Several people have said that the chunky tail section requires some sort of headlight cowl or sport fairing to keep the bike from looking tail-heavy. I think it’s a valid argument. The seat was originally designed to go with the Reed Titan fairing:
I have four fairings in my parts cache, in decreasing order of size:
- Moto Guzzi 1000SP (entirely too big!)
- Nisa Swift Line (a Moto Morini accessory)
- Kawasaski AR50/80
- a generic Chinese plastic cafe headlight fairing.
After tying the first two (see links above), I gave the AR80 fairing a quick sizing-up. It’s about the right dimensions, but it really doesn’t work with the raised bars, even mounted as high as possible (note its location relative to the lower triple clamp). It really would need clip-ons to look right, and I’m more interested in comfortable ergonomics. The little generic headlight fairing would be even worse.
I decided I needed to just leave it naked. I realized that I chose the Reed Titan seat mostly because it fit my (fairly arbitrary) rear frame design. Not the way to go about it!
I’ve decided use the Reed Titan seat for the Aermacchi-Ducati Special, which it happily turns out to be quite suitable for!
As for the Problem Child, I’m heading back to the drawing board. I might revisit the idea of making my own custom seat, or I might cut and re-shape the frame to suit another, more appropriate pre-made seat. But in any case, I will stay true to my initial concept and find something with a less awkward fit.
