Eddie,
PEI was long gone at that point. He left the works in 1949. Cheers!
PEI was long gone at that point. He left the works in 1949. Cheers!
Series D Seats
- Thread starter Phil Mahood
- Start date
On the original thread it mentions the seat pan being to short or not reaching the rear cowl. I have in the box of bits 2 enclosed seat hinges both are different in as much that the angles have been forced at sometime, could this be the answer? Looking at the Maughan seat pan compared to mine, it's identicle in every way. I did on my seat cut out a piece of tin plate the shape of the oil filler cap and also raised it about .75 inch, then brazed it in so that should the filler cap breath to heavily the oil would not soak into the sponge.
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Thanks to davidd for his answers, as said above what a lot of knowledge there is here.
I have had an enquiry for my seat pan so it may have a new home soon. It has prompted me to think of what else I have that would be better on a bike rather than on my garage shelf. I don't have much but it could be just what someone is looking for, and it is unlikely that I would buy another Vincent now.
I have had an enquiry for my seat pan so it may have a new home soon. It has prompted me to think of what else I have that would be better on a bike rather than on my garage shelf. I don't have much but it could be just what someone is looking for, and it is unlikely that I would buy another Vincent now.
Hi All,
I have an unused heavy steel pan which looks similar to Don's picture.
It will sit on my rearcowl but I have never considered using it as the upstand around its edges looks lethal.
My "original" seat has a rounded steel pan but as it had rust, as well as hard foam and cover, I managed to find a glassfibre based seat, possibly from Conway's in Chas Guy's day. This had a soft foam and cover and after very few miles was excruciating, feeling as if I was sitting astride a fence top. I think the soft cover was riding up and bunching in the middle. The glassfibre based seat was made before Phil set up WCS, so I can't blame him. I replaced the seat with a home made one comprising a flat fibreglass base (skilfully cut from the side of a solidly made water tank) fitted with the foam and cover from a proprietary "king and queen" seat. These were sold for use on unit Triumphs and Kawasakis. See avatar. The base is cut out to miss the oil cap and wheel arch and simply bridges the tool tray. The standard hinge is bolted to a 10swg aluminium angle plate fitted to the front of the base. The foam, which is longer that cutout in the rear cowl, is relieved to sit over the wheel arch and the top cap of the cowl and nothing else locates it. It hinges up and folds down straight without the need for a catch. I find that my specially developed posterior prevent it from lifting or moving once I am sitting. The cover was extended to allow it to tuck under the base and to isolate the glassfibre & foam from the paint. It has Velcro stitched all around to grip the other side of the Velcro stuck to the base. The vinyl seems to have protected the paint adequately for some years and several miles.
As I was not the Knight's first owner I cannot state for sure that the round based seat was factory fitted but it seems more than likely. None of it seemed fit to reuse, except possibly for patterns, so I have never dismantled it. The steel has rusted but appears to have been a much lighter gauge than the folded base.
Cheers,
I have an unused heavy steel pan which looks similar to Don's picture.
It will sit on my rearcowl but I have never considered using it as the upstand around its edges looks lethal.
My "original" seat has a rounded steel pan but as it had rust, as well as hard foam and cover, I managed to find a glassfibre based seat, possibly from Conway's in Chas Guy's day. This had a soft foam and cover and after very few miles was excruciating, feeling as if I was sitting astride a fence top. I think the soft cover was riding up and bunching in the middle. The glassfibre based seat was made before Phil set up WCS, so I can't blame him. I replaced the seat with a home made one comprising a flat fibreglass base (skilfully cut from the side of a solidly made water tank) fitted with the foam and cover from a proprietary "king and queen" seat. These were sold for use on unit Triumphs and Kawasakis. See avatar. The base is cut out to miss the oil cap and wheel arch and simply bridges the tool tray. The standard hinge is bolted to a 10swg aluminium angle plate fitted to the front of the base. The foam, which is longer that cutout in the rear cowl, is relieved to sit over the wheel arch and the top cap of the cowl and nothing else locates it. It hinges up and folds down straight without the need for a catch. I find that my specially developed posterior prevent it from lifting or moving once I am sitting. The cover was extended to allow it to tuck under the base and to isolate the glassfibre & foam from the paint. It has Velcro stitched all around to grip the other side of the Velcro stuck to the base. The vinyl seems to have protected the paint adequately for some years and several miles.
As I was not the Knight's first owner I cannot state for sure that the round based seat was factory fitted but it seems more than likely. None of it seemed fit to reuse, except possibly for patterns, so I have never dismantled it. The steel has rusted but appears to have been a much lighter gauge than the folded base.
Cheers,
I have a modified seat on my Prince. It is extended over the rear hump to give better room for the passenger. The frame is glassfibre. Most important - the hinge is on the side of the seat, not in the front, which means good stability sidewards. The latch is on the other side. The seat works very well.
Just a thought with regards to all the discussion on clips etc. to hold the seat down and central. Several of the pictures show clips which have screws or bolts placed centrally in the downward facing clip. Such raised item will stop the seat fitting flat along the top of the rear end top tubes and act as a fulcrum about which the base of the seat will try to bend. I think it would be a good idea to position any such raised item inwards of the tubes as in Paul Champion's bike.
Just a follow up to John Cone's mention of 2 different seat hinges,. In a recent D review I mentioned that Dave Hill's had written to say the factory produced over the period 3 different types of D seat hinges.
Tony Cording
Tony Cording
Hi
If you are talking about the photos I posted using rigid pvc, this doesn't appear to be a problem at least on my bike. The seat side pvc is fixed with pop rivets which have hardly any projection and the frame side pvc is a very tight fit on the frame. When the seat is clipped into position it is very positively located and whilst there is a very small gap between the seat and rail, there is none at the front of the seat and when someone sits on the seat the gap disappears almost completely. The seat base is fibreglass so there must be some deflection but it's minimal. I suppose it depends on the individual bike ie the seat, frame, hinge combination but it works for me.
Mac
I asked Dave Hills about D Seats and was suprised to learn all Series D's were originally built with those terrible metal mesh things. As early as 1956 the metal was coming apart, breaking, etc. and Harper's had to find other suppliers for replacement seats with foam squibs, as the original builder either couldn't or wouldn't do the job. Hence, all the variations and the hinge nuts in different locations. I hope, I got this right. Check with Dave if needed for better info.
Cheers, John
Cheers, John
Just found out today how to shorten the enclosed seat so that you have a large gap at the rear. Just try to lift the rear cowl without lifting the seat over the tank first. I had to remove the hing completly and reconfigure the part that screws into the seat. Won't do that again in a hurry.