Newbie to this forum

[Chopper Rick]

I own a 87 Honda 450 Rebel that i'm looking to turn into a Bobber & will be getting rid of that big bulky seat that's on there now & replace it with a solo seat. What other seat options can i use on there that will fit? I also have other questions i would like to asked, but will start with the seat issue first. I look forward to hearing from you guys.

Thanks,

Chopper Rick

[GearJammer]

Welcome aboard, Chopper Rick! The 450 is a very good candidate for bobbing & will look great!

After lowering the rear on this '86 450 by using shocks from a 250 Rebel, I left the p-pad off since a passenger would probably just make the rear fender bottom out. That leaves the bike with the big, bulky solo bucket that you mentioned. (It's dang sure comfortable, but just too bulky an aesthetic).

You could either run a sprung solo w/springs or go with a solo bucket. If choosing a sprung solo, just remove the stock seat, see where you want to mount the hardware, take measurements & then locate a sprung solo that would fit.

Eventually, will be removing the cover on this stock seat & paring down the existing foam underneath to get a lower, narrower profile & keeping the existing seatpan. As you pointed out, there's easily a couple of inches of excess foam under there, on both sides & across the top as well. It shouldn't be too hard to shave off the excess & contour the shape to an acceptable solo bucket, with the added luxury of being able to use the stock seatpan & mounts.

[Chopper Rick]

Thanks GearJammer. I was thinking of going with the springer look but if i do that how do i hide the wires that are under the seat?

Chopper Rick

[Chopper Rick]

By the way GearJammer you also mentioned that i can go with a solo bucket seat. Do you know of any other brand name bucket seats that would work, or seats from other bike models that could work?

Chopper Rick

[GearJammer]

"I was thinking of going with the springer look but if i do that how do i hide the wires that are under the seat?"

Hmmm....good point, LOL! You could probably fabricate a cover plate to fit, preferably out of some non-metallic material to avoid the chance of any wiring possibly touching/shorting. Plastic, plexiglass, then spray-painted flat black maybe ? Or possibly metal sheet with an adequate layer of rubber (old car tire inner tube) underneath to act as an insulator. Or sheet metal or diamondplate with a layer of plexiglass, plastic or rubber beneath that.

There's a wide variety of solo buckets, both new & vintage, but it would be a matter of finding one with the proper dimensions & the right contour to rest cleanly on the frame/rear fender. I wasn't thinking of any particular brand tho' I've got a vintage Drag Specialties solo bucket that I had passingly thought to try, then decided to simply shave the stock seat, which would technically be considered a solo bucket...just a real bulky one! :wink:

[Chopper Rick]

Thanks for the suggestions GearJammer. If i may, what Drag specialties seat do you have. If you can supple a name & stock number maybe i can find it on the web to see what it looks like.

Thanks,

Chopper Rick

[GearJammer]

Did a quick search on www.google.com to find the style that I've got. This one is definitely early '70's vintage that I removed from an old Honda chopper frame in a boneyard about 7 yrs. ago. The label is still attached under the seat, but no part #.

If you go to this link & scroll down the page, you'll see about 8 different model applications with the same seat styling, most descriptions saying "Scorpion" in them. This "wedge-shaped" seat is the same styling as the old one here. http://www.motorcyclestyle.com/-DragspecialtiesHarleyDavidsonCustomandRigid

If you use the Google Search engine & type in "motorcycle solo bucket seat", you'll pull up enough links with various styles to keep you busy for months, LOL! You'll also see both solo buckets & sprung solos.

If you decide on a solo bucket, you'll want to measure the distance from back of gas tank to rear fender to insure you've got adequate clearance for the seat. Another measure across the widest point will give you another point of reference. The next step would be to insure that the aftermarket seat is mountable on your frame. For example, many of the older custom seats that were offerred for rigid & hardtail frames mounted by using a bolt going downwards into the frame at the front of the seat & then had bolts going thru the rear fender & secured from beneath the fender by lock washers/nuts. This was fine for rigids & hardtails, as with no suspension, the ends of the mounting bolts couldn't bottom out on the rear tire. But with the Rebel shocks, you'd want to insure no bottoming out & that's another reason that I'm gong with the stock seatpan & mounts to keep the complications to a minimum. NOT trying to discourage you from using the seat styling of your choice, because "where there's a will, there's a way" & you can get it done. It's just a matter of how little or how much fabricating or adjustments might be needed.

[cTc]

First let me jump in and say welcome to the forum, I've been sorta busy elsewhere lately.

Sounds like you have plans for your bike, keep us up on how its going, and post pics if have any.

Later

[Chopper Rick]

First let me jump in and say welcome to the forum, I've been sorta busy elsewhere lately.

Sounds like you have plans for your bike, keep us up on how its going, and post pics if have any.

Later

Thanks chopper_town for the welcome.
As soon as i get a digital camera i will definitely post some pix.

[Chopper Rick]

Thanks Gearjammer for the links & infor, it's much appreciated.