What follows is a young boys saga of trying to become a two wheeled bobble head.

On and off posts keep appearing of people looking to add a spring solo seat to their rides. There have been some on the boards that have been fortunate to have the kit made by T-Rat, for the rest of us options seem scarce.
Unfortunately a lot of the kits list themselves as not working for bikes 2005 and greater with Electronic Fuel Injection.

As far as I can tell the part of the Spring Seat Adapter Kit that makes it not be sanctioned for a bike with fuel injection is the holes that line up with the screws for holding the EFI in place. I just left the holes open without screws and there is no danger of the cover falling off.

The whole process was a pain in the ***, and involved too many trips to the hardware store to get all the bolts that were not in the kit or recommended from J&amp\\;P. The instructions appear to be 4th or 5th generation xerox copies, and were little help, blowing up pictures of the kit I found online were more help.

I purchased my kit from the fine folks at J&amp\\;P Cycle, and had the good fortune to talk to a sales person who didn't know the information, but was willing to make an educated guess as to the fit problems. He ended up not being correct, but it was a valiant effort.

The kit is 840-117 and they had recommended 8200002 as the universal seat bracket. This bracket did not fit at all. I ended up drilling open the hole wider and going with a much smaller bolt then originally intended. I also flipped the bracket around so that the long part of the tab was facing the front part of the seat. This was the only way I was able to get the tabs to line up with the tab that you mount to the frame.


I am not sure if the hassles with mounting the seat are due to J&amp\\;\\\\\\;P or the kit, or even if the custom seat I had made was made with the wrong seat pan. I have faith in it seat manufacture, but then that is what I said about my roofing company. I love the look, and I am almost used to bouncing around on a spring seat. Due to the way I had to attach the front tab, removal of the kit if I ever need to change a fuse is going to be a pain in the *** due to little clearance for the bolt.

I am very happy with the work of the folks at Heather's Leathers and highly recommend them. Keep in mind they are hand crafted goods, so there is not the level of precision that you get from a machine made product.

 

That deluxe looks awesome. Nice job!!

 

Your bike does look fantastic.&nbsp\\; I used to have that same kit on mine.&nbsp\\; It was a&nbsp\\;pain in the a$$ to install and the front bracket that came with it bent down the moment I sat on it.&nbsp\\; Luckily that didn't keep it from working and it did look great.&nbsp\\; I prefer the metal panel that covers the battery to what most of the other kits offer.&nbsp\\; I wound up eventually putting on a regular seat again because the seat springs&nbsp\\;would squat down when I gassed it and make me want to slide off.&nbsp\\;

 

Bike looks great!!

 

Awesome!

 

I appreciate all the compliments.

I thought the feeling of falling off was just me. I keep checking with my had to make sure that the risk of falling off is just in my head.

I ended up using five washers as spacers to get the front up enough so I had clearance to even get the front bolt on for the tab. The stack of washers kept falling off and then I would have to hunt them down in the garage. In the end, as always aquarium sealant came to my rescue and I glued the suckers together.

I now need to learn how to take pictures of bright white objects, because I can't get the details to show with all the white.

 

I also wasted a lot of time on that kit.&nbsp\\; The square end bracket (8200003) worked better but it still needed some grinding to make it fit.

 

Nice write up.&nbsp\\; With some effort you can adapt the kit to work with EFI.&nbsp\\; One question for you Bwana, the tank emblem you are using, did you repaint the white area Glaciar White to match the tank or is the factory white close enough that you cannot tell?&nbsp\\; I want to switch my tank emblem but am afraid of creating a mismatch of the white paints.
&nbsp\\;
Mark

 

Commander112,

The white isn't even close. The tank is pearl white and the emblem is more of a cream.
While it would look better if it matched, I just don't see it as being worth the effort. Maybe if I ever repaint.

 

&nbsp\\;
Thanks.&nbsp\\; That is why I did not buy it.&nbsp\\; I was afraid of the match and the effort to make it Glaciar White.
&nbsp\\;
Mark