Start of a new era of riding

[Boomer]

I am used to riding the big touring bikes (Gold Wings & Ventures), but I have found that they have so many bits and pieces to remove when you want to work on them that the tabs and mounting point get brittle and break so you end up having a big big with a hundred parts being held together with cable ties, ARRGH!. I decided it might be time to get a basic cruiser with simplistic design. After looking at some different 80's and 90's bikes, a guy messaged me about a straight up trade for my broken 83 Venture for his excellent running 86 454LTD. I was a bit hesitant at first as I am a 6'3", 220 lbs guy. I researched the bikes and was pleased to see that they are a lot more powerful than your typical 450cc bike. After I made the trade, I was pleasantly surprised, and I am glad I made the call to switch.

I have stripped it down and am in the process of matte blacking it out. Still tossing around ideas about the seat though. I like the look of the Suzuki LS650 seat, but I also like the idea of the stock built in backrest for the kids and the wife. If anyone has some pics or ideas to throw my way, I would be open to suggestions. From what I have seen so far on this site, the 454 riders seem like a helpful bunch of creative individuals.

Cheers, and safe riding.

PS. How do you upload a picture???

[actionverb]

Old post I know, but still feel compelled to chime in after the "helpful" statement.

I've bobbed my 454 and used a ls650 seat. Been at it 3 months and been thinking on how I can have both a single seat machine and still be able to give my kids a ride during that whole time. Lucked out and got the second passenger seat with the single front seat. It's just a 4x8 vinyl wrapped pad on molded plastic. Think I'm going to try to bend a custom seat hoop, similar to what you can buy for a cafe racer. The idea is that the passenger seat will mount to it and the loop will slide into the frame were I cut it off just behind the main seat mounting holes. A couple of thumb screws will hold it there. Definitely be posting some pics of that if I can pull it off. Searched like crazy and haven't seen where it's been done before on this bike.