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Where we sit

Jan 18, 2014

As you can see in the header picture above, the stock KZ650 SR comes with a rather tall, puffy seat. One thing I’m not is tall. I can barley put both tiptoes on the ground when I come to a red light, and I am modifying this bike, right? Right.

The place for me to start is getting the saddle height lower. I love the cafe / vintage flat track style seat – what the Brits call a bum-stop and I made one I liked for the bike in my first blog, using a sewer pipe for the half-round cowl at the back and decided I’d try making another one.

Soon I’ll show my (clumsy) process, but first I’ll show you how it turned out.

The top-coat came out so thick it looks like the seat was dipped in clear honey.

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I started with a novel idea and decided to not reinvent the wheel. Why not use the stock hinges and let my seat lift up for battery access, etc. just like the original? The hinges were already there, so I just opened up a length of square tube and bolted it on.

 

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Here’s a picture of the 10″ PVC remnant that the local excavation place gave me for free.

 

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What’s not shown in the picture above is the pipe has a bell-end where the segments are joined together. I thought it would be nice to cut the pipe at the bell to give myself a little ‘flair’.

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Here’s the frame with my portion of pipe attached.

 

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Determining the height of the side pieces

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Gluing the plywood pieces on

 

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After several machine screws, Bondo and JB Weld, the final shape

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Time for painting. There’s a hole in the back door of my shop where I put an exhaust fan, creating an instant paint booth. Here’s the primer coat, followed by the color (Dupli-Color Barcelona red metallic [for Toyota?] ) and then topped with the amazing rattle-can two-part (push the plunger to release the catalyst) clear coat. Made by Spary Max, called  2K Glamour High Gloss Clear Coat – You have to use the can all at once, and you have less than a half hour to get the job done. It hardens quick, but is super-durable – even gas proof.

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Linda thinks the seat I made will not be comfortable, and she’s probably right… Here’s a decal for her. Actually I don’t think it’s going to be all that bad. The bike will not be used for long rides and the seat will be no more tough than your average folding chair. We can do it!

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Tomorrow We’ll attach the seat, maybe even go for a ride : -)

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