What seat will fit?

[whiteman350x]

My son is restoring a 1983 185s Honda. His seat pan is shot and he has no foam at all. Will any other seat from another Honda work? If so what? Thanks.

[ATC King]

There are two things that make a ATC185S a parts trike.

1. A rotted frame.
2. A rotted seat pan.

There isn't any other seat pan that fits the 185S. Covers and foam are available new, but not the metal pan. Among hardtails, the 200ES and 185S are my favorites. The 200ES has rear fender availability problems and fork problems, the 185S, seat pan problems, both can have frame rot and often do.


Often, the OE cover tabs on the seat pan are gone, which is easy to fix by riveting the cover on. Most of the time, the pan is junk, and the studs that bolt it to the fenders are rotted out. There are ways to repair them enough to make one more go, with a fiberglass overlay being one, but it's a lot of work and most people aren't up to it. A lot depends on far gone it is.


Got any pics?


If the pan is mostly trashed, but still intact, there may still be hope. Major damage is still repairable with fiberglass and new seat studs.


edit: I do have a good OEM seat foam for the 185S.

[Dirtcrasher]

These days guys are whipping out fiberglass fenders and shrouds, left and right.

This pan seems like it's long overdue for a fiberglass replacement pan...

[shortline10]

I believe I have 1 complete seat with perfect pan left .
If your interested let me know . Very hard to come by part .

[Dirtcrasher]

^ Sounds like a good candidate for a fiberglass mold!!

[ATC King]

Some examples I have.

This pan was in pretty bad condition, but good for another go. The rear fender studs were rotted off, but I was able to weld a couple to a plate, then tack that to the pan. That area was very, very thin from rust. It's also noticeable that I riveted the seat cover on because the majority of the tabs were gone. What's not seen, is the repairs I made to the pan rail, just under the cover. A lot of that was rotted away, but I was able to form some sheet metal and build it back up. I did media blast the whole thing and paint it. It should last at least the life of the seat cover, which should also last because the trike is stored indoors.

[ATC King]

This pan is a good candidate for a fiberglass overlay. It's in poor condition, but intact and only missing one seat stud. These pictures are after media blasting, which was done earlier last year. I've got the glass and resin, just haven't the time, and I really dislike working with glass as I used to do it for a job in an industrial setting, head to toe suit and respirator, still itched like mad.

Of course, the seat cover will be riveted on, because the rail will be mostly glass. With all the holes in it, the glass on both sides will have some direct adhesion, which will actually make the repair stronger than if no rot.

[ATC King]

No saving this one.

[ATC King]

The first example is easy enough to handle with a cheap 110 MIG welder and some metal cutting tools like tin snips and a angle grinder or rotary tool (Dremel). of course a drill for the seat cover rivets and a rivet gun/tool.

The second example is messier, and requires more tools and supplies. At least need a good fiberglass roller to keep the air bubbles out and get a good lay. There will still be some metal work, replacing studs and trimming off really flimsy rotted pieces that are just hanging out there.

The third is just hands in the air and open wallet. Seems like you have a short line to one of those, luckily. Otherwise it's be off to EBay and probably overpay for a less rusted one that still needs rivets to hold the cover on.

[ATC King]

Save it if you can, otherwise the cost of a low valued trike rebuild starts to creep into higher valued trike territory, like a 200X, which oddly, often bring less than a 250 Big Red. It's irrelevant if you plan to keep it, but still something to remember.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/A20B-HONDA-...KUuN:rk:4:pf:0

Seller wants $395 for this one.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FskAA...Uu0/s-l500.jpg