02 Nov Hell On (Two) Wheels 17 – The Hot Seat
The seat is back from the upholsterer, so it’s time for an update!
We’ve been so caught up with all the other action taking place in the shop, that we almost forgot to post this! Either way, some time passed after sending the seat out to the upholsterers, and we busied ourselves in other aspects of both the bike and other projects. Not too long ago, however, the owner of the other shop swung by in person to drop off what we’d all been waiting for — our new custom two-up seat. Not only will it fill out the lines on the bike correctly (as the old seat wasn’t meant for a completely custom rear end), but it looks absolutely fabulous.
You’re right; that’s just the bottom side. Before we get to the money shots, we wanted to show you some in-progress pics taken by the upholsterer himself. Now, bear in mind that these are cell phone shots, so the quality isn’t 10/10, but it still gets the point across as to how it’s made. First, they lay down a thinner layer of less cushiony material. As they go, they decrease the relative firmness of the material, so you get a seat that feels comfortable to sit on, but isn’t so soft that it makes you uncomfortable for long periods of time. Once the padding was in place, they started prepping and cutting the leather to cover the seat. We chose to go with a diamond-stitch pattern for both the passengers’ seats, with regular leather covering everything else. If you’re interested in knowing more about the guys over at Mass Customs that are doing this kind of work (and they do more than just upholstery), give us a ring at 815-230-2900 and we’ll point you in the right direction. Here are the progress pictures:
Upon seeing the seat in its finished form, we were blown away by it. Not only is the leather probably the softest they could find, it’s all hand-sewn with contrasting white stitches, and it truly looks like no other seat on the market, especially for the Vulcan (which doesn’t have the largest aftermarket support). Following the lines of the skeleton we made, the front nestles up nicely against the fuel tank. Overall, we were really blown away, and after some quick fitment and sit-down testing, the feel matches the look.
Of course, the seat isn’t all that’s left. We still have a few more things to knock off the list. They’re not as intense as building a seat skeleton from scratch, but they’re still important. First, we received a new rear turn signal assembly from the owner of the bike (as the old one was cracked beyond repair), so we test-fit the lamps in the back to make sure we have wiring of the proper length, and to make sure the fender is shaped correctly. Both came up Milhouse. We also added an extra piece of bracing to the inside of the fender, just to make sure the weight of the two passengers didn’t risk buckling it at all.
Next, as we had to change the position of the front fender in order to match the new 19″ narrowglide wheel, we removed the old brackets (which we covered in a previous HOTW), and now finally we’ve created a new set and welded them onto the fender. It was relatively simple in nature; we fashioned the bracket itself that holds the fender to the suspension forks, then we went about test-fitting everything to make sure it all mated up correctly, then we welded it into place.
And that about covers today’s installment of Hell On (Two) Wheels. We’re just about there with the bike, but we have a couple episodes of this saga left to post, so stick around and we’ll bring it back soon! Otherwise, have an excellent weekend, and don’t forget to set your clocks back on Sunday!
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