60's seat installation

[Trapper]

I just purchased a 60's style two piece seat set at the Garage Sale - I do believe I got a good deal. It is missing some parts - so - my question is: has anyone put one of these sets on a bullet? Could you take a picture for me of what I might be missing?
Specifically, the seat must require a spring set (this is an easy fix), a saddle (mount) for the springs to attach to the bike and some kind of linkage to go from the front of the seat to the forward seat center post. If i had a picture (or detailed diagram), I could fab these items up and get my seat installed (I have aces to a plasma cutter and TIG welder). Help!? Thanks a lot!

[Trapper]

Has anyone seen one of these set ups? Please help!

[CMW-Rhett]

Hi Trapper,

I'm sorry I missed your post the first time around. Thanks for bumping it for me. I'll ask around the office for you and see if someone here has some advice.

[deejay]

I have my seat mounted with no springs... see link below. The dealer had custom mounting brackets that you can see in the pic. My father has the same single seat with no springs on his RE and he just used a piece of angle iron for the rear 2 bolts. His rear pillion seat was attached directly to the fender, which i'm assuming was more for looks, he's since taken it off.

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/gallery/13_04_07_07_5_46_10.jpg

[CMW-Rhett]

The tech guys are working on a seat-mounted technical document with photos, and I think its coming right along. I'll post the details here as soon I have them.

[DaveG297]

DeeJay, that looks like my bike ...and the seat looks great.  What happened to the rear springs?  I have the old style single seat with springs on the back and it does ok,,,looks great.....What year is your ES....dg

[Sam]

I just bought one of them, too. Does that mean they don't come with the hardware, or that Trapper just got lucky?

Isn't it this accessory seat for the Machismo?

[deejay]

DeeJay, that looks like my bike ...and the seat looks great.  What happened to the rear springs?  I have the old style single seat with springs on the back and it does ok,,,looks great.....What year is your ES....dg

I got the seat without the springs from my dealer. my bike is a 2005.

[CMW-Rhett]

I'm attaching a work-in-progress installation document for this. You can see its still pretty rough around the edges; we're still putting together more detailed instructions and shots of the install but we're a little ways out from that yet.

Hope this is helpful in the meantime.

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[Sam]

Mine arrived today in the original burlap-wrapped box, overpacked in more cardboard, with several little bags of hardware. Looks to be very nice! The seat appears a bit wider than the classic standard solo seat, with considerably more foam and a deep-ish dish; something like a Harley dresser seat, only a bit narrower. The pillion is fairly thick and wide as well, easily as wide as the pillion on the stock dual seat. Sadly, I won't be able to rush home and install it; they insist I stay and work.

Unfeeling bastards.

[DaveG297]

Hey Sam, when you get that seat installed, send us a pic....sounds interesting......dg

[Sam]

well, I'm partway into it and I must say, it's not like Harley boutique accessories, where if they change from coarse to fine thread it takes a 6 page instruction sheet. This is way more fun.

I have managed to bugger beyond salvage one of the lower mounting studs, the 14 mm fine thread one; that's soon to become a 1/2" grade 8 bolt. No problem there.

The rear fender support bracket is in the wrong place; needs a new hole in the fender. No biggie, except for the extra hole.

The spring perches are a snug fit, and the rear hole in the spring perches aren't big enough for the shouldered nut, so that'll get reamed out. Every manufacturer has a different philosophy; I'm seeing that RE"s is to use studs a LOT.

On the very positive side, the seat appears as though it'll sit lower than the usual solo. Also, I squeezed the very tail of the supports a bit and drilled them, and will mount the vintage turn signals there, out of the way, very sanitary.

By the way, a stock HD license plate bracket looks extremely olde fashioned and correct.

more to follow.

[RagMan]

We definitely need to see pictures, Sam..  hopefully you have a camera.

[Sam]

allrightie, I'll attempt to post something this evening.

More notes; the fender mounting bracket appears to have the fender mounting hole in a really wrong place; a little hacksaw action on the bracket appears in order as well as it's about 1" too long. What on earth was this made for, anyway?

The photo shows a grab rail on the rear of the pillion; no rail or holes for same on the pillion pad I got, but there is a pair of mystery holes on the sides of the pad. Perhaps some of the mystery hardware in the package (I'm sure they included parts to fix the kitchen sink, as well as a toaster or two) will clear this up. I would really like a rear grab rail. Far back in time when I was a teenager I recall a young lady of my acquaintance sliding off the back of the bike that proceeded my previous Enfield (a genuine 50's vintage, but it was then less than 10 years old) and catching her inner thighs on the license plate bracket. Sadly, I never got to personally inspect the damage; and calling her mother from the hospital was not one of the highlights of my life. Since then, the relationship between pillion, license plate, and grab rail has become an important one to me.

I'm a little concerned that opening up the hole for the shoulder nut on the spring perch bracket will leave a pretty thin piece to support the seat; future reinforcement might be in order, or it might be made of some super-steel and be just fine. Perhaps someone from CMW can weigh in here? Am I missing something, or are the holes really too small?

[Sam]

OK, it's on. turn signals not installed yet, and I'm still sorting out hardware. I found out what happens if the two bolts that keep the pillion on, aren't; if falls off. Nothing fits as-is, but it's not too bad. The seat is about the same level of comfort as the comes-with dual seat, but much cooler looking. There are captive nuts under the pillion that I suspect could be used to retain saddle bags, another project. Look closely at the spring mounting; this took forever to figure out.

If anybody wants details of the install, PM me. I'm going riding. finally. probably to the hardware store.



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