recover your seat?

[beemer]

Anybody done this?got any tips?thanks,J.

[nhmaf]

I found a good website, that had tips, as well as sold various types of foam materials to use for the job.
Unfortunately the guy had a short run of it and is packing it in as far as selling foam.  
Still, some useful pointer on the website though.  I am going to have a crack at redoing my LS ' seat this summer.
I bought a new seatcover from Motobins (in the UK) as they seemed to have good pricing and availability of the
covers, pre-cut to stock shape.   There is a guy on ebay (I think he is in Canada) who also sells seat covers for the
stock R65 seats..

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

some others here have also done some creative seat modifications, and I am sure that they'll pipe in soon !

[mikethebike]

I had a crack at recovering a Kawas*** seat that I had some years ago.  The base was sound but the plastic cover was split in places. As it was a comfy seat, I just replaced the plastic cover with an offcut of sheepskin leather (the smooth leather, not the wooly rug type!) bought on fleabay.  I had to stretch it very tightly over the foam, before tacking it to the plastic seat base with an industrial stapler (cost me a good few quid- probably more than a new cover!!!).  It took a few attempts before I was satisfied but the result was a one piece (most are done in sections and sewn together) leather seat which was extremely comfortable and cool to sit on.  The R65 seat base is steel which means that you can't just "tack" to the seat base.  The originals have a strip around the edge of the cover which is rivetted to the seat base.  I think that a hardwood edge could be screwed to the base to give something to staple onto and stretch the covering over the seat.  It's certainly an art and I would practise on an old seat before doing it for real.

[BigJohn]

I did mine a few days ago.  It wasn't too bad and the directions that came with it were good.  I got the new cover from a Canadian place that sells on eBay, about $50 shipped.  I bought the "carbon fiber" style and think it looks nice.  It has no stitching (decorative lines embossed in the plastic) like the original so the weaving breaks up the plain vinyl look.  The new vinyl had lines already drawn with chalk to line up the sides and back, but I was not able to stretch it as tight as was necessary to put them at the edge of the seat pan.  I got them within less than a quarter inch or better all the way around though.  I went to an upholstery shop and the guy kindly gave me a few scraps of foam which I used to fill in the indentations made where the old seat cover had split and exposed the underlying foam to the elements for years.  I just cut some up with scissors and glued them in and used a very rough piece of sandpaper to contour it to the original shape.   Have plenty of 1/8" pop rivets (~28-30.)  I thought I did but it turned out mine were the next larger size up so I had to drill out the holes in the pan and reinforcing strips (.140" instead of .125" as I recall.)  But it worked fine.  I used 3M weatherstrip contact cement in an aerosol can and I don't know if I had to do it again if I wouldn't use a brush on type instead.  The cement has to hold repeatedly as you stick and then pull off to stretch some more and then do it again.  The aerosol may have left too fine of a coating for the repeated unsticking.  2-3 hours total time?  I was pretty happy when I got done, though there's a slight sag in the front middle and as summer wears on if it gets any bigger I'll drill out the rivets and stretch it a little tighter.  All in all not the worst job you'll ever do on your bike, and the results are very pleasing.

[Justin B.]

Mike,

I put on a Moto-Bins cover a few years ago and inside of a year he hot TX sun had caused a small split on one of the embossed fake stitching lines.  I have one left and will probably put it on the LS seat and maybe I won't stretch it as tight.  I'm not a fan of the Moto-Bins cover but maybe y'all up in yankee-land might have better luck with cooler summers.  I think the "plain-Jane" one by the Canadian might have an edge on durability, I have never liked the heat-embossed stuff on upholstery as all of the old cars I've restored show this styling "feature" is often where failures start.

[Bob_Roller]

I would recommend installing a gel pad insert when recovering your seat.

Had the seat on the oilhead recovered and had a gel insert added, made all the diference in riding comfort.

Here's a source for gel inserts here in the US :  http://amspecialtiesusa.com/  .

[MrRiden]

Did mine up with a cover from Motobins. I also used something called Gorilla Glue where the cover meats the pan it is water activated and strong stuff! Also hit Harbor freight for a pop rivet gun, replacement rivets of the correct size and a huge pack of assorted spring clamps. I was cheap and didn't replace the foam or add a gel pad. Seat looks better than when ripped up but the lumpy foam underneath made my repair look amateurish. When I find some decent foam I'll have a go of it again with a marine vinyl cover patterned from the old one, maybe in Grey,
rich

[Bob_Roller]

There was a question from someone here, about if the gel insert would get harder in low temperatures.

The lowest temperature the bike was left out in, was uppers 30's F., and I did not notice any difference in the seat, can't say if it will be a factor in lower temps, winter in Phoenix is not real world cold, compared to where a majority of riders reside.

After 7 months of daily use, I can say that I feel it is worthwhile to install a gel insert.

[suecanada]

Two things.....the use of a hair dryer helps soften the cover as you stretch it for rivetting..this seems pretty impt. when I helped my upholsterer do the job. Heat, stretch, glue, clamp ad infinitum then rivet if I remember correctly.
Also, if you ever decide on using memory foam in a high density remember that it too will harden with cold temperatures, so it is up to your body temperature to soften it up on cold mornings. You know what they say about "warm heart"...hmmm "cold hands" hmmmm.....warm bottom???

[Justin B.]

Keep your mind on the job at hand, Suzie-Q!   [smiley=naughty.gif]  

The hair dryer idea would be just the ticket for working out stubborn wrinkles, I have always been lucky enough to do this job in the summertime and find putting the new cover out in the sun for an hour makes it pretty cooperative.  This also helps a little (very small) bit when mounting a new tire, or maybe this would only work in AZ and TX...