Subject: Foolin' around on a Saturday...
Author: Lannis
Date: Oct 25, 2003, 10:32 AM
Post ID: 1714992201
...out in the shop. My boy's working on his just-procured Opel GT
(project), and I'm fiddlin' with the new Eldo. It's a pleasure to work
on, everything being right out there in the open, with stainless steel
fasteners, little dabs of Anti-seize in all the right places, no rust or
corrosion anywhere, no wrung-off fasteners. Bike's in great shape, just
hasn't been ridden much so everything needs to be taken apart and lubed
up.
I've taken the sprung police solo seat off, and am matching it up front
and rear with my old police Harley solo seat to see if I can come up
with the ideal two-up seat combination out of the two of them, or if I
need to do something else. My wife is going to have a comfortable seat
this time no matter what I have to do.
I'm really surprised by the fact that on most all older bikes, and on
all modern bikes except the huge touring yachts, the passenger seat
always looks like a substandard afterthought. Even when you buy a seat
from Corbin or somewhere ("Gunfighter and Lady"), there's this huge
luxurious pilot's seat and a little pad behind for the passenger. Looks
like it's totally driven by styling.
When Rich Maund re-did my Centauro seat, he used every square inch he
could of the real estate available on the pan and made as good a perch
as you're going to get; but it's still 1/2 the size of the pilot seat.
Of course, she'd love it if I bought a Gold Thing or something with a
huge heated armrested cupholdered Barcalounger on the back, but I'm not
going there.
The solo saddle, if moved to the back and accompanied by a nice
backrest, would work very well. She sat on it and liked it a lot,
although only many days on the road will REALLY tell. I'd love to know
if there's an already fabricated bracket that will mount a stock solo
seat to the rear; if I do it, it will involve hammers, torches, and lots
of gloss-black Rustoleum. (Not on the bike, mind you; on the brackets
I'd have to make).
I hear that there are seats that will bolt on top of a luggage rack over
the rear fender, but I'll bet they're little "2+2" style seats, not
suitable for a long pull.
I always wanted a pair of "Teutonic QSL" seats from the 70s on the
adjustable mounts; I've seen some for sale in the past, but they get
snapped up before I can even think about doing anything about it.
The police Harley solo seat looks like it was made to mount on the front
of the Eldo; not much fab work to do there at all, if that's the way I
go. It would look a bit funky, but that's OK; I don't look at the seat
when I'm riding anyway.
Well, off to Advance Auto; I just pulled the battery out and discoverd
that it's an Exide dated 1984! Still spinning after all these years,
but why take a chance?
Lannis