Want a new seat? Do it yourself!

Slipperyeel · Jan 24, 2013

I am half way through tackling something i never expected to do. But i am glad i have. I am sure i am not alone in thinking to do this so thought i would share it. The weather is crap so a good time to try this!

Basically i have converted my GS to a later ADV seat arrangement. The ADV seat was ok but damned hard (vinyl has given up) but also a couple of cm off the seat height would be welcome (but not as much as the BMW 'low seat' option).

I found an outfit to re-shape and re-cover my seat, C E Moore in Park Royal NW London (www.cemoore.co.uk). Paid them a visit. They have done many motorcycle seats so understood exactly what i was on about.

Somewhere in the middle i go the idea to re-shape the seat myself. Checked Youtube etc and decided i could do this and get precisely what i wanted, rather than giving CE Moore the risk of getting it wrong. Well, i have to say stage 1 has been very successful. So much so i recommend you give it a go if you were thinking of it.

Below are some images of the stages. My next post will be to show how it all panned out with the final covering…

Re-shaping the seat:

1.Remove the existing seat cover. This is probably the most difficult part. Actually it only needs patience and a little time (about 1hr). The aim is to preserve as much of the original seat foam. So after removing all the staples (very easy, just boring) you will find that the seat foam seems to be 'moulded' to the seat cover. Really it was just tacked to it. I used the back of a poor knife to separate the two. This was a combination of rubbing away the foam edge to give me a way in between to part the two layers, sometimes i could just ease the back of the knife between the foam and vinyl. take your time, don't rush. The thinner the foam edge, the more rubbing away to get a separation started. Once the entire perimeter is free you can then begin peeling off the vinyl cover. I emphasise not rushing. The aim is really to preserve the foam. If your tear off the vinyl then you risk pulling little chunks of foam out.

Slipperyeel · Jan 24, 2013

2. Once the vinyl is off then the fun part can begin. I bought a very cheap electric carving knife to do the main sculpting. I then had some 80 grit ali oxide paper with a tube (about 70mm dia) to act as a 'block' to hold the paper. The paper is for the fine tuning and smoothing.

<style> </style>It's a tense moment when you make the first cuts! But to ensure you make cuts in a controlled way, you need to mark out the seat with a marker pen. I made 'no-go' areas and other reference points to work to. It is also useful to re-mark lines as they are removed by the cutting. Again, take you time, cut little bits at a time in a measured manner (so beers come strictly after this job!).

Slipperyeel · Jan 24, 2013

1.Once you have chopped off the basic shape with the knife (you will be surprised how fine the electric knife allows you to cut. You can get a pretty good shape with the knife alone). The final part is to get the course abrasive paper to work. The biggest point about succeeding with this is the technique. I used an action which drew the 80 grit paper covered tube quickly but i also rotated the tube, This was done in short strokes. The pull + rotation has the effect of speeding up the cut. Slow cuts will pull out little pieces of foam… I suggest practicing early on, and cut away your practice areas…

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1.After checking the seat from multiple angles as i worked i have ended up with what i want. I also fitted the seat to the bike few times and sat on it to check i really was getting what i wanted. Final result is a seat which looks like it came out of a mould

Ps. The ‘holes’ you can see on the flanks were in the original seat, not from my cutting/sanding. They seem to be bubbles in the original moulding.

MikeO · Jan 24, 2013

Nice work Rodin...

Mike :thumb2

Slipperyeel · Jan 24, 2013

The weather has been a pain but next week i hope to get it all finished. Next posts will be to show the end result.

So far though, my message is, if you're unhappy with the seat shape, change it. It is really no big task. If you nibble at it you'll learn enough withing the space of doing the job to get it done nicely. Just don't forget YouTube, you'll see some disasters in there

Covering it again is another story, but there are other people who can help with that part

Slipperyeel · Jan 24, 2013

With regard to the vinyl on your existing seat, just take off the seat and feel how supple the excess under the seat feels. On my seat it is all stretchy and soft. As you get to the top side it is the opposite: hard and inflexible. The seat was probably fine once but the UV has killed it. So reusing your original vinyl might be out of the question after a re-shape.

If you've thought about it, Do it! I have just watched a GS 'low seat' on ebay go for just over 100 quid. CE moore is talking about 60 for a custom covering... I will confirm the final cost later but it looks like less than 100 for sure....

Slipperyeel · Jan 25, 2013

AS an aside. Grateful if someone can explain how to post images embedded within the text... I've tried a couple of ways but no luck! Bit of a pain posting in the way i have. :nenau

Cheers

Ogmios · Jan 25, 2013

Good thread :thumb2

Thanks for taking the trouble to post.
Numb nuts and butt are a subject close to my heart*.

*yes - i know, this leads to a horrible mental image of anatomical deformity. :eek

~~

p.s;
i'm looking into using bits of 'memory foam' pillow and old gel pads as used by typists at a keyboard to get the best seat. This may or may not be a good idea. :nenau

Aidan1150 · Jan 25, 2013

Slipperyeel said:
AS an aside. Grateful if someone can explain how to post images embedded within the text... I've tried a couple of ways but no luck! Bit of a pain posting in the way i have.

Have a wee read here. :thumb2

Great looking job on the seat by the way. :clap

Slipperyeel · Jan 25, 2013

Thanks Aiden1150. Looks like i need to open a Flikr account or similar! Seems like it might be worth it though, especially if i'm clogging up your server space!

Thanks

Aidan1150 · Jan 25, 2013

Photobucket is pretty easy to use and it's free. :thumb2

ralphy · Jan 25, 2013

Interesting write-up and thanks for posting it up.

Ogmios said:
i'm looking into using bits of 'memory foam' pillow and old gel pads as used by typists at a keyboard to get the best seat. This may or may not be a good idea.

I think memory foam may make a good alternative: the mattresses are very comfy IME and a 'moulded' seat to your bum should prove just as comfortable - theoretically anyway!

R

Slipperyeel · Jan 25, 2013

Ogmios said:
p.s;
i'm looking into using bits of 'memory foam' pillow and old gel pads as used by typists at a keyboard to get the best seat. This may or may not be a good idea.

On YouTube there are some outfits in the states offering a pucker re-shaping service. Some are using multiple types of foam, inc memory foam so your idea is sound (people are paying to have exactly this done). Some people are also fitting gel packs into the seat... I'm not sat in mine long enough to need them!

Want a new seat? Do it yourself!

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