Seats and pans

If you’ve ever dealt with older Japanese machinery you’ll probably be aware that pretty much anything pre -1975 is likely to have a dodgy saddle. These earlier bikes had a seat foam made from natural latex rubber which hardens and crumbles as the material oxidises. To add some additional spice, the foam was an open cell structure which means it absorbed water. Together, this little lot will generally deliver masses of crumbly lumps that turn to dust at the slightest touch, sitting firmly upon a metal base that’s got extra holes – all in all, a rather unpleasant mess. I’m lucky in that I have an AS1 seat as they are incredibly hard to source. However, I can see that the base has some holes at its front edge which will necessitate some form of repair… the question is how do I proceed? Replacement foams are non-existent so I’ll either need to trim something else to fit or partially rework what’s there; fortunately I have a reproduction seat cover purchased years ago. Then there’s the base to consider – it’ll only withstand a gentle blast clean, otherwise it’s likely to become too thin. Then there’s the question of repairing the rust holes, which will either need very careful welding or something a little more creative. Decisions, decisions!