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I'm reworking my Crossbones at the moment and trying to come up with some seat options. Originally I was going to stick with my 1945 solo and stock set up but I've decided I really want to drop my seat height. I thought about getting the Harley Spring seat kit that comes with the scissor springs and thinner seat but I think it may still be a little higher than I want to go for this new look. I've seen more than a few bobbers that have seats right on the frame (no springs) and thought I'd try to go that rout. I sort of want to make my own seat to I can do it exactly to my liking but being a single dad with a career means my time is precious and I already have a ton of other stuff to do.
One thought I had was to go with a Le Pera Barebones with pleated surface for the Slim and modify it slightly so that the rear mounts to the frame as apposed to the fender. However, I hate to spend close to $250 for a seat and then tear it up in order to make it work. I've done some looking around the net and seen good examples of both sprung seat and non sprung seats that are nice and low on bobbers. However, it's hard to know with a lot of these examples if the seats are one-offs or if they can be purchased somewhere.
So if you guys could post up your bobber seats and share some insight, that would be awsome!
The stock Rocker seat is a good example of what I am trying to achieve. The Rocker has a swing arm mounted fender so the seat bolts to the frame rather than relying on the fender for a mounting location.
I'm working on installing a fender + springer seat kit that will look like the pic below (thats not my bike). Its a swingarm-mounted fender with a large "solo saddle" seat:
I have a slim, the pic below is the crossbone's kit:
So I had the same issue with my Crossbones seat, It seemed way too high for the frame. I ended up pulling off the big round pivot thing at the nose and the supper tall posts in the back.
Bought a 1" by 6" by 3/16" flat stock and put a little z bend in it for the tung. Then some more of the same flat stock and welded on two 3/8" posts for the springs to ride right on the frame. That dropped the seat 2.5" now it flows.
Before
After
Tung, under the nose of the seat. I bolted it through the gas tank bolt. It is plenty long enough
Posts on a plate bolted to where the crossbones plate sits.
This is actually what my current configuration is (minus the sissy bar) and I don't like it. The seat in this picture is the 1925 style saddle on what appears to be a stock Crossbones spring seat set up. There is just WAY too much distance from the back of the seat to the fender.
I want to narrow that gap the way the Rocker does by having a swing arm mounted fender but a seat that sits on the frame.
Similar to the picture below...only a little leaner. That seat looks sort of on the beefy side. But otherwise that's the idea I am trying to go for...
I just grabbed this la rosa seat off ebay. Really nice seat for the money and they offer several different colors and designs. I cant go that low on a 1990 softail as the battery is in the way. I may screw with it this winter and try and lower the battery and get the seat closer to the frame, but love the seat compared to what I had.
Mine's homemade. Seat pan from ebay. Material from a fabric store. Found some foam lying around the house and put it all together. Pretty cheap. No springs. Nice and low
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