HD Police Springer Seat Conversion for the Suzuki Savage

by Art MacArthur -

The following information contains instructions with photos as to how to fit a Harley Davidson police motorcycle seat with springs, onto a Suzuki Savage.

(Editor's Note: Most of these pictures have closeups - to access, click on the picture. To get back to the text, use your BACK button.)

Most riders feel that the seat on the Savage is uncomfortable. Some, like myself, can't stand more than 30 minutes on the seat. The goal was to design a seat whose springs would absorb almost all road shock, regardless of road conditions or type of shock absorbers used. I am now able to ride for hours, with no discomfort.

Another goal was to do it as simply and as cheaply as possible, so as to make the conversion possible for those riders having limited fabrication skills and no access to a machine shop. This fabrication requires a hack saw, electric drill, a welder capable of good penetration of 3/16" steel, a bench grinder and a few wrenches and screwdrivers. No cutting, drilling or welding will be done to the Savage, and the entire assembly can be removed and the motorcycle returned to stock configuration.

I did a similar thing to an old Honda I had years ago, although I had to use different springs due to the bike design. It looked like this:

Close up of old Honda

Please note that this arrangement requires the rider to have at least a 30" inseam. Riders with less than a 30" inseam will not be able to rest their foot flat on the ground, unless they make alterations to this design. The Police seat will sit HIGHER, and FURTHER BACK, than the stock Savage seat.

Part 1

First, you need to buy a pair of motorcycle "handlebar clamps". You need the ones that have an I.D. of 7/8", when clamped together. Mine came from EBay, and cost $5.00. Motorcycle wrecking yards will have them as well. You need to make sure they are for 7/8" handlebars, and you can ask the EBay seller if his are that size. Make sure you buy ones with studs no longer than the studs on the pictured handlebar clamps (below). Otherwise, the seat may bottom out on studs that are too long.

The angle iron I used was from old bedframe. You can get similar angle iron from' Lowes Home and Garden', or 'Home Depot' The seat frame metal also came from Lowes, as did the Lawn Swing springs.

The handlebar clamps will be clamped to the Savage shock absorber mounting arms. In order to fit onto the arms, you need to cut and grind the handlebar clamps. You will have to grind the face of the clamp that will go on the right side of the bike. You will not need to grind the face of the clamp that will go on the left side of the bike. I used the shock absorber mounting arms as a good place to support the seat assembly because they are very strong and do not move with the swing frame.

Before you cut the needed slope and step into the clamps, you must first countersink a 7/16" hole into one bottom hole of the clamp. You will only countersink deeply enough to hide the head of the socket head bolt (some call these socket screws)

This will allow the socket head bolt/screw to pass through the clamp and have its head flush with the bottom of the clamp. This has to be done so the clamp will clear the top of the shock absorber.

Now, look at the clamps again.

If you look more closely, you can see how I had to cut a step in the top of the clamp. (you will cut this step in both clamps.)

Also notice here how I ground a slope on the bottom of the clamp.

You will grind or cut this slope in both clamps, and it will be on the same side of the clamp that has the step cut into it. The side of the clamp that is stepped and sloped will face the rear of the bike.

Also, you will have to grind the face of the clamp that you will use for the right side of the bike, like this.

Here's a side view showing the ground clamp so you can see the difference between the two:

This grinding work is needed because on the Savage, the right shock arm is shorter than the left side arm, and you need to clear the right shock absorber, because of the shorter arm. You can see pictures of the shock arms here.

Part 2

This photo shows the seat springs. I also bought them from Lowes Home and Garden, and you will see the packaging in the pic.

On the top and bottom of the springs, you must weld a thick washer. The washer holes must be the diameter of the handlebar clamp threaded stud. I prefer 'grade 8' washers because they are closer to the hardness of the springs. Before you weld the end washers onto the springs, you need to drop the 2 nuts and some washers into the coil of the spring. The amount of washers is relative to the stud shank length. In other words, when the handlebar clamp stud fits through the end washer and into the spring, you will see the unthreaded, smooth shank of the stud. You must place enough washers around it to be able to tighten the stud nut firmly against the washer. Those nuts and washers will be needed to attach the spring to the seat, and to the handlebar clamps. As soon as you weld one washer to the spring, quench it so as to keep the spring's temper. The heat from welding will change the temper where the washer is, so quench it right after you weld a washer on, and then weld the other end, and quench it.

