on his own bike ER.

[alantf]

I think my upholsterer likes working on bike seats.

Doesn't seem to tally with the above statement. :)

[blaine]

I think my upholsterer likes working on bike seats.

Doesn't seem to tally with the above statement. :)

"BURKBUILDS" built his own seat,the upholsterer only covered it.I think "EASY" is under the impression that the upholsterer also built the seat.
:) :roll:

[Easy Rider]

"BURKBUILDS" built his own seat,the upholsterer only covered it.I think "EASY" is under the impression that the upholsterer also built the seat.
:) :roll:

No, this is getting off course.
I SAID that I have a stock seat to work with.
I don't understand his last comment either.......because the upholsterer worked an Burk's seat.
Maybe that was a one time, favor for a buddy type deal.

:??:

[burkbuilds]

My misunderstanding. I thought you were referring to me as the "seat guy" instead of my upholsterer. Brothers Upholstery in Rossville, Georgia.

[Easy Rider]

Brothers Upholstery in Rossville, Georgia.

I might ask you this again next year sometime......since my memory is getting to the point where I forget where I put notes that I write for myself !! :roll: :cry:

Where you gonna be Thanksgiving, TN or GA ??

[burkbuilds]

I'll be home in the big city of Rossville, Georgia for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to a few days without classes or work. I plan to spend a lot of time with my family. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving next week.

[mole2]

Happy Thanksgiving Burkbuilds...and everyone else too. :2tup: :2tup: :2tup:


:)

[SpiritOaks]

Sarris, the H-D makes a good LEO bike because the seat is good for long hours in the saddle. A big generous seat that offers more support over a larger area is always best.
I did see(many years ago)a Suzuki GT 750 with a horse saddle on it. Looked pretty comfy with a sheep skin on it.


I am thinking of going with the Native American kind of "theme" for my bike...and have been toying with the idea of making the seat look somewhat saddle-ish...upholstery wise.. not the entire way around lol. I do have a barrel racer saddle...but it might be a wee bit big for the baby. :retard: But I will most definitely be taking cues from it...such as the quilted stitching in the seat...gorgeous stuff and why I bought the saddle in the first place (all for decoration only...and the dream of one day owning a horse...now I've got my horse...an iron one ROFL)

[Water Warrior 2]

My Vstrom is a mule for me. It seems to be able to haul lots of stuff and not complain. My 3rd saddle is a Corbin and really does it's job well.