Sorry to nag at this again. I have an '89 with a 2007 tank on it. Someone here mentioned that the later seat with wrap 'round ears' (to match the later type tank scallops) won't fit the '89 frame.
Can I clarify WHERE doesn't it fit? Is it that the seat won't fit/attach to the frame... different mounting points? Or is it that the later seat doesn't fit the 98 type sidepanels.
The earlier seat I have (which needs recovering) fits, but doesn't look right with the tank, so as I have to spend money anyway, I thought it's best to try to get a good used later type seat. Maybe I could adapt mount points if this is the issue, or if it's the sidepanels I could do some glassing to reshape them.
Cheers,
Jools
Quote from: Joolstacho on November 03, 2013, 08:13:13 PM
Sorry to nag at this again. I have an '89 with a 2007 tank on it. Someone here mentioned that the later seat with wrap 'round ears' (to match the later type tank scallops) won't fit the '89 frame.
Can I clarify WHERE doesn't it fit? Is it that the seat won't fit/attach to the frame... different mounting points? Or is it that the later seat doesn't fit the 98 type sidepanels.
The earlier seat I have (which needs recovering) fits, but doesn't look right with the tank, so as I have to spend money anyway, I thought it's best to try to get a good used later type seat. Maybe I could adapt mount points if this is the issue, or if it's the sidepanels I could do some glassing to reshape them.
Cheers,
Jools
The frame on the newer bike is slightly different where it attaches to the seat. different mounting points.
The side covers of the 89-00 dont fit with the 01+ seat.
The 01+ side covers dont look right with the 89-00 seat.
The tank ... all years fit the seat and side covers ... only the side covers and seat affect each other.
Cool.
Buddha.
I have a 2013 Tank on my 1990 GS500 with the original shaped seat and it looks fine. There are pictures around here somewhere but CBF looking
Thanks lads, now I've got the answers I need. I think I might slightly remodel the '89 seat to cut down most of that that upward front curve that sits up against the tank. (It's a bollock-crusher anyway, and it doesn't quite look right).
Cheers, Jools
Here
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/05/y9y6u7um.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/05/me4ybu8e.jpg)
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Brilliant mate, thanks for going to the trouble of posting the pics.
My plan is to cut off the front bollock crusher, and trim the seat along a line that matches the top 'scallop' line on the tank, just a little higher than that final seam on yours.
I'll post pics when I get it done. (Now, where can I steal an industrial sewing machine?)
-Jools
It all fits together without an issue. You just need to make up a little mounting tab because the tail plastics of the '00+ bikes didn't contact the tank where the 89-00 they did. It's a small thing, don't let it steer you away from a newer tank! And the old style seat is going to take a little (and I do mean little) amount of finesse to make latch in there. You just have to be a little forceful instead of it just slipping into the lock
There was some pics and an instructional by ben2go I think about making a grommet carrier bracket for the front grommet push in on the 89-00 plastic.
Cool.
Buddha.
Actually I don't think that front grommet fixing on the sidepanel will be a problem, it's reasonably secure without it, and anyway your thighs would hold it in pretty well as you ride. The new tank being a different shape at the rear, does push back a bit on the front tip of the seat which puckers up the seat foam, that's one of the reasons why I'll cut it down a bit.
I have bought and fitted a later tank, and it's great knowing there's no rust in there at all. (The old tank was a pepperpot!)
Quote from: Joolstacho on November 05, 2013, 04:15:08 PM
Actually I don't think that front grommet fixing on the sidepanel will be a problem, it's reasonably secure without it, and anyway your thighs would hold it in pretty well as you ride. The new tank being a different shape at the rear, does push back a bit on the front tip of the seat which puckers up the seat foam, that's one of the reasons why I'll cut it down a bit.
I have bought and fitted a later tank, and it's great knowing there's no rust in there at all. (The old tank was a pepperpot!)
I dont have the grommets on the front of my plastics and there is no issue at all. As you said your thighs hold them on anyway. :thumb:
Oh forgot something else important! You need to "fabricate" 2 spacers for the back. The '01+ had a slightly more upswept tail section of the frame. The new style seat will rest about 1.5" above the rear seat support tab thing. I painted 2 wooden blocks black and then attached them to the frame. Problem solved. You don't need to do that if you only ride solo, but if you put a passenger on it without those blocks, I can say with about 95% certainty, you're going to crack the seat pan :nono:
THX for the input guys. I decided to stick with the older original seat, but I'm going to trim down that front bollock crusher so it matches up better with the tank. Waiting for a leather seat cover from England, I'll shoot some pics when I've got it done.
BTW Mustang, it might be quite feasible to bend one of these seatbases to fit using a heatgun instead of adding blocks- just an idea.
Getting jacked up now, because the bike is 'nearly there' - just need a good rear wheel and tyre, and it'll be off for inspection for historic registration. WHAT!!!
