Topic: Old tank as seat cowl

[ev0lve]

Hey there,

I have a tank I'm considering trying to turn into a seat cowl. Basically I'd like to try and fit it up on the stock seat such that I could remove it if some fine lass (or my SO who also is fine - love you honey) decided to ride with me.

I figure some monkeying with the seat itself to add some mounting brackets under the vinyl and a couple bolts would do the trick. Clearly I have a sickness at this point.

Has anyone done this? Could you point me at the threads or post some pics?

Thanks

[MCRider]

One of the first things I read on this site was Hopterfixer thread. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=34200.0

Its not removable but may give some guidance, and it's a neat thing.

[ev0lve]

I saw that. It is teh awesome 

Every thread I can find seems to end with abandoning the idea of a removable cowl or never returning with the finished product.

[Mach-5(50)]

here are a couple of ideas. i think it is a brilliant idea, as long as you have a tank with a shape you like.


http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=7.0

http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=2717.0

later,

ryan

[ev0lve]

It's a 750 tank with a lot of pin holes (since replaced) and I think it would look pretty good judging from cutting the bottom out of it and sitting it up there if I could get it low enough. Every pic I see of a 750 I like the cowl is just a bit lower than the tank. FunJimmy's thread illustrates that pretty well (not that it's a 750 but you get the idea)

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=27159.msg414075#msg414075

These 2 machines are pretty skookum as far as I'm concerned for a cafe lite kind of thang (also not 2up). I suppose I'll have to hack the tank up to know for sure

[okie]

It isn't a 750, but I liked the way it looked on my 350.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=23251.0;attach=38660;image

[ev0lve]

Same deal though? That's a 350 tank on the back? Just asking cause I'm thinking the proportion should make it a match. I like the upsweep in the bottom of yours though I'm looking to retain the fender with the tail light.

Looks damn good one way or the other!

[fuzzybutt]

triumphs thruxton has the removable seat cowl, all it takes to remove it is 2 screws, it has threaded inserts on the seat pan to accomodate the screws.

[ev0lve]

That's EXACTLY what I'm thinking. Are there any pics of such a thing completed for a 750? I saw BCR's but I wasn't thinking of relocating the brake light.

http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/seatspics.html

[fuzzybutt]

That's EXACTLY what I'm thinking. Are there any pics of such a thing completed for a 750? I saw BCR's but I wasn't thinking of relocating the brake light.

http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/seatspics.html

damn thats a good looking seat................if only i hadnt just put almost 200 bucks into new foam and upholstery for the original k-4 seat.

[ev0lve]

$600! Probably worth every penny too but...

[Frankenkit]

OK! Now I have time to put my thoughts into words, pictures, and wild gesticulations.
My first thought went to this thread:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=43832.15

Then I got home and whipped out my photoshop and did a 3-pic, step-by-step visualization of what that'd look like on my bike.  Your results may vary.


Here, I just copied the tank and tilted it to fit the angle of the bottom of the seat. I'm figuring in real life application here, you'd want to weld on tabs to bolt on roughly where the seat bolts on back there, some sort of bracket.  I left it mostly transparent so you can see overlap.


The blue marks are just me thinking about where it could/should be cut, but I'm just thinking to keep it in line and maintain the shape you want.


Here I did hack and slash along the line, did a lousy photoshop job of removing the grab bar, and pasted on the nearby truck's taillight.  The only point of this being a rough mockup of the shapes that could be achieved while maintaining a stock stepped seat (though very few of us have 650s...)...
hth?

[ev0lve]

Why that's an excellent idea. Why don't I thin of these things? Dang.

Mocking up a 69 it sort of ends up looking liking an F bike somehow. Hrrrrrm. Pondering to commence.

[pampadori]

i've done a couple.  the first is a CB360 tank turned bump seat.

the second is a XS650 tank turned bump seat.