Seat mod to T100

[wobblygong]

Not wishing to hi-jack Articsea's superb thread of his 'winter mod" which I've been following with interest, if nothing else, I thought I'd copy his seat mod. (Artic, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery).

I have, for a long time, been dissatisfied with the stock Bonnie seat. After about 200 kms, my 62 year old butt is screaming out at me to "get off this fucking bike..NOW!"
After much deliberation, I've ordered a Thruxton Gel seat from the U.S. which should arrive in a couple of weeks. With this in mind, I picked up a Thrux seat cowel off flea-bay cheap but... it's fire engine red.
No matter, I want to paint it the Centennial model Lucifer Orange anyway.
Today, I dropped the tank and the seat cowel off at the Paint Shop with instructions to replicate the paint job of the tank, Lucifer Orange/Silver stripes with gold pin-striping, onto the cowel.

This is a very rough masking tape mock up of what I hope to achieve.
Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions would be appreciated.

Of course, the silver stripes will taper back towards the rear as it does on the tank.

Cheers all,
wobbly:australia:

 

[wobblygong]

Another pic of the seat & cowel. Stripes are masking tape and finished product will taper back to rear.
The seat shown is stock seat and cowel will sit slightly forward of where it is.

 

[musicswapshoppe]

You prob dont want to hear this. But I dont reckon Thruxton gel seat is any different than stock in comfort. Hope i am wrong but i reckon you would have been better off with a Corbin.

 

[wobblygong]

I wholeheartedly agree Dave, but unfortunately the price of the Corbin is prohibitive.
If I can get another 50-60 kms out of the gel seat before my butt complains, I'll be content with that. After 250 kms I'm looking for fuel, a coffee and a stretch.

 

[musicswapshoppe]

Just a suggestion with Cowl mate. why not start it wide like the tank and then follow the slim pattern in, and then swing it to outside, similar to tank,? reckon that would be the business.

 

[otherwise]

My suggestion, take the F & R mud guards in as well. Like the original 1969 have them painted the opposite to the tank, IE, silver with an orange 1 inch stripe and gold pin stripe. Then have the seat cowl orange but with the same 1 inch stripe up the centre, also with the gold pin stripe.

 

[jeddy-3]

My suggestion, take the F & R mud guards in as well. Like the original 1969 have them painted the opposite to the tank, IE, silver with an orange 1 inch stripe and gold pin stripe. Then have the seat cowl orange but with the same 1 inch stripe up the centre, also with the gold pin stripe.

Agreed. If I were getting some paint matched anyway you can bet your butt the fenders would be sitting at that shop getting the proper treatment.

Personally, I think seat cowls on non racing machines are silly. Add a grab rail to the mix and its even sillier. If someone with a seat cowl ever stopped and complained about their butt hurting I don't know what I'd come up with....

But hey, if it makes you smile then by all means.

 

[otherwise]

I have a mate with a black, white T100. He had the mud guards done with the wide white stripe and the matching gold pinstripe, it really looks finished off. I'll look for a photo.

 

[otherwise]

Found one.

 

[klink]

I have a Cent also and I agree with Otherwise. I added matching stripes to the mudguards and it finished the look. If I remember the Cent was produced to celebrate the event and patterned after the 69 with that same paint scheme. Only thing was Triumph didn't finish what we thought should have been done. I have a friend who has pics of his 69 and my Cent together and you will see what I'm talking about. Now to find my friend and get him to post.

Edit: Managed to find one with my bike alone. Enjoy

 

[strokerlmt]

Wobb....my penny....as you look at the rear shot cowl towards tank......
Take the narrowest width of the tank stripe.....start on the cowl with that width then taper the cowl stripes down to 3/8 nch + at the rear of the cowl.
Just a thought.
LMT

 

[Bonneville09er]

Found one.

hey there. do you have anymore pics of this bike? rear fender too? i have the same color scheme and wanted to do this over the winter but could not picture it. thanks and much appreciated, Erik.

 

[musicswapshoppe]

I have to say the Centennial is to me a great colour scheme already and being limited, I would not touch the fenders. I reckon keep paint scheme original. Cowl is ok as that can always be removed, but I personally would be trying to maintain originality as much as possible. Doing a night ride again on 26th. If can make it wobbly, your welcome to stay overnight and can try out my Anniversary seat. We could also play around with a paint program to try different stripes on yr cowl.

 

[Craigore]

Looks great so far. Thrux seat + cowl on a Bonnie look HOT.

 

[otherwise]

hey there. do you have anymore pics of this bike? rear fender too? i have the same color scheme and wanted to do this over the winter but could not picture it. thanks and much appreciated, Erik.

Will get a couple for you after I go and have a beer with my mate, later this week or on the weekend.

 

[thearcticsea]

Hey man, I like what you're doing.

Go with your original thought, as it's usually the best.

Post pics when done!! : )

 

[wobblygong]

Thanks for your comments guys.

Music, we leave Oz this Sunday and on 26th we will be in Canada. Be back in Sydney on Apr 26 after 5 week fly/drive tour of North America. Sorry can't make the night ride.

Paint Shop guy, MJ, has got my tank & seat cowel for 5 weeks. I'll make a final decision on the paint scheme before I leave. I just thought I'd float it out there with you guys. I've taken onboard all your suggestions.

otherwise & klink, like the idea of the stripe on the fenders. I'll think about that for a later job.

Jeddy3, I hear where you're coming from with the seat cowel/non racing bike combination but I've seen a lot of modified T100s on this and other forums with seat cowels (like the John Player bike) and I just like the look. Personal choice I guess but I still respect your point of view. If I tire of the look one day down the track, I'll chuck it and go with something else.
Music changes seats on his bike like he changes underdaks, don't you Dave?

Craigore, did you manage to find a Thruxton gel seat yet? After the demise of madss, I got mine from North County Yamaha. Good price too. It should arrive while I'm o/s. (on that, Liberty Yellow cabs accomodated me for our early morning trip over to Buffalo).

LMT, your idea is what I was going for. I'll run it past MJ today.

Articsea, I value your opinion man. Pity Boston is not on our proposed route. I would've enjoyed checking out your bike and meeting up with you, of course. I am still following you mod post with anticipation.

Cheers,
wobbly

 

[Nick Morey]

Late to this I know, but I think that will look sharp when done. Now that seat cowl pops right off with a couple of screws in the seat in case you have a pillion rider, right?

 

[klink]

I have to say the Centennial is to me a great colour scheme already and being limited, I would not touch the fenders. I reckon keep paint scheme original. Cowl is ok as that can always be removed, but I personally would be trying to maintain originality as much as possible. Doing a night ride again on 26th. If can make it wobbly, your welcome to stay overnight and can try out my Anniversary seat. We could also play around with a paint program to try different stripes on yr cowl.

I agree with that 100%. Is why I went and found 2 re-placements and did those. Originals stored.

Wobbly - thanks for considering and good luck on your project.

 

[wobblygong]

Late to this I know, but I think that will look sharp when done. Now that seat cowl pops right off with a couple of screws in the seat in case you have a pillion rider, right?

Thanks Nick. Yeah, that's right, 2 screws either side of the seat and a tab which hooks under the back of the seat.
Of course what'll happen next is that I won't like the combination of the TORS peashooter style mufflers with the Thruxification of the top of the bike and want to go with an upswept muffler.....and it goes on and on...!
I know that's a departure from the traditional look of a Bonneville T100 but I started it with the changeover to the Thruxton rear fender. No goin' back now!
Good thing is, I've kept every part I've changed and can change back if urge arises. Eventually, I'll have enough parts to build a new bike.:woot: The missus will be pleased..........not!