So riding around with the gauge cover instead of the windshield left me facing a lot more wind, and the style of seating doesn't really work for lots of windblast. I decided to look into a backrest, and once again any accessory from BRP is lots of money. OEM seemed to range from $350 to $400, with aftermarket units to be had for around $200. Much more than I thought a bit of vinyl and some padding should cost. So I did my usual and made one. Actually, I modified one. Picked up a backrest kit for a harley road king off ebay for $37. Yup, literally a tenth of what BRP wants.
seat by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
I cut out the stuff that didn't look like it would work, and added metal as needed to come up with this. Honestly pretty trivial mod. Note that I took these pics before paint so you can see how unamazing the welds are. This seatback mount is wider than would fit in the bike so I took the sides off which let it fit perfectly. Note also that in these pics I took out the plastic sleeve that actually goes around the seat post. I then added a bit more metal down the back and welded wings on that to go into slots in the bike to add a bit of lateral rigidity and because I'm at home and bored. Wasn't particularly neeeded. I then added a bit of bent 1/8" strap to the front which is the actual mount. Since it was only an eighth of an inch I decided to weld a nut on the back side instead of thread the metal itself. As usual for my mods, zero changes were made to the bike itself, and I used all existing holes, tabs, slots, etc. Oh yeah, the biggest challenge here was that I had something curing being clamped in my bench vise and an aluminum blade in my big bandsaw so fixturing, bending and cutting was exciting.
Side View
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Bottom View
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Back view
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
The hole is there for aerodynamics and weight reduction, balance and a way to hang it when painting. Also the bracket I cut up to make this had the hole preinstalled.
The area this mounts in
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
In place and you can see where the bolt goes to lock it in.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Bolted in with seatpost installed
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Post installed showing location relative to back of driver's seat
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Fully installed (not really, I still had to take it out for paint
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Is it as awesome as the fully adjustable $400 units? No. Is it the greatest quality backed by a 5 year manufacturer warranty and a guarantee not to get your cat pregnant? Nope. But it's $40. I adjusted the angle of the bends in the seatpost to move it where I want it, and it has about 4" of height adjustability. Good enough for me. Right now there's no positive retention for the seatpost so anyone that wants to can just pull it up and out. However, who would do that? If seatback theft becomes a recurring problem I could run a bolt in the bottom of the seatpost to stop it. However, I'd have to have 9 stolen before it costs me as much as the OEM part.
seat by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrI cut out the stuff that didn't look like it would work, and added metal as needed to come up with this. Honestly pretty trivial mod. Note that I took these pics before paint so you can see how unamazing the welds are. This seatback mount is wider than would fit in the bike so I took the sides off which let it fit perfectly. Note also that in these pics I took out the plastic sleeve that actually goes around the seat post. I then added a bit more metal down the back and welded wings on that to go into slots in the bike to add a bit of lateral rigidity and because I'm at home and bored. Wasn't particularly neeeded. I then added a bit of bent 1/8" strap to the front which is the actual mount. Since it was only an eighth of an inch I decided to weld a nut on the back side instead of thread the metal itself. As usual for my mods, zero changes were made to the bike itself, and I used all existing holes, tabs, slots, etc. Oh yeah, the biggest challenge here was that I had something curing being clamped in my bench vise and an aluminum blade in my big bandsaw so fixturing, bending and cutting was exciting.
Side View
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrBottom View
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrBack view
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrThe hole is there for aerodynamics and weight reduction, balance and a way to hang it when painting. Also the bracket I cut up to make this had the hole preinstalled.
The area this mounts in
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrIn place and you can see where the bolt goes to lock it in.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrBolted in with seatpost installed
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrPost installed showing location relative to back of driver's seat
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrFully installed (not really, I still had to take it out for paint
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrIs it as awesome as the fully adjustable $400 units? No. Is it the greatest quality backed by a 5 year manufacturer warranty and a guarantee not to get your cat pregnant? Nope. But it's $40. I adjusted the angle of the bends in the seatpost to move it where I want it, and it has about 4" of height adjustability. Good enough for me. Right now there's no positive retention for the seatpost so anyone that wants to can just pull it up and out. However, who would do that? If seatback theft becomes a recurring problem I could run a bolt in the bottom of the seatpost to stop it. However, I'd have to have 9 stolen before it costs me as much as the OEM part.
