Seat Fabrication...?

#1
Hey guys,.. I'm in the process of this Puma 200 build and I'm having trouble nailing down where I want to go with the Seat portion of it,..

I purchased a MB200 seat thinking I could mount it back further on the frame, but it turns out it real lo y only lines up more forward like on the original design.

I decided to fabricate a seat from scratch and started by plating off the seat area giving it a more Chopper'ish look (?) (See pics),.. But now I have to figure out an actual "seat" - base plate, foam, and covering...

Base Plate - thinking some sort of abs plastic ( 1/4" ) that I can heat and bend/mold -?

Foam - I have both a new MB200 and a used MB200 seat that I can rob both the foam and coverings off of and they are already basically the same shape that I need...

Any thoughts....???

Thanks! 20191006_122746.jpg 20191006_142033.jpg 20191006_150858.jpg 20191006_142042.jpg
 

GustoGuy

Well-Known Member
#5
A few more pics...
Amazing job on fabricating a metal seat pan. Did you order the high density rebonded style foam for the seat pad? Go big on making the seat pad thick at least 4 or more inches thick. Do you do your own upholstery? Post some pictures of the finished seat on the bike. Are you going to to use snaps to attach the seat cover to the metal seat pan?
 
#7
Amazing job on fabricating a metal seat pan. Did you order the high density rebonded style foam for the seat pad? Go big on making the seat pad thick at least 4 or more inches thick. Do you do your own upholstery? Post some pictures of the finished seat on the bike. Are you going to to use snaps to attach the seat cover to the metal seat pan?
Thanks!

I sort of mentioned this in the original post,... my plan is to utilize the seat foam and cover from the new MB200 seat I have. But I need to make a "Base Plate" for the foam to be glued to and also to staple the material to on the bottom side.

As far as attachment I'm thinking about using "T" nuts and "sinking" them into the 1/4" plastic seat base between the top of the base and the foam - using heat and letting them sort of melt down into the 1/4" plastic seat base plate (?). Then I'll drill 4 holes in the metal seat pan I just welded on and be able to bolt the seat on from underneath.... theoretically that is :D

t-nut.gif
 
#8
Most certainly get the highest density foam you can find. It's amazing how one's body weight can take the comfort out of a seat. For the seat itself. I would buy a suitable size of Kydex, cut it to match your seat pan, use something like these: 1570570712946.png as bolts, glued to your seat frame. Align the bolts through your seat pan and you should be good. You won't feel these bolts through the foam and the nuts can be hidden inside your frame rails. Study the several you tube videos, on sewing your seat and you'll be in good shape. You can glue your seat vinyl edges to the kydex after you wrap it around.
 

Fourtogo

Well-Known Member
#9
Since you can weld fab ‘ why don’t you to a internal mount . With mounting studs sticking out bottom of seat 1/4X20 bolts welded to a plate inside the seat .
 
#12
Thanks for the replies guys!

I think I'm wanting to stick with some sort of "Plastic" seat base so when I do the seat cover I can staple it into the bottom of the plastic seat base - I've done many Motorcycle seats over the years and the bases of those are "Plastic".

Good suggestions on the seat foam material - I've used yoga mats in the past for various other projects and that stuff holds up very well especially when it's "covered" with something. I picked up a kneeling pad type thing at Menards the other day and it's about 2" thick and of a higher density which is just about perfect for a seat project... unfortunately it isn't quite big enough to cover the whole thing so I'd have to use a couple of them combined.... but still a good option.

I'm going to pull the foam off of the MB200 seat here soon and see if that's usable with out too much modification - that would be the easy button for sure.
 
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