Hey Forum! I am currently in the process of deciding what I want to do with my bike by either upgrading the shocks to a taller set, OR had this crazy idea where I would put something between the RYCA fiberglass tail section and the seat pan which would raise the seat. I am 6 foot 2 220 lbs and you could imagine I look pretty big on the bike.

I had my bike on a rear stand and when I sat on it curiously, I thought to myself how much more comfortable I would be if the seat was this high. I measured the rear wheel off the ground and it was roughly about an inch and a half, doesn't sound far at all!

So with the help from a crummy program for my mac, I was able to edit this bike a little bit how I would imagine (ROUGHLY of coarse!) what the answer would be for us taller riders before spending a wad of cash on taller shocks.

As you can see there will be a gap where the cutout is on the fiberglass tail section where you would access the front bolts that screw the seat down on top of where the tank is screwed down, and also the part of the side panels where it covers those bolts will be cut off, and smoothed out so it's an even triangle shape.

The gap above the side panel and where the fiberglass seat would be, I would guess would be about that inch and a half, maybe inch and a quarter that I desire! Also, the seat section would line up with the bottom of the tank, so the line won't be lost!

The only downside I can see for now is that the leather seat would be above the tank so might not flow too well, but I am definitely willing to live with that if the bike obtains that taller seat height I am dreaming of. Let me know what you all think! Maybe use a thick piece of wood for now just for the trial run?

Whoever's bike this is, congrats this is a great looking bike!!

You built a nice looking RYCA!

After a couple of summers of riding my Cafe' around...some days from dark until dark while chasing Oldfeller and MMRanch around Tennessee and North Carolina - I cam to the realization that the RYCA seat has too little padding on it.  The edges of the seat has "zero" foam, and the back of my legs would get sore.

I took my seat part, and had a local upholstery shop make me a new seat with more foam.  It is much better now!

Three things I learned from that photo;

1. Your bike looks great
2. You don't look like a gorilla humping a football riding it - you fit on it
3. Your shock, while compressed, doesn't look sagged out.

EDIT: I just saw that it's your buddy riding the bike. We'll if he is also 6'2" and 220#, then comments 2 & 3 stand

Well, putting longer shocks on it would get the seat higher, but would just about max out the downward travel of the swingarm and further complicate the belt adjustment.
And it would do nothing for the peg height.

Adding foam would also add comfort.

You might consider going to a 19" rear wheel, but I don't know how available tires would be.
And might require extending the swingarm.  RYCA does have weld-on extentions.
That and a Kawasaki belt might work.

The 15" rear tire generally will have a smaller diameter than tires you can buy for the 18" wheel - however with either size you can find tires that are too big to fit in the swingarm without touching.

I think a vintage sized 4.00-18 tire is available in some modern tire models - and they are really big in diameter.  It will probably require that you modify the cross brace in the swingarm to use a tire that large.

http://shop.rycamotors.com/extended_swingarm_weldon.html

That's true with the 19 inch tire selection. I definitely want to be a little more aggressive when riding the cafe racer. That's what the conversion is for right?  

I believe the combination of better seat foam and an ever so slightly taller, but upgraded shocks would get the height to where I need. I fINALLY finished the head plug leak last night so getting ready to ride again! Thanks for everyone's help!

Oh and here's another shot of my buddy riding my RYCA!