new seat cover for $11
 

so i just started here and this is my first post.

i decided after i laid my bike down and tore the second look seat skin i would try and make my own.

First off i went to the local fabric store. jo ann fabrics. i bought a piece of marine grade material w/ a leather look. i bought 5/8's of a yard of roughly 48' wide material.

next i took the old seat skin off and just looked it over. there was one seam that took out. the one that goes over the front of the seat near the tank.

after i had the two seperated i traced them onto my new fabric and left about an extra inch everywhere there wasn't going to be a seem ( the front of the seat)

i cut the two pieces out and stitched them together, well i had my mom do that, but its beside the point. just take it to your mom or your wife, they should know how to do this.

after stitched together i took a dry fit and made sure everything looked good. it fit great.

so we layed and stretched the fabric out and used a spray on glue to attatch to the seat. just pulling and glueing slowly from the front of the seat. it worked real well going in about 4-7 inch patches. just pull tight and the glue will hold the rest. i let the glue start to get real tacky before i layed it down.

just use the same idea of a decal and get no air bubbles, i found this pretty easy w/ just my hand and a friend to keep the material tight.

then once your have everything glued down let it get set and dryed. and get out your heavy duty stapler.

i used 8 mm 3/8' staples and they worked real well at getting into the plastic.

just keep stretching and have your buddy staple while you hold the material real tight. do this all the way around and then trim the excess off. and you're done.

unless you want the strap. which i did since i had extra material. just take a big straight piece of material and fold it into almost thirds. just leave a little less out on one fold so the excess doesn't show.

take this to your mom again and have her stitch you a couple lines down the strap. i chose red thread and i think it looks pretty good.

just staple again on the bottom side and you are good to go...

let me know what you think....

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RE: new seat cover for $11
 

I was wondering about how easy this may be, my f4 needs a new seat as well (prevous owner put a bit of a tear on it). I will definitly be giving this a try this winter. Nice write up!

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

it was really a lot easier than i expected. i used a photograph grade glue and its holding up great so far. i don't remember what its called but its not that important. any 3m spray adhesive will do. just take your time

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

Very nice and clean job. I like the use of the red stitch. Its subtle yet it adds quite a bit to the seat.

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

Nice job...

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

nice write up. just like new!:D

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

looks good gonna try that on my F3

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

I just gave this a try with my wife and mom (definitly need someone who knows how to sew. Anyway it turned out really well, if I end up taking pictures I will be sure to post them. (Cost me 14 bucks.....but I am in Canada).

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

That came out really nice.

RE: new seat cover for $11
 

That looks good. I took my seat to a local upholstery shop and they redid the foam and cover for about 75bucks.. I could have saved some cheddar if i did it myself though..