This post is the long overdue continuation of the motorcycle seat pan fabrication for my CX500 Cafe Racer Build Project. Part I can be found here: Fabricating a custom motorcycle seat for the CX-500 Cafe Racer. I’m a bit behind on this project, as I had hoped to have the bike done for May 1st. I’m suspecting that I’ll be lucky if she’s done for May 15th or even May 30th. Back on post topic, I have finished the front mount on the seat, the overall pan shape and the fitment of the pan to the bike.
I decided to make the front of the seat match the contours of the tank, this is a bit away from the traditional flat seat look most Cafe Bikes have, but I think with the new sleeker tank from the CX500 Custom it looks better this way. The front of the seat mounts by sliding under the rear fuel tank mounting point. This took some careful fabrication and welding. It can actually be screwed in by 2 M6x1.0 mm button head cap screws but it does not need the front screws as it is quite secure.
Above you can see the frame modifications, I moved the rectifier up under the seat and put an additional cross brace to mount it in place. I also plan to attach the wires to this cross piece to keep them from dropping down. With the seat on the bike all of the electronics are nicely hidden away up underneath. The solenoid and battery will be mounted into a belly box under the middle of the bike (post coming soon on that).
Top view of the seat pan on the bike. I have not added rear mounting points yet. I’m debating how to do it still. I will either weld on two nuts to the seat pan, or weld a bolt underneath the pan and make brackets on the frame to secure it to the bike. You can also see the lines at the rear. I am waiting until I finish the rear mini-fender before I make the final cuts to the back of the seat pan. I want the mini fender to mount directly to the seat pan rather then the frame. I was originally shooting for a metal rear fender but I suspect I will end up molding a fiberglass fender off the rear tire instead.
I took the above pics with the tank loosely resting in place so you can see the seat mounted up to the tank and how it matches the contour of the tank. I’m still doing paint prep on the tank so it is not firmly mounted for these pics and a bit tilted but you get the idea.
Stay tuned for Part III of the Custom Seat Fabrication for my Cafe Racer Honda CX500 build.