(Just between you and me)... The '89 GS500 will be 25 years old in 6 weeks time. This means it is Club/Historic reg. elegible (here in Oz anyway)... so it's $60 instead of $500 for rego.
Expect '89 prices to start rising when the secret gets out... lotsa blokes will be cottoning on to the fact that here is an essentially modern bike that's Historic reg elegible!)
(Anyone got an '89 frame to spare? :thumb:)
And it seems to me that we should do something to celebrate the fact that this is a 25 year model run... pretty amazing I reckon, a credit to Suzuki for sure.
-Jools
Yeah Joolsmine will be in the same boat soon. 1990 version...mind you a bit of a frankenstein creation...hardly original
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when i fitted the newer tank to my 89, i uncovered the front of the seat, and used a heat gun to re shape the plastic togue of the seat. Then i recovered it and, voila. I'll see if i can find pictures.
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m439/black9label13/2013-08-27210238_zps2e0946e1.jpg)
Looks good Boogieman, I like the heatgun solution.
Sweet...im going shopping for a tank now lol
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Quote from: Joolstacho on November 12, 2013, 08:31:22 PM
THX for the input guys. I decided to stick with the older original seat, but I'm going to trim down that front bollock crusher so it matches up better with the tank. Waiting for a leather seat cover from England, I'll shoot some pics when I've got it done.
BTW Mustang, it might be quite feasible to bend one of these seatbases to fit using a heatgun instead of adding blocks- just an idea.
Getting jacked up now, because the bike is 'nearly there' - just need a good rear wheel and tyre, and it'll be off for inspection for historic registration. WHAT!!!
(Just between you and me)... The '89 GS500 will be 25 years old in 6 weeks time. This means it is Club/Historic reg. elegible (here in Oz anyway)... so it's $60 instead of $500 for rego.
Expect '89 prices to start rising when the secret gets out... lotsa blokes will be cottoning on to the fact that here is an essentially modern bike that's Historic reg elegible!)
(Anyone got an '89 frame to spare? :thumb:)
And it seems to me that we should do something to celebrate the fact that this is a 25 year model run... pretty amazing I reckon, a credit to Suzuki for sure.
-Jools
The seat pan isn't the biggest problem, it's the covering on the seat. It would get stretched so hard if you had a passenger, it would rip
Well only if you try to bend it with the seat cover in place, - bend the base then cover it afterwards would be fine I reckon.
Quote
The seat pan isn't the biggest problem, it's the covering on the seat. It would get stretched so hard if you had a passenger, it would rip
uh...what?
Quote from: mustangGT90210 on November 12, 2013, 07:42:18 AM
Oh forgot something else important! You need to "fabricate" 2 spacers for the back. The '01+ had a slightly more upswept tail section of the frame. The new style seat will rest about 1.5" above the rear seat support tab thing. I painted 2 wooden blocks black and then attached them to the frame. Problem solved. You don't need to do that if you only ride solo, but if you put a passenger on it without those blocks, I can say with about 95% certainty, you're going to crack the seat pan :nono:
I think the point is that the later seat has a different 'step' angle on the base, meaning that to align with the rear catch cross bracket on the older frame the newer type seat either has to be bent down in the middle, or you need to add spacers to support the back of the seat. But then you'd have a 'fit' problem with the sidepanels probably.
That right?
BTW my older type seat fits with newer tank fine, just apart from that raised seat 'nose' that is a it too tight on the tank rear, but I'm trimming mine down so it won't be a problem.
That's correct. Because of the step angle, if you heat and bend the bottom of the new seat pan, it will fit on there good I would think. But there is not enough slack in the material that covers the seat to accomodate the new bend in the seat pan.
I tested this by pushing down where a passenger would sit. The seat pan would bend all the way down to the supports on the frame, and the material in the "step" between rider and passenger seats was extremely tight, to the point the fabric over the rider seat was sitting about an inch above the seat foam from being stretched. I have no doubts if I sat on that bike with a passenger, that seat cover would have ripped.
So I made supports and threw a petite passenger on the back :cheers:
Basically all I'm getting at is, a 1" spacer under the rear seat supports solves the issue, and keeps your seat from ripping, cracking, etc.
Update on the seat/fit etc.
Here's the bike with the leather seat cover from 'Topgaiters' (45 quid via ebay.)
Not perfect, but I'm reasonably happy with it. I cut 70mm off the base front bollock-crusher to make it blend better with the tank, aligning it with the tank 'scallop' line.
The leather is nice quality with nice stitching, and fits the seat well.
Next I'd like to get an old seatbase and modify it with fibreglass to get it to blend nicer with that tank 'scallop' shape - needs little curve/extensions at the front to 'fit into' the scallops.
(http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/17/ftvn.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/ftvn.jpg/)
Update#2.
Looks as if it's the newer type tank that causes the seat to sit up a bit at the back. Seems to me that the seat slot in the tank rear mount may be a little lower than on the older type tank, holding the seat down a bit further at the front , making it (maybe 5 - 10mm) higher at the back. It looks fine though. Works.