ComforTmax
Rider and Pillion Seats
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| Here are the bases for the rider and pillion seats, moulded from GRP. Although the shapes are fairly simple, they acquired details as they went along! The strips held on with screws will be used to hold down the upholstery where it curves inwards. The rider seat uses the existing Tmax seat hinge/mount at the front and at the back it rests on a frame cross member. The pillion seat sits on the same frame cross member at the front and on the seatback mounting at the back. Either side also have recesses that engage on pegs added to existing frame extensions. The front of the pillion seat base forms a low backrest for the rider – this is fixed to the rest of the seat base by a hinge so that the base can fold in half and then fit inside the tailbox, as shown on the right. |
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New Metalwork
Most of the metalwork changes required have now been made. Here are some photos of the work so far:
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Solo arrangement |
Pillion arrangement |
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The foot box is similar to Royce's original, but with flat bottoms and slightly more raked footboards |
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| To convert from solo to pillion… |
firstly the seat back and frame are tilted up, |
then the seat (and tail box when fitted) is slid back, |
and then the seat back and frame are dropped down. |
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The seat back bar fits in sockets that locates it in the solo… |
and pillion positions. |
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The aluminium fuel tank incorporates the original Yamaha fuel level sender, a filler cap and a self-contained tank breather (the red fitting). |
The bottom of the tank is fairly complex to maximise its capacity (about 15 litre) - it could be increased by a couple of litres if it were more complex still. |
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The foot box is a fairly simple structure. |
The telescopic seat frame is also fairly simple, but quite complex to work out - fitting in the gas strut from the original Tmax seat was a work of art. The solo position is on the left and the pillion position on the right. |
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Mould Progress Photos
Go here to see the latest photos of the progress on building the plug for the tailbox.
Frame Drawings
The bike is now having its new metalwork fitted.
I've had a few queries on the 'insides' of the conversion, so here are drawings in solo and pillion form (click on them for larger versions):
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Fuel Tank
Go here to see the fuel tank drawing and photos.
Redesign
Here is the latest drawing of the ComforTmax design. It shows the widened tail box and a revised front end which chops off the lower edge of the front fairing. As yet, it has no front indicators…
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CAD
The drawings below were produced by CAD (Computer Aided Drawing/Drafting), but the latest work on the ComforTmax has been done with the original CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) - cardboard and a hot-melt glue gun are a very quick way to make a mock-up. See photos here.
Test Rides
Today a few guys at work tried out the ComforTmax. Here is a nice shot of Neal (not me) trying it out:
Apart from the handlebars, the seating position is really wonderful. Thanks, Royce!
Design Drawings
Royce Creasey and I have been investigating the production of a kit to convert the Yamaha Tmax to a Feet Forward (FF) bike. It hasn't been possible to establish a commercial project, so I'll be documenting the creation of a one-off FF Tmax here. I've removed the old drawings previously shown here.
for BIG SCOOTER
