Harley Sportsters can have the retro old school solo sprung seat look too! I had always liked spring mounted seats, and was looking around for a new seat for my 03 sportster. I was considering getting a Corbin Hollywood solo, I had a LePera Bare Bones, but the Le Pera was too hard on my butt. I had often admired Sportsters that I saw with sprung seats, but thought that there must be drilling or welding needed to do it (that is one option). But this guide is for those who want a 'bolt on' part, with no drilling or welding. Yes there is such a thing!
There are some pitfalls and other things to be aware of, that I encountered when buying these parts, that I will share with you so you can avoid them.
Firstly, the spring mounting kit. I am dealing with 82--03 Sportsters here, but they do make kits for the earlier and later ones too. The 82-03 years kit is made by V Twin Mfg and is their part number 31-4045. You can't buy direct from them, but they do have dealers on ebay. The seller I bought off is legendsmc Here is legendsmc ebay page
The kit is also available from justified_defiance Justified Defiance ebay page
The kit is quite easy to install. It works by putting a chrome clamp onto the front 'tongue' which a normal sportster seat fits over; then that chrome clamp holds the chrome front seat bracket. For the rear spring mount, you take out the bolt that holds your fender on, then put a slightly longer bolt (supplied) through and attach the black painted rear seat spring bracket, which sits nicely on the frame. It blends in well and looks the part. It is a clever, simple, well thought out kit. It sells for just under $US100.
You then attach the springs to the black bracket. Here are some pics of this setup so you can see it when done
Ignore the old socket sitting under the chrome front bracket, it is just there to hold it up and show you where the bracket ends up when bolted to the seat.
Now here's where it gets tricky ! This is where you need some extra info from someone like me who has encountered this scenario. You need to buy a seat to suit this kit. The sellers like legendsmc tell you to buy their Bates solo seat. There are many of these bates solo seats of the same type on ebay.
The style of the seat is right - it is not too curved up at the back, so suits a sportster frame more.
But...! These seats do not fit properly onto the kit. The sellers will tell you they will, but they dont. Reason: the rear mounting stud positions. The seat kit sets the spring centres at about 7 to 7 1/2 inches apart. The bates solo seats that are common on ebay have their mounting studs 6 1/4 inches apart. So the studs do not line up with the top of the springs. Be warned: many(if not most) of the solo seats for springs that are on the market have 6 1/4' mounting studs c/c (centre to centre).
The kit offers a solution, which I did not find satisfactory. It is a black adaptor bracket, which is really just a steel strap with some holes drilled in it. The idea is to bolt the bracket in between the springs and the seat - the seat bolts to the bracket, then the bracket bolts to the springs. I tried this out. Firstly, the holes drilled in it are not in the right place for the commonly sold bates seat - the holes have to be elongated. And, when you have done that, then you have this ugly bracket thing sticking out at the back which makes the seat higher than what it was and looks ugly and crappy. Also the nuts on the seat hit the springs, and the nuts on the bracket rub on the vinyl under the seat - not satisfactory.
After trying this I realized I needed a seat that would fit straight onto the springs, and with a good side profile like the bates seat (not too kicked up at the back). Legendsmc had sold me one of the commonly sold ones that is pictured above, that are 6 1/4 c/c mounting studs, and siad that it would fit. This was not really correct, as I already described.
I then went to justified defiance and asked them what the mounting studs c/c was on their basic solo seat. They answered and said 7 1/4 inch. This was after much searching on ebay, because most sellers when asked said their seats were 6 1/4 inch c/c mounting studs. So I ordered the seat from justified defiance. When it arrived it was exactly the same type of seat seen in the pic above, that I had gotten from legendsmc. This was annoying, as the item was internationally shipped and so was not worth sending back as the shipping cost was about 3/4 of the seat price. So now I had two seats that did not fit ! On top of that, justified defiance's seat was sub standard, and the pillion that they made me buy with it, was not in good condition either. To their credit they remedied the deal to my satisfaction. They are going to check if they do have any seats with the necessary 7 to 7 1/2" mounting studs c/c.
So, you ask, where did I find a seat that fitted, that looked right ?
In the end I modified one of the bates replica solo seats. See my other ebay guides for detailed info on how to modify it.
If you look at another option for a seat for your sportster with springs, check
1. that it has a smooth flat looking profile(not too kicked up at the back), and
2. that the rear mounting studs are 7" C/C
I trust this review on Harley Sportster seats with springs will help you. I wish someone had written one before I found all this out !