Kawasaki 454 bobber build - I have zero idea what I'm doing

[mclarkson]

[Angelking]

I bought a 454 LTD new back in the day. Always enjoyed riding that bike. Looking forward to seeing yours built.


AK

[shovelpan69]

looking good bud keep it up

[mclarkson]

Thanks. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that my seat just ain't gonna work. It looks fine but the way I followed the shape of the frame means that there's a super-uncomfortable ridge that hits you right in the tail bone. Now I'm noodlin' about how to fix things.

[mclarkson]

Hopefully, this will help.

[mclarkson]

I used some aircraft stripper to get rid of the old paint.


Honestly, I love the look of the flat black primer. Do I have to put on a top coat?


Looks okay, but I'm gonna have to build a seat (and get a haircut!)

[RussellM]

That's coming along nicely. That tank looks nice stripped back.

I did cringe a little when you started cuttin in to that classic lunch box, that would have to be a collectors item. But it certainly adds something to the bike.

[mclarkson]

I know. The thing is, it was in really crappy condition. The paint was rubbed off on most of the faces. It was rusty and smelly. It was in the worst possible shape. If I'd have thought I could get $10-$20 for it, I might have thought about it. As it was, it only had worth to me, cuz it was my first grade lunch box. I couldn't find a good use for it. This way, at least, I get to use it for something.

[mclarkson]

Since the first seat pan was unbearably uncomfortable, I cut off some bits of the frame and started on a 2nd seat pan. First, I laid some Dollar Tree foamboard down.

I covered the area with duct tape and hosed the duct tape down with a generous helping of WD-40 to act as a mold release agent.






It looks more like the poorly-tanned hide of a smelly beast than a seat pan.

[mclarkson]

I came home from buying some new valve stem covers for the bike to find my puppy chewing on one of my son's old toys, a little guy called a U.B. Funkey. He was really into them for a year or two before he outgrew them and they stopped being a thing. I looked at it and thought, 'That thing's head would make a cool custom valve stem cover!' So I went back to the auto parts store and bought another set of valve stem covers - their cheapest.

Back home, I popped the heads off a couple of my favorites, drilled out the neck holes to accommodate the new valve stem covers, and then shoved the one into the other with a dollop of epoxy to keep things in place. Viola!

[mclarkson]

I bought an EVA yoga mat for about $13. The plan is to cut it up and glue it onto the seat pan in layers.

[Alabaster]

When I read the first post, I thought by saying you had zero budget, you were looking for a cop out.. Then I remembered this is ChopCult. Rock on, man. Your project is getting rad. Love the lunch box. My sister collects them and would cringe if she saw that. I love it. Looking forward to the progression.

[mclarkson]

Thanks. I'm definitely perpetually broke, but I'ma try to keep going, one piece at a time.

[mclarkson]

To make a seat cover that fits my weird one-off seat, I covered everything in masking tape, sketched out the seam lines, then pulled the tape off and stuck it to some posterboard.


Then, I cut out the shapes and pulled the tape back off of the posterboard to create my template / pattern.

[TravelingBone]

Nice build. I think you might have more skill/talent than you think. In any case, it's an interesting build and I'm curious to see how it turns out.