This past summer, my seat got a puncture in it somehow. It's about 1" wide and I don't really feel like patching it somehow, so I've decided to just re-upholster the whole seat.

It's a black rubber type of fabric right now (stock), and I'd like to redo it with a red fabric. What kind would you guys recommend? Looking to stay on the cheap right now.

Also, is there anything I should know before going about this? I've upholstered a few things before (aka, speaker boxes for a car) and didn't have any problems. I'm assuming just spray glue and a credit card to smooth the fabric out with. I know the stock seat fabric has stitching where the "driver" part of the seat meets the "passenger" side, and I know when I redo it, it'll just be one continuous piece. Wasn't sure if that'd be a problem of not.

So, looking for any advice from someone that's re-upholstered their seat.

There is a thread or two of members who did their own using marine grade materials. It looked nice too

I used the below.  Shipped quick and one yard was enough to do the seat twice (yup, had to try twice).

http://www.yourautotrim.com/alhbl.html

Pretty simple job.  Pull off the old stuff, stretch the new stuff over and staple.  My staples might have been a bit too long.

Marine Vinyl is $16.99/yard at Joanne Fabrics and other similar craft stores.  I've seen successful outcomes using the marine vinyl or the All-Sport vinyl... The All-Sport vinyl is a bit more stretchy and easier to apply, but the marine vinyl is tougher.  Any fabric you use will require time to get it all smooth though.

- Bboy

My seat is Fukt. Aside from numerous growing tears, I sat on it the other day (about 20*F out) and it literally busted in three spots. Can't seem to find a good write-up. Anyone care to share or create one? Also, what about changing some/all of the foam out?

Huff,

You can always send it out.  That's what I did.  I'm an idiot when it comes to that sort of thing, so I relied on the professionals:

This is who I used:  http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php

Overall, it's OK, but not great.  I needed something to get me though my 1000 mile ride.  It did, but I'm sure that a Corbin or something like that would have been better.  I have a 2009, so there are not many options for my application.

Quote from: lboaman on January 08, 2013, 07:55:14 AM
I used the below.  Shipped quick and one yard was enough to do the seat twice (yup, had to try twice).

http://www.yourautotrim.com/alhbl.html

Pretty simple job.  Pull off the old stuff, stretch the new stuff over and staple.  My staples might have been a bit too long.

Pretty simple job?  I disagree!  I think I am still just angry that mine didn't turn out the way I wanted.  I have a feeling that the vinyl I used was the culprit.  None of this is directed at you, I'm still just frustrated that I spent 3 hours and still did a crap job.  I don't know if I have the balls to try again.

Quote from: amkluttz on January 08, 2013, 10:32:19 AM

Quote from: lboaman on January 08, 2013, 07:55:14 AM
I used the below.  Shipped quick and one yard was enough to do the seat twice (yup, had to try twice).

http://www.yourautotrim.com/alhbl.html

Pretty simple job.  Pull off the old stuff, stretch the new stuff over and staple.  My staples might have been a bit too long.

Pretty simple job?  I disagree!  I think I am still just angry that mine didn't turn out the way I wanted.  I have a feeling that the vinyl I used was the culprit.  None of this is directed at you, I'm still just frustrated that I spent 3 hours and still did a crap job.  I don't know if I have the balls to try again.

Yes, I think the vinyl type plays a big part.  I've never tried with a different type, but I think the advantage I had was using the AllSport vinyl which stretches in every direction. 

I started stapling at the back of the seat, worked my way up each side and then the front (crotch region).  I did it myself but would have been a lot easier with an extra set of hands (one person stretching vinyl, one person stapling). 

Like I said, I had to do it twice because the first time I did it, I started stapling and when I got the the crotch region, I had been pulling so tight that I ran out of vinyl to finish it.

Black marine vinyl from Joann fabric.

heres the write up I posted when I did mine.

and might I add, the Spray Adhesive I got from harbor freight worked GREAT for doing it solo!
it held it nice and tight but didnt instantly stick.
so you can easily pull it up and readjust it.

heres the glue I used.
http://www.harborfreight.com/24-oz-industrial-adhesive-spray-93792.html

friend redid his seats the same way (01 929rr) and they came out Flawlessly!


heres my write up.


Tossed the fabric