A few months ago, maybe several weeks ago, my wife, no fan of riding on motorcycles, went on a little ride with me. She had fun, but said afterwards her legs were killing her, strained from trying to remain seated on the bike. I decided that if I expected my wife to go on any other rides with me, something to improve her comfort was in order, so I began searching for a back rest.
It took a while, but eventually I found a guy selling just the thing I needed -- a luggage rack and back rest that would fit my old bike. I've never bought something over the Internet from a private party, but in this case I figured the risk was low. The seller was usinig paypal, plus he was a regular on the GSResources forum, a website for fans and owners of Suzuki GS motorcycles, specifically, the older GS models from the late 1970s and 1980s.
The rack arrived and while the luggage rack looked pretty good, the back rest showed all the signs of being in the weather for 30 years with several large rust spots. Basically, it looked like crap. I scratched my head trying to figure out how best to improve its appearance. I tried cleaning the rust, but that was pointless. It was too well ingrained in the metal. I stopped at an auto body paint supply store where they sold me some primer and some rust treatment.
I figured I could coat the back rest with primer and then paint it silver, though it still wouldn't look chromed. I thought about taking it to a body shop to have the work done, but money's tight, so in the end, I went with a handy roll of electric tape and just wrapped the messed up part. Yeah, I know, pretty cheap, right?
But it doesn't actually look that bad.
The screws holding the padded part of the backrest to the frame were rusted through, so I had to remove two of them which I replaced with new stainless steel screws, using wingnuts on the back of the frame.
When I was all done, I showed the results to my wife and, to my surprise, she offered to go on a ride with me and test out the new backrest. It was a success!
And so, on a very warm evening, we rode from our home in Tacoma through Point Defiance Park (one of the largest urban parks in the country), headed through the small town of Ruston and rode along the waterfront.
The park was nice, and with all the trees, we were riding mostly in the shade. We were just wearing T-shirts. I know, I know, not appropriate riding gear, but it was hot!
The waterfront was packed with people and several large dogs. Lots of bikers were out this night. I got passed on a hill by a guy on a Harley with his chick on the back. Both of them were in full leathers, including chaps. Believe me, I felt just fine in my T-shirt, though, I'm sure they were much safer.
