you guys win

[davidhirsch]

 ok, all of you over the 5 foot five mark win,  i just a bought an 82 vision and i still cant touch the ground.
   I started this project with a bike, some web sites and a pile of money. So far i did the stator thing  ,as well as the wire solder . I also did the kawasaki r/r swap , for good reason, it worked better the the oem.
   i have cut, polished, washed waxed and corrected all of the patches to her wires that have been so strangely affixed to her over her life. (57.35 for all new wires, replaced all ,one at a time )taped and wire ties everyone , but i still cant reach the pavement when i stop without leaning .
  I really need some help on what to do about the seat level. do you know of any mods for the single piece seat i can get away with , or do i give up and pay west coast chopper for the aftermarket low boy, corbin quit making the wrangler seat , so i am at a loss .... help

[Humber]

while restoring your seat... I mean reskinning.. u may also change your seat pad... and lower it somehow...

the seat I bought the bike with was modified in this way, it was much much lower and I can feel the difference after installing OEM pad.

I am 193 cm tall.... still prefer lower seat... will change things after my restoration project

[Lucky]

I seem to remember hearing of someone raising the forks up into the tripple trees about 2 inches. (loosen the clamps, slid them up) It was a long time ago, & i'm sorry, but I don't remember details, what effect it had on handling, etc, or if the bike would even stay on the side stand... or even if it's a good idea, but it might be something worth looking into...

--Lucky

[Rick G]

My friend has a Vision Racer that has a lowered seat, , you just need  a good upholstery shop .
Luckys idea will work ,BUT the lower it goes the quicker the handling will become.
 As for me ,I'm inseam challenged  (29 inch) so even though I'm 5' 9 1/2 "  I cant reach ,with out straining on anything I WANT to ride . As  a wrench  you learn to ride all sorts of bikes  no matter what the seat highth. I've owned a lot of neat bikes , that I had to tippy toe on  and  would of missed out on if  I let it bother me.

[kiawrench]

i finally found the registration link,, maybe time to rebuild my computer, let the vision rest for a week, spend money on a new graphics card ,,

[ArrrGeee]

thats just weird.
I'm only 5'7 and I've never had any problems getting both feet on the ground on either of my 83 visions or my 81 seca 750.

a trick that I'm told to get some more ground under your feet
is to pop the seat cover off and give the foam a bit of a shave
with your favorite electric carving knife.
this is a technique I've read about on the web somewhere.
This woman needed her seat lowered because she couldn't
reach the ground with both feet on the bike she bought.
I believe she also lowered the forks about a half inch in the triple tree. I recommend not going more that a half inch tho' due to the change in handling.


good luck
-Ron

[kiawrench]

Ron,
 ?guest davidhirsch, found the registration link, user name is kiawrench--
 ? i just barely cross the 5 foot tall mark, that seven inch advantage you have on me may be a bit of an advantage, ha-ha .
 ? ?there is a custom shop near here , and luckily the owners wife still reworks seats . I spent some time on the phone with her last night, she told me where to find a few more visions in a parts yard ? What we are going to do is sort of what you had in mind, I am going to go get the torn up, nearly rotten seat off of the 82 they have there, strip,sandblast ,prime and paint the seat pan- then we are going to install it onto my bike, then she is going to design the seat to my best advantage. With any luck,I should be able to gain those extra 2 inches I need. This way if something goes wrong, i still have my new oem seat and can ride home. Her idea is to mount the other seat pan, find out if it sets me to the ground, i just need about 1 1/2 inch lower , then she is going to mark exactly where i sit as far as front to rear . The final phase is her favorite, if it still is not low enough, she is going to cut the pan ,one inch in from the edge,shape a new crown and reweld it in under the pan, rolling the top in to create an additional 1 inch in seat drop. sort of forcing the seat to be almost onto the frame ?on the bottom .
The last step is blanking and padding , the font half will just be a gel pad, 1/2 thick nested in seat foam ,and then building the rear up with foam and blocking to create the stepped seat /short backrest like a saddleman or travelcade seat .
 ?my favorite part of all of this is , she only charges 60.00 to rework a factory seat, plus the cost of the gel pad, another 30.00 from my local medical supply shop. (those are used to provide gel pad cushions on wheel chairs, a boon to those confined)So by this time next week i hope to have a semi factory pan and custom cover/pad ?on my new toy.Now if i could just figure out how to reduce the shimmy and stop my fork seal leak.

[Rick G]

The shimmy is probably worn  T stem bearings , a set of tapered rollers might be in order!.
By the way be VERY certain that the new seat pan clears the fuse box . if all else fails  relocate it farther forward.

[ArrrGeee]

Hi David,
thats cool, sounds like a fun project.
I can't say for sure on the 82's but my 83 seat pan is plastic.
don't know if that'll make it easier or harder.
good luck on the seat rework.


Rick is right on the shimmy, check the steering head bearings
fix the fork leak etc. that should do it if the front tire is in good shape.

