My Seat Recovery Project

Let me start by saying, "Hell ya! I'm done!"

This project turned into what can be only described as work. And, as we all know, work isn't fun. It's work. That's why you get paid, cuz you wouldn't do it otherwise.

Enough of that. Let's get to the pictures. For the sake of saving room, I'll post the thumbnail for some of the photos. Click each to embiggen it, 'kay?

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Here's the patient. Doesn't look too bad from here, but trust me, she's terminal unless we act quickly!

The factory seat cover was made up of four separate pieces. All but one seam was heat-welded together, which meant that I couldn't disassemble the seat cover with a seam ripper. Instead, I had to cut her up along the seams as best as I could to preserve the pieces for use later as patterns. I spent about ten minutes sharpening up the scissors for this part.

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I get ahead of myself, though. Here are the pieces that make up the seat. Seat cover followed by foam, and both attached to the plastic frame with staples.

All along the bottom edge of the seat, it was stapled to the plastic frame. A flat-blade screwdriver and a pair of side cutters made short work of them. Once the staples were removed I peeled the seat like a banana. It actually came apart quite easily. Fortunately, I didn't wait too long after the seat cover began to split apart to make this repair. The foam interior was just showing signs of fatigue.

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On the To-Do list for this project was to fix the shape of the seat. Yamaha's seat engineers must have all been women or men with minuscule testicles. Why do I make this observation, you wonder? Because, had they normal sized nads and slid 'em at speed into the fuel tank like I do every time I have to stop hard, they would have fixed the frickin' shape of the seat. Seriously, it's a much talked about problem among XJ bike owners!

So, out came the electric knife. With a bit of creative license, I reworked the shape of the seat. I also added a bit more foam to the horn of the seat to, well, make a horn. (It never had one.) The electric knife worked well to shape this add-on, too.

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Obviously, with the seat newly reshaped, it was time to make the seat cover patterns. Using an old bed sheet (Thanks, Hon!) and the old seat cover pieces, I mocked up the new cover. It took some doing to get the fit right for the newly shaped seat and horn. I had to take the pattern apart three or four times before I got everything to fit together correctly.

The biggest problem I ran into was that I had to extend the side panels and seat pan piece to cover the newly created horn. It wasn't just a simple matter of extending lines. No, everything on this damned thing is curved. As such, I had to figure out how to make everything flow together and look smooth. That is except where the two side panels come together at the very front of the seat. That seam is straight. So, I guess there is a straight stitch after all. Mind you, you can't see it with the seat installed on the bike.

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After I got the pattern pieces all sorted out, it was time to do the layout and cut me out some seat cover pieces. This is the same material I used when making the seat cover for my wife's bike. It's held up really well and has what I call 'ass grip'. While shopping for seat fabric, I found that some of the pleather available was too slippery for my taste. This fabric, on the other hand, had the grip I wanted and, when riding, that's important. Your derriere needs to stay planted when carving corners.

There was no more of a nervous moment than cutting these pieces out. This piece of fabric you see in the photos was all I had. One slip of the scissors and I would have been done for. Needless to say, all went well.

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Sewing done, done, and done!

Did I mention I dislike sewing? And I hate to say it, but it seemed the sewing machine was all but incapable of sewing a straight line.

Yeah, I'd be sewing along. Nice smooth stitches, then it would toss a stitch out to the side. What the hell?!? I'd have to stop. Back up. Fix it. Then restart. I never did figure out why it would do that. I swear the machine either hated me or was possessed.

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I decided to attach the seat cover down with a minimal amount of staples and take her for a test ride. I noticed the seat cover was looking a little baggy. I was concerned I took too much off the foam and my butt-comfort was going to suffer because of it. I ended up putting on about 170 miles all said and done. The seat felt pretty good, but I decided to add some stuffing to soften things up a bit. This would also solve the baggy fit problem.

With a little shoving and stuffing, I fleshed her out into the shape I wanted. Several hundred staples and two very sore hands later, I held an absolutely beautiful seat in my hands. Behold:

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As Austin Powers would say, "Dead sexy!" Huh?

I'm real happy with the way this project turned out. Even with all the cussin' and swearin', I'm glad I stayed with it to the end. I haven't had a chance to ride her yet, but I did through a leg over for a sit-and-see. Felt pretty good. I can tell the reshaping and extra stuffing is going to work out.

Perhaps Friday I'll take her for a scoot. 8)

(Ed. Note: This was originally posted to my blog here.)

 

Nice work! Thanks for going to the trouble of documenting everything! 8)

 

...only problem I can see with your efforts.
Now that your wife can see that you can sew so well, then it's "Honey, do the dishes", "Honey, do the luandry", "Honey, wash the windows, do the ironing, set the table". :roll: :roll: :roll:
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
You'll have to keep us posted on a long distance ride when you can.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR"!!!!!

 

i've seen custom seat jobs on youtube that use a spray glue to set the seat tight... i'm going to be doing mine soon in leather (solo seat) so i'm trying to find out the best way to omit air and loosness in the seat cover... any thought anyone?

 

Wide-jaw pliers and pneumatic stapler? Pull it tight and staple it right!

 

All that is needed is to pull the vinyl tight evenly on both sides and re-staple it onto the pan.
I've done numerous seats the same way. I usually cut out an inch or so of old foam and replace it with Memory foam, which really conforms to your butt and makes long rides very comfortable. The seat will relax a bit after you get off (leaves the shape of my a$$ in it) but eventually gains it's original shape after a few minutes. It's about the best, easiest mod you can do instead of spending a rediculous amount of money for an after market seat.
I found Memory foam pads at a Fleet Farm store in the seat cover section. It's just a square 2" pad you can either sit on or use for a back support. I remove the cover and cut the foam to fit whatever size I need it.
I believe I've seen Memory foam on Ebay also. It's kinda spendy depending on where ya get it.

 

The Maxim 650 was a girl's bike and the Seca or XS1100 special was the man's.
Just my opinion. I used to assemble all of them!
Nice job on the seat though.

 

Ahem. I have 4 ex-wives and 5 kids, and I ride a 550 ON PURPOSE. Ok, two of 'em. What does that make me?

Doesn't look like a "girls bike" to me...



Your opinion is a tad misplaced. Sorry.

 

a Girly Man?


just playin'

 

A hell of a card player? :roll:

 

So you're on #5, you must be good at something.

 

I would good choices in lawyers.

 

So... a smaller, more agile bike is going to be for girls & girls exclusively?

 

My wife rides an XJ1100, and in now way is she a man...
My daughter rides 80 XS1100 LG...
I ride all the bikes. I'm even eying a 550 Maxim that a fiend has. He can't get it to run right and just wants to get rid of it. No such thing as a girls/mans bike. In my opinion. :wink: