Topic: My first cafe seat - here goes nothin!

[Blitzburgh207]

Here goes nothin!  I'm trying to build a good looking cafe seat that can go two up (my girlfriend complained too much when I told her I was putting a solo on...) and because I'm a poor college kid, I can't buy a nice seat; so I'll build one 

So I started messing around w/ some stuff I had around (conduit and a couple pieces of flat bar) and I liked how it looked so I kept it.

My buddy was supposed to weld it together for me until I told him it was galvanized  But I had some rivets so I just riveted it together. It's pretty rugged really.

Then started forming for fiberglass. That "indent" where the foam/cardboard meets the metal would come back to bite me. "I'll just bondo it" haha


And a mock up pic on the bike.  Haha ya I work in flip flops   

I didn't take any pics after I decided it was too low and added a layer of 1" rigid insulation on top.  Here it is after my first ever attempt (so give me a break  ) at fiberglassing. about 3-4 layers of mat, grinded it down (sry no pics) and added one more layer of mat.

It's pretty damn rough but I already shaved the stock seat mounts and lock so I'll stick with it.

[Danno]

all that matters bud is that you are happy with it in the end after all you are the one that has to ride it
as far as your fiber glass try to squeegie as much resin out as possible between coats it will give you a nicer presentation and be a lot stronger just don't pull it out of shape while you do it

[Blitzburgh207]

I didn't take any pics after I decided it was too low and added a layer of 1" rigid insulation on top.  Here it is after my first ever attempt (so give me a break  ) at fiberglassing. about 3-4 layers of mat, grinded it down (sry no pics) and added one more layer of mat.

Correction: Added one more layer of woven fabric**

Anyways, I put some bondo fiberglass filler on it and took the grinder to it again and ended up like this:

The indents in the side are still pretty prominent but it's shaping up.  Added another layer of bondo and used an old orbital sander w/ 100 grit to smooth it. Its looking pretty good now.


It's really starting to look good - the sharp edge at the back is turning out axactly how I wanted it.  A little rough on the sides yet but It'll come out alright I think.  I hit it with the bondo one more time tonight before calling it a night and hopefully (fingers crossed) after some sanding tmrw it MIGHT be paint worthy!

[Blitzburgh207]

all that matters bud is that you are happy with it in the end after all you are the one that has to ride it
as far as your fiber glass try to squeegie as much resin out as possible between coats it will give you a nicer presentation and be a lot stronger just don't pull it out of shape while you do it

Too late on this one! haha but I am tossing the idea around for a flyscreen so I appreciate the advice in advance! Thanks danno!