Honda restoration

[Madgrandad]

Hi all,

I'm am restoring a 1978 Honda CB400 4F out of boxes. I'm coming to the end of the build and was wondering if it is best to keep the original seat that has a tear in it and it is a bit rusty, or buy a new after market one?

Any suggestions welcome. See attached picture of seat on the bike.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

A member here has had issues with new DS seats, if it was my bike I would have your existing seat restored by a specialist or even by a local upholsterer.

[Johnny4428]

That is a lovely looking 400. The seat is letting down a bit, it would need to be stripped and base shot blasted and painted/ powder coated and the seat rebuilt with new cover. It is expensive to get it professionally restored I’ve had a couple done with P&K classics. But hey will supply materials if you want to tackle it yourself. Alternative is a replacement seat.

[Madgrandad]

Thanks McCabe-Thiele and Jonny4428. I'll have a look at P&K classics 👍

[sye]

https://www.saddlecraft.co.uk/product/honda-cb400-four/

[Laverda Dave]

A very nice looking 400/4. I've had a few 'issues' with the replacement seat. Basically the hinge fixing bolts and the plunger mounting bolts are incorrectly positioned on the two seats I have been sent. I have had to elongate the hinge fixing plate by 15mm to get the seat to fit anywhere close and even now it is still rubbing on the rear of the fuel tank. I fitted my genuine seat from my other bike and it fitted perfectly.
Your seat looks good apart from the cover, I would recommend you get it recovered, the seat cover from Saddle Craft as posted by Sye looks very good.

[Mikep328]

I bought a seat cover from PK Classics.  The seat cover on the bike when I bought it was a new (per receipts) DSS seat cover.  It looked nice but I wanted the Honda logo on the back.  I thought about doing the stencil that folks here have had success with but I didn't feel confident that I could do it satisfactorily appearance-wise.  The PK cover went on with no particular difficulty even though it was the first seat cover I have ever installed.  Just took my time and it looks absolutely original! 

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

The seat on my 400 had been recovered by a PO it has the Honda logo - the seat base is a type  of thick plastic not metal like my 500. Not sure if its a later version by Honda or aftermarket,  it fits perfectly.

[Madgrandad]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I think I'll get the original seat recovered. Then sell it the bike.