Here's the shortened bracket with the back panel filed in a curve shape to allow the strut to pivot backwards.
Jim's home | HPV home | This bike's home
Tonight I strung a chain from the freewheel to the chainwheels and had a moment of reckoning with the chainline. I realized that the idler wheel at the base of the rear seat strut wasn't needed, and that the right front seat mounting tab of the aluminum seat frame was going to interfere with the chainline. I removed the idler pulley and rear seat strut, and shortened the bracket that the strut mounts to, eliminating some metal and bringing the pivot point of the strut closer to the top tube. This'll be stiffer and lighter.
Here's the shortened bracket with the back panel filed in a curve shape to allow the strut to pivot backwards.
Front view of the seat strut.
And the strut mounted on the frame.
This photo and the one below show the range of reclining motion.
Maximum recline position.
Yet another spring to try out. Tony brought this one over, a 3 foot long spring like this cost $2 at Boeing Surplus. It looked like it'd work, but it was too soft.
Got about 8" of snow tonight!