-Ron

[Rick G]

You just rang a bell Ron, all the seat pans are plastic. Some how I don't think modifying  it is going to be very successful, but if you succeed let us know about it.

[kiawrench]

oh happy day,,, oh happy day !!! i can reach the ground  now , it just cost more than she quoted on the phone .
   I have just spent most of the day watching a short, nearsighted lady in her 50s  take a beat up plastic vision oem pan , and then empty my wallet.
  all she used my junkyard pan for was locating the hinges and the latch , everything else was made right there, the seat is done , now a full 2 inches lower than stock. The gel pad i got from the medical store was used, with a slim backer and a felt top cover, i now have a 2 piece seat ,mounted directly on the frame rails with pegs and clips , no more easy access to my regulator switch set . the rear pad was just scavenged from another seat project, it sits about three inches taller than the front section, sort of making a short backrest for me . we got it on, and at first it was a bit squirrelly in the feel of the bike , but after a short ride , i was happy , and i can now put both feet on the ground ,
  oh, she quotes 60.00 for redo,, ended up at 100.00 and a quart of liquid winter resistor (guy near here still makes corn whiskey) . i think i may keep this little bike after all.
  now that i am broke, able to put my feet down and not fall sideways,, my wife wants the my vision, told me to drive the station wagon,,,, hmm any takers on slightly used wife?  

[Lucky]

hmmm, trade the wife for the kids?..lol

[kiawrench]

last note on this,,,, dont modify a stock seat pan,,, mine is now garbage,, glad i kept the stock seat that came on the bike.  
   the modified seat pan cracked,, almost got myself a nice set of high priced battle scars from it ,, bike isnt hurt any other than new starter probs, but the chopped pan is in too many places on the road to pick up all but the biggest .
  guess i should have just saved that 65.00
  will find another pan and just get a foam drop , recover ,,,,
 anyone know where gert got the seat done one the white vision on gallery page? looks like what i  really wanted anyway

[Lucky]

You mean the seat you had made ...disintigrated??!!  How did that happen? you need to at least let her know, if not get some $$ back, so she doesn't end up killing someone...

[Silver_Bullet]

I know what you guys are talking about, only 5' 7" and can just get the balls of my feet to touch.  Sat on a friend's brand new Goldwing and could stand flat footed! Couldn't believe it!  The more you ride, the less you find that it's necessary to touch both feet flat.  The professional school I attended recommended that you stop with right foot on rear brake and left foot down, so that works fine for me.  Take care.

Mark

[Rick G]

Like I said befor , being able to touch the ground with both feet flat  is NOT that important . Practice makes  perfect! Look at the motocross bikes with a 35 to 37 inch seat height, I feel like  alittle kid on his first 26" bicycle.

[Rick G]

Hey Wrench , The vision racer I was talking about, has a lowered seat. I'll get pics of it and send them along if you want, the seat pan is stock on it!
I was very leary of cutting that plastic pan , I can't see how it would retain enough strength  to function for long.

[kiawrench]

seat trouble fixed--
1. ?got a free seat pan from lady that messed first one up
2. bought 1 yard of sew foam from marine seat ?guru
3. bought one yard of heavy black marine grade pleather, buffalo print
4. rebuilt new seat
 ?A.
 strip old stuff , glue in seat  wide strip of sew foam , let ? ? ? dry , weigh down with grain sack, or big bag of dog food, to get seat pan shape trim overhang off of ends make parts for b.
 b.
 ?glue in two trimmed bars ?at up angles, then another  wide strip of sew foam
 ?cut 10x 12 block under my seating position, add in my gel pad ?cure overnight
c. apply last layer, seat wide strip of  sew foam to seat stack, glue and press with weights (bags of whatever)
 d. this part is the trick to making good seat - i put thin layer of batting on foam block and covered with 36 inch x 22 inch pleather(vinyl top sheet ) then flipped it over onto top of grain bag.this was pulled of of bench onto large cardboard panel and placed under side of my truck. i put small bottle jack onto scrap lumber and then used this as a compression block to squeeze all of my parts into one tight space, then i stapled around all sides.
 e. once edges are tacked, ,i released seat from press, then pulled,cursed and begged it around every edge, curve and corner until i had a solid line of staples around entire seat pan, finished it with some liquid tape, to prevent rust on staples and a double layer of black duct tape to protect paint as time goes by.

 ?my result was a seat i can ride on, and feel as if am part of the bike , as well as one that looks like i just acquired a lot of cash my wife didnt know about. it is as good , or better than a lot of customs i saw sunday at the riders meet and greet. will be putting this all into a file , step by step with pictures as soon as i can , so all can do similar if they want . i thought it was hard, but really is easy . thanks ?have to be given to west texas outlaw custom motorcycles for the general procedure, and to purina dog chow for that 50 lb bag of dry kibble,,, uh , my seat press ?. also to my wife for providing extra set of hands when stapler, vinyl and foam needed more hands than i got on my birthday