Anyone know what other random seats fit on the newer GS tanks well? I replaced my tail with an R1 tail a while ago, and had to replace the seat to go with it. I uncovered the front of the seat, cut it so it fit the back of the tank and recovered it. I just got one of the newer tanks and obviously the seat doesn't fit it as well. It'll still work but I'd like to get one that actually wraps around and fills some of the indent on the tank. I haven't seen too many tail swaps on newer GSs, usually just the older ones, so I'm not expecting a ton of responses, just curious if anyone's gone through it before. Here's a picture of the seat with the old tank.....
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3783060246_3187efe9fe.jpg)
Here's some pictures of the gap left with the seat. None of the random seats I saw on ebay came forward anywhere near as far as the newer GS seats, so I'll just have to take what I can get. The other thing that would help... if I can find a seat that angles down a long the bottom edge, it would let me tilt the front of the tail down a little, which would actually line it up a long the bottom rail of the subframe. It's about an inch too high to be flush with it how it is.
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4178167510_9cd85b2f1b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2644/4177407057_d3d5594480.jpg)
I'm really happy with how much wider this tank is too. The tail used to look huge compared to the old tank, but the new tank is actually in proportion with the tail.
I know it's gonna sound dumb, but the stock seat of newer models fit the newer style tank very well ;)
what you could do is get one of those seats and modify it in similar way you did with the old seat.
good luck
I did think about that, but I'm not usually too crazy about double seats cut down into a solo seat. The front half of the seat isn't shaped right to fit on my tail either with how far over the top rails it hangs down. I need a decently flat one to fit along the top of my tail. I never noticed until I started looking for new seats how far forward the GS wraps around the tank. I don't see any other seats that around that far...
(http://www.whaccessories.com/images/GimbelSoloSeat01-06GS500E.jpg)
Most seats are only curved about this much....
(http://www.sweetassseats.com/images/store_version1/suzuki06_07gsxr600cffront.jpg)
The best bet looks like an R6-R1 seat, I can't find a good picture to post though. Most likely I'll never find one that fits with the indent of the tank perfectly, but at least if I come close. Otherwise I have some black foam-rubber stuff that I may just cut and put on the tank in those spaces, it'll still give it the same look.
why not use a stock gs seat and trim the bottom of it to fit with your rear fairing? thats what I did with mine on my sv650 swap I also trimmed the back to fit with the lip like you would need to do. I also reshaped the foam at the rear of the seat using a flap-wheel in an angle grinder it needs a little finish smoothing, but here is an idea
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/jeremy_nash/Mobile%20Uploads/111209_130500.jpg)
Did you cut the back of your seat round because your tail is curved, or do you have to cut it that way because of the way the GS set is shaped? I can't find any pictures on my computer of the tail without the seat on it, but the hole in the tail is pretty much the same shape as the seat that's on it now, only an inch or two smaller. I kinda need those straight lines on a seat to make it work. The other reason I don't think a gs500 seat would work is because of how far down the sides come. That's another place I really need a clean straight line so it lays flat on the sides of the tail. I wouldn't mind one that comes down about an inch because it would let me drop the front of my tail down that inch so it lines up with the bottom of the subframe, but I don't think I could ever make the lines of the gs seat work with the tail. Note the difference in the lines of where the seat meets the tail on the two different setups....
(http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4422/shelbyold.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3783060246_3187efe9fe.jpg)
I did buy some stuff so I could learn how to build/fix things with fiberglass, but I think that's a project that's over my head at this point.
I tried it square first, but like the rounded rear better. you can cut th bottom edge of the seatpan down so it wont stick down as far