Been tossing around a seating idea for the 1200.

[John Schmidt]

Need an opinion....or ten. Looking at the profile of the bike I'm thinking it might be kinda neat to just have a solo seat like the spring supported type you see on various Bobbers. With the Valk OEM shocks on there, the bike now sits nice and low compared to before. And the shocks give a nice cushion, so I'm thinking of mounting something similar to the seat shown in the Ebay link. Personally, I think it would look great but what say you. The original seat & pan fit on there just fine with the Valk tank in place, I'm just looking at something a little different, leaving some exposed area underneath but keep the side covers.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-Motorcycle-Sportster-Bobber-Chopper-Spring-Bracket-Solo-Seat-For-Honda-Harley-/161683695231?hash=item25a519667f&vxp=mtr

[Flrider]

Nice seat.

IMHO, depending on the size of the seat, it might look disproportionate with the rest of the bike, if the seat is on the small side.
I have seen that type seat on bigger type bikes but they seem to be on the bigger side not on the bobber type or size if that makes sense.

Also, the fender rails might throw it off somewhat and take from the look of the seat.
I suppose that the fender that you plan on using has a lot to do with the type of seat you will use as well.

I remember seeing a Valk where a guy had used the rear seat as the drivers seat and it look good, plus it had the "HONDA" print on the rear of the seat.


BUT who am I to say, your creation and there is only one person to please, in the end, it will be all good as we all have experienced your progress as you go along.

Can't wait for it to be done and see you riding it John.
It would have been great to see you come riding in to the Pizza Party on that ride.

Thanks for taking us along your building journey  

YOU STILL HAVE 3 DAYS JOHN  

[98pacecar]

http://stores.ebay.com/1hotwing?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

[John Schmidt]

Jack, the seat in that ebay link is rather small....only 13.5" long. That would put the back end of it about where the shocks are with the nose about 2" in front of the forward crossmember. Others I've seen are 16" and more, taking it back about 3-4" past the shocks with the nose still about 2" in front of the crossmember near the tank. As for the rear fender, I'm going to mount it solid and needs to be about 7.5" wide to fit in between the rear frame members. If I don't use all of the rear end of the frame rails, I'll cut them off. Not to that point yet so will be a while.

Re. the engine, still has a problem and frankly I don't feel like messing with it or rebuilding it. So sometime down the road I'll be replacing it. If I can find a decent one, it's cheaper than trying to rebuild....and easier. I've become lazy in my old age. 

[Pappy!]

John, seems to me it depends on what you have in mind for the bike long term. Is it possibly going to be your lighter replacement for the Valk? If so then the seat needs to be looked at in that regard. Just a bar hopper (so to speak)? Then the seat can match that thought process.
There ya go...I was no help at all !

[Thunderbolt]

John I suspect that the new owner will buy it for the "look".  I would get the lowest seat that will give just a little support.  The shocks after all will do much of the dampening.  Unlike a hardtail of another manufacturer.  I like the way it looks.  I don't see you keeping it to ride.  But it has kept your hands from being idle.

[Jess from VA]

John I tend to look for function over form.  I think a seat (on a shock bike) should be down on the frame (and some sort of cockpit and not a bench) (definitely like the solo idea).  I think a springy seat might make me (feel) unstable or wobbly, bouncing around over bumps and through curves/corners (of course I have zero experience on one and I could be dead wrong).

On the other hand, the seat can be anything you want if this will mostly be an round town, few-hour bike.  

This is a great project.  I think I would first come up with a good functional decent looking frame seat.... then maybe afterwards diddle around and see if there is another way to go for fun and uniqueness (but not so you can't go back to your first seat if you want/need to).

[reclaimerroger]

First priority John make sure the seat fits your butt.  You can modify the bike.  I like the looks of the seat in your link to ebay but maybe find a way to eliminate the springs.

[Pappy!]

Almost looks like he reshaped a rear pillion seat in that link?

[John Schmidt]

Pappy, that's exactly what he did, I remember when he posted that. Here's some shots I took this evening, showing different approaches. What it amounts to is I need something smaller than OEM, and moves me back farther. Guess I need to install the engine guards so I can mount the forward pegs. Should give me a better idea of where the seat needs to be in conjunction with the Valk handlebars and the pegs.

My spare Valk seat, the later comfy version. It's waaay to big.


The original seat/seat pan, with the foam cut down. Still seems rather big to me.


Original foam w/o the pan and moved back farther.


Just tossed this in to make you all jealous. 


An old rolled up blanket, so far the most comfy.    The seat position needs to be almost that far back.

[Bighead]

Hey John don't look now but you got a flat on the rear or is that one of those low profile tires

[John Schmidt]

Yes, I saw that. When I had the new rubber mounted I forgot to have my 90 deg. stems put in. Getting to the straight stem is a problem so had to go buy a different air chuck. Air is still low in it but I can't get a tester on it either.....at least not the type I have so it's back O'Reillys. I have to pull the front wheel when I start rebuilding the forks so will take the time to install a 90 deg. metal stem on it at that time. As for the rear wheel, I'll wait until I have an extra set of hands available and will break the bead at the stem location to R&R that one as well. Didn't even think about low pressure until I took the bike off the centerstand and saw how low the tire was. Barely had enough pressure in it to seat the bead, the installer must have been a real DA.

[FloridaValkRyder]

Yes, I saw that. When I had the new rubber mounted I forgot to have my 90 deg. stems put in. Getting to the straight stem is a problem so had to go buy a different air chuck. Air is still low in it but I can't get a tester on it either.....at least not the type I have so it's back O'Reillys. I have to pull the front wheel when I start rebuilding the forks so will take the time to install a 90 deg. metal stem on it at that time. As for the rear wheel, I'll wait until I have an extra set of hands available and will break the bead at the stem location to R&R that one as well. Didn't even think about low pressure until I took the bike off the centerstand and saw how low the tire was. Barely had enough pressure in it to seat the bead, the installer must have been a real DA.

I'll call you about this soon John.

[Dougger]

John,
I was looking at the nice seat on your bench stool, maybe that would work.....lol