Originally I used the Porch Springs as is, but found them to be a little stiff when riding. I thought they might be more comfortable if they had less tension. So I took them off the seat and clamps, and ground about 20% off the entire outside edge of both springs. I did this on a bench grinder. I laid the springs down flat and at right angles to the grinding wheel, and slowly turned the spring as I ground. Never stop turning the spring, or you will grind flats on the spring. ( have a can of water within reach of your grinder..the springs get too hot to hold from the grinding). Look at this photo -

The spring you see here is not the springs I finally used. I bought them from EBay but they didn't have enough tension, which is why I used the Porch Springs instead. I weigh 185lbs so if you are a lot heavier, you may not need to grind the Porch Springs. I would suggest you complete the entire seat assembly and install it, only tightening the nuts a little bit. Then sit on the seat, while someone is standing along side the bike and watching the Savage shock absorber springs. Ideally, the shock absorber springs should not move when you bounce up and down on the seat. Only the seat's Porch Springs should be flexing. If the Savage shock absorber springs flex, then I suggest you grind the seat springs as I've earlier described. Do a little at a time, re-assemble, and bounce on them again. I know its tedious to do all this, but once you got it right, your ride will be very comfortable.

If you look at this picture with the spring attached to the clamp and you will see how it fits together.

Looking at this photo, you will see how it looks when clamped to the shock arm.

On the shock arm, there is excess weld. You need to file or grind it off, so the clamp fits well on the arm. DON'T grind/file too much or you will weaken the arm. Just remove the excess weld. Look at these photos:

Left Shock Arm	Right Shock Arm

See how the right arm is shorter then the left arm? This is why the side of one of the handlebar clamps has to be ground (like in this picture). You have to make the whole clamp more narrow to clear the right shock. In these 2 photos, you can also see where I ground off the excess weld.

Part Three

NOTE: ALWAYS TACK WELD YOUR PARTS TOGETHER AND THEN SEE HOW THEY FIT, AND SEE IF EVERYTHING LINES UP, BEFORE YOU FINAL WELD. Guess who didn't do that, and had to grind welds off and re-weld?

When you buy a used HD Police seat, it usually comes with its frame, like this:

You will need to use a piece of that frame. If you don't have the original frame, then you will need to fabricate what I refer to as the 'nose piece', which looks like this:

To build the new seat frame, I used 3/16" metal bought from Lowes, and the 'nose piece' which I cut off the HD seat frame.

This next picture shows the frame I fabricated mounted on the seat with the springs attached .

Here are the measurements of my fabricated frame.

This next view shows the bottom of the seat frame...this side faces the ground. Notice how I cut the H.D. nose piece off the H.D. seat frame, and welded it on to my fabricated frame? I also bolted it as you can see, because my welder doesn't have the amps to correctly penetrate the 1/4" H.D. frame. Notice the 2 studs coming out of the frame? This is what the springs bolt to The back part of the frame where you see 2 holes drilled, is what bolts to the H.D. seat.

Now look at the top of the seat frame, (the side facing the sky.) Notice the 2 bolt-heads...the springs get attached to them on the underside of the frame. I welded the bolt heads to the frame because I didn't want them spinning around once I tightened the nuts holding the springs to the frame. The large steel threaded fitting at the nose of the frame is a 'spacer' used to take up the gap between the nose and the threaded hole. Notice the bolt going through the spacer. It will be tightened into the threaded hole on the H.D. seat.

Now take another look at the nose piece picture. You will see the steel fitting I used as a spacer. I don't remember where I got this from, but anything you can find that looks similar will due..something out of the plumbing supply department of a store perhaps. You will be welding it so it must be of steel. WARNING! Make sure the bolt that tightens into the seat is first put in place, before you weld the H.D. nose fitting onto the fabricated frame, other wise you won't be able to slide the bolt down into the spacer. Guess how I found out about that mistake?

