Are there different seats for different years for the CA77?

[Bon]

THANKS all. I tweaked the forks at the front end of the seat upward a bit and the seat sits down much better now. I'm wondering if a previous owner, the one that put on the earlier tank, tweaked the seat up to try to close the gap between the tank and nose of the seat. Anyway, it looks much better now. I'll probably be putting new foam on the seat and padding up the nose to close the gap at the tank. A nice Winter project. Thanks again.

Bon

[conbs]

Yours is not the original tank for a '65 305 Dream. In 1965 the bike would have come with the CA78 tank with the seam mid top and the rounded fronts on the knee rubbers. It may be a tank off of a 250 (there were 5 versions) or a CA77 tank. I am not familiar with all of the CA72 tanks.

In any case, the front of a CA78 seat (which it looks like you might have) will not fit correctly into a CA77 tank. The CA77 (and some CA72) seats have a rounded front. Yours appears to be more square like the CA78. Does your seat have closed ends at the front of the front mounting tangs?

For the gap between the frame and the bottom of the seat, I think there are two possibilities. Either Randy is right that the front tangs were tweaked up or it could be a seat off of another bike. The CA160 looks similar but is a little shorter. A friend has one and he did something with the rear mount bracket where he could get it to fit on his 305 but, IIRC there was some other issue with fitment, That may be what you are experiencing.

It is great looking bike. Why not just enjoy it as is?

[Bon]

Thanks for your response. Why not just enjoy it? I am!! But when Winter comes and I'm trapped inside for a few months I like projects. I really do believe I can reshape the seat and close the gap at the front. The front tangs are open and the rear bolt holes fit the frame nicely. I have a spare seat frame that's in decent condition so I don't have to mess with the one that's on the bike now. I'll post some detail pics!