Ok so this is a well covered topic but wanted a place to put pics of my progress with customizing the stock Breakout solo seat. Hoping it will come out as nice as some of you other riders who have already done this- EagleRay, Da Rza1, thanks for the inspiration with your nice custom seat upgrades.

Stock seat on Breakout- it's like riding a flat muffin. tired of sliding off the back and it's just overall not that comfortable on long rides. Also hate how it sits up over the tank.



Here we are with the seat dismantled- foam pulled out. look at all that nice room! I sat on the seat pan it was so much better of a position- I'm actually sitting in the bike instead of up on top of it. I did not feel any issues with reach or position. it was just better for me overall.




Look at that huge muffin padding junk seat foam. trash time. See how the seat pan now sits closer down to the tank without the foam on it? the foam also wrapped around and under the seat, lifting it up at the tank. However, the arch of the seat pan still has the plastic sticking up about 1/2" off the tank. it needs to be heated, trimmed and reshaped.



Another shot of the stock seat pan before modifying it. See how the plastic pan sits up 1/2" off the tank? that will get fixed. With all of that thick foam off of it, the shape itself is really not that bad. See how much narrower it is and it actually now shows off the fender struts a bit better? I will trim about 1/2" off the front tip and then use a heat gun and sheet metal pliers to re-form the bends and radiuses where it meets the tank. Also a little work with the dremel and a razor knife to smooth things out.



here is the seat pan after trimming 1/2" off front tip and the heavily re-bending the plastic through heat forming. I dropped the tip ends down dog-eared, bent 6" of the forward section downwards so it sits tight on the tank, and also bent the 6" of tip narrower like a taco. think of what you would do to your new baseball cap. pretty similar. anyway it fits pretty tight now at the tank, wraps down nicely and should look a lot better with the tank lines. that was an hour of my time today - I still have some more heat forming to do up towards the front and a bit on the sides. I also shaved down the top of the pan at the tip and 7" back as it had some humps sticking up.





More to come! I bought a "donor" stock seat on ebay so I can still ride while I do this as time permits.

 

Great start, Dog. Looks like you're really into it now.

Did you think about modifying the mounting system as well? When I did my mods together with my upholsterer this double-bolt fastening system was the major issue to take care of.

And don't waste too much time riding...get the seat done

 

yeh the holdup for me is work, not riding unfortunately- but definitely want to get it done as soon as possible. I'm not modifying the rear seat mounts because they are integral to the passenger sissy bar rig I built for the wifey. But I'll try to make it overall look nicer. the front tab that slides into the frame slot will get some work- that is a really sloppy loose fit.

 

Like what ya got goin so far, I think you're heading in the right direction. Those mods make sense, HD should be doing the front that way, it will look way better!!

 

Thanks- Hell if nothing else I'm looking forward to actually sitting in a more comfortable position and no more back-sliding! So I was going to work on it more this weekend but wife wants to head down to San Diego for some play time....

 

I'll be doing something similar just to try. Thanks for the idea. I already have a Danny Gray to use while I modify my stock seat.

Michael

 

thanks I just posted over in your thread as well. good luck with the cam / cable / tuner ' pulley upgrade. 57H cams are next on my list and also installing a 50mm TB w/ 4.9 injectors.

 

My biggest complaint about my seat is how it's "on" the tank. My Blackline seat was at the edge of the tank and I liked that. If I had the "know how" or money, I'd cut mine back a few inches.

And don't get me started on touring bikes and their seats going way up on the tank. I really hate that.

 

cant wait to see end results!

 

Chikin - yeh I know what you mean it was bugging the crap out of me.

so I made some very good progress on the nose of seat today with the heat gun and re-forming it. I got it to where it is such a tight fit now, it pretty much "snaps on" over the front "Y" part of frame. If I try to move the seat pan by wiggling it, even without the two bolts on back it is moving the bike! I'd say that's a "good fit". lol

pics below - first pic is final shape of nose at tank. second / third pic is how it will look with material wrapped on it. of course the material is very loose on there so it's not tightly following the side lower lines. mainly just wanted to show how nice it hugs the tank now and the line from tank flows right into the seat. from here I just need to go get it covered.

Part of the MAIN problem with the nose of the seat pan is it curves upward, which makes the front of seat pop up really high off the tank - so the seat pan itself looks like a banana instead of just being straight flat. i did a lot of re-bending to that so it is now straight with a flat line. you can see where I got the seat pan so hot that i melted some holes in it. no big deal it needed to be done so the plastic would take on the new shape.