Finally, take a look at this picture. This is a side view of the frame. It shows the bend I put into the frame. This was necessary so the frame would bend up to the nose piece, so I could bolt it to the H.D. seat's threaded nose hole. I bent the frame by putting it into a large vise and hitting it with a large heavy hammer. This bending step is trial and error...bend a little, lay the frame to the seat and see how it fits...then remove it and bend it again one way or the other. The correct fit should be where the frame fits up against the seat with the 3 bolts tightened snug into the threaded seat holes, without the bolts changing the shape of the frame. The frame should fit the curve of the seat without having to force it with the 3 bolts.

Note: If your welder can correctly penetrate 1/4" metal, you may be able to modify your existing H.D. seat frame instead of making a whole new one like I did, using the one in my pics as a model.

Part Four

Now on to the Nose Piece Bracket.

This is how the Nose Piece Bracket will look when installed.

A 3/8" X 4-1/2" bolt will be slid horizontally through one side of the bracket, through three 3/8" washers, then through the seat nose piece cylinder, and then through one 3/8" washer, and then through the other side of the bracket. My nose piece cylinder was a little rusty inside, so I ran a 3/8" drill bit through it and then cleaned out the hole with carb spray cleaner. I also packed grease into the cylinder, so that the cylinder will rotate freely on the bolt. I did not tighten the bolt too much, since it would bind the cylinder. I also drilled a hole through the end of the bolt so I could use cotter pin after the nut, just in case the not nut worked itself loose.

In this picture, you will see the finished bracket.

Here you see the bracket with measurements.

Side View:

I'm going to make a suggestion here. After a lot of miles, I altered the original design of the seat (as shown in the pictures here) for more comfort. For me, the nose of the seat tilted up too high, so I lowered it. I made a new "nose bracket" with 2 holes drilled lower. See where I showed the measurement of the 2 holes to be 2-1/4 "? I changed that to approximately 1-1/4". This caused the seat's nose to be level with the back of the seat, when you sit on it. The way to measure this hole height correctly is to make it as low as you can without the seat touching the tank. So what I suggest is that you make the Nose Bracket but don't drill the 2 holes in question. Make everything else and put it all together. Then push the Nose Piece of the seat down into the Nose Bracket as low as it will go without the nose of the seat touching the tank. Mark where the holes should be drilled, on the Nose Bracket. Then take the Nose Bracket off and drill the holes. Finally, cut the bracket so that it is only 1/2" taller than the tops of the holes you just drilled. That should do it.

Back view:

...and bottom view.

The holes you see in the bottom view are for the Savage bolts that will go where the gas tank/Savage seat bracket was. The gas tank flange has 2 rubber bushings between it and the bike frame. Then on top of the gas tank flange are 2 more bushings. Then on top of those bushings goes the new 'nose piece bracket'. The original Savage bolts go straight through the 'nose piece' bracket, the bushings, the gas tank flange, the other bushings and finally into the frame. I used Loctite blue on those threads. Look again at the picture of the mounted bracket and you will see all this.

Finally, look at this picture of the entire assembly mounted on the bike. This will show you how the seat nose piece cylinder fits in between the nose piece bracket.

Part Five

This part completes the instructions.

I would recomend tack welding everything together and do a trial assembly. I would:

First, tighten the clamps on the shock arms.
Then tighten the seat frame to the seat.
Attach the springs to the seat.
Then attach the seat & its springs to the clamps.
Then push the nose cylinder down into the gas tank nose piece bracket assy, and
slide the bolt through.

Stand back, and look everything over. Then sit on it gently and relax. Everything okay? Now have someone watch the shock absorber springs while you bounce up and down. Do they move? Ideally only the seat springs should move. If the shock springs are flexing, then your seat springs are too stiff and you need to remove some more spring thickness, as I earlier described here. If all is good, then disasemble everything and do all your final welds.

Now lets talk about the clamps. The clamps I got were not exactly round, where they clamp together. They were more of an oval. But the shock arms are round. Its important that the clamps have as much surface touching the shock arms as possible. They are aluminum and are being asked to support a lot of weight. What I did was to buy a container of "Quick Steel", which is a metalized epoxy putty. Here's a picture:

I bought this at Walmart in the auto supplies section. They keep it alonside Loctite and Permatex sealers. You cut off the size piece you want, then knead it. Then you put TOO much on both inner surfaces of the clamp, and clamp it to the shock arm. Excess will squeeze out the sides of the camp. The clamp stud must be exactly vertical, so I used part of a right angle level:

....and laid it against the stud. Then I slowly tightened the clamp, adjusting the angle all the time in order to keep the stud exactly vertical. Note: This product starts to harden in 5 minutes, so have everything right near you when you start. Now, since you used excess to be sure that all the gaps between the shock arm surface and clamp surface were filled, when you tightened the clamps, alot squeezed out the sides and it's messy. You need to GENTLY cut that excess away, with an Xacto knife or razor or something. Surgically cut the excess away. Don't pull or drag it away, because that will pull it out from the gaps that it is filling...it still hasn't hardened 100%. That takes overnight. Then mix some more and fill in any seam gaps between where the clamps bolts bolt together. Remember, once you do this, its on for good.

Well, not exactly. Cured epoxies and Loctite can be rendered uselss if you aim one of those little hand held butane torches at the metal. The epoxy or Loctite will start to smoke and once it does, you can loosen the piece or the nut. The epoxy or Loctite will turn into dust.

You will run into a problem trying to tighten the nuts holding the spring assy. to the seat & clamps. The problem is trying to get a wrench in through the sides of the coils, so you can reach the nut. I had to grind a wrench thin to do this.

...and from the side:

This is tedious work even with a ground-thin wrench and you will need a real skinny small screw driver to fiddle with the nut through the coils so you can get it started on the stud. Gravity has to be used, which is why I earlier said to lay the seat down and attach the springs to it, first. Then set it down onto the clamp studs, and fiddle with the clamp nuts until they are on. It takes patience.

(Editor's note - I've personally had luck doing something similar by using a pin-punch and "tapping" the nut around, too. You'll still probably need a wrench to torque it down, though. Honestly, the hard part is getting the silly thing started - after that, it's not too bad.)

On my final assembly, after I made a dry run and sat on it, I cleaned all the threads on my assembly and put everything back together using blue Loctite (WalMart) on all threads.

When installed, the rear of the seat will be higher than the nose. My 180lb weight weight causes the seat to sit level. If your weight is so much that it causes the rear of the seat to be lower than the nose, and if this is uncomfortable for you, then you have to make a new nose bracket and drill the 2 nose piece cylinder mounting holes lower. This is why everything should be tack welded first and assembled, so you can make a stationary test fit.

Here's the final installed view:

In order to arrive this final design, I had to make 2 nose piece brackets to get the right angle for my weight between the nose and rear of the seat. I bought 2 different sets of springs because the first set 75% collapsed under my weight. I welded the nose piece and spacer onto the seat frame before putting the seat bolt in the spacer, and had to grind the welds off and do it again. I welded the nose piece on the seat frame and when I tried to assemble it, the seat bolt going through the nose piece spacer was not aligned with the threaded hole in the front of the seat, and so on and so on. My point is: TACK weld everything together first! Its much easier to grind tack welds off that it is to grind completed welds off!

THIS COMPLETES ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS.

This is tedious work, but do-able. Those long springs give you a nice soft ride. Other riders will pull up alonside you at stoplights and point to the springs with a smile because they have been watching you bounce.

If you have any questions, please write me at and I'll see if I can help.

Have fun and ride safe!

(Edited and HTMLized by Richard T Perry -

. Version Info - 1.01, 15 July 2008).

Oh, and in case you were interested, this is visit

to this page.

Copyright © 2008 Art MacArthur. All Rights Reserved. Contact holder for permission prior to distribution in any form for profit. This website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Neither Art MacArthur nor Richard T Perry make no representations or warranties in relation to this website or the fitness or safety of the information or other materials provided on this website.