GS500 cafe racer seat

[dan9146]

Hi everyone

Looking for some wisdom regarding fitting a cafe racer style seat to a 2011 gs500e. I've watched youtube videos and asked around on facebook but if anyone here has put a cafe racer style seat on their gs I'd love to hear how you did it.

I'm happy to cut the frame to remove that end section of the seat frame, and happy to make a hoop or flat semi-circle to fit the end of the seat frame after cutting, but i'm not sure how to:

- go about attaching the the hoop or flat piece to the end of the frame (weld or bolt?)
- how to attach the brake and tail lights (and will i need to buy aftermarkets?)
- are the aftermarket LED light bars visible enough for traffic?
- and where to find a cafe racer seat that will fit the frame well?

I've got lots more questions as this will be my first customisation on a bike but i'll start with these. If anyone has any knowledge I'd love to hear from you it would be a great help.

Cheers
Dan

[ShowBizWolf]

I'm sure you'll get some replies... but if you haven't already, look around in the Projects/Builds section. There are quite a few detailed threads showing what you're talking about. I bet you'll find at least a couple of them pretty helpful.

Welcome to the forum 

[dan9146]

thanks mate! I'll have a look now

[Sporty]

The rear hoop is welded on. Often a piece of smaller tubing or solid rod is inserted in joint of the frame and the hoop so it reinforces the connection.

Most of the owner made seat I've seen on these pages slope down to the tank. This seems undesirable to me.  @SK Racing is making a more level seat in that build.

[dan9146]

Thanks for the reply! I'll check out SK racing. Is there any specific reason a hoop shape is used as opposed to a straight bar?

[Sporty]

Is there any specific reason a hoop shape is used as opposed to a straight bar?

I'd say the main reason is to match the shape of the seat.

With bobber builds, the frame is often just cut off and the ends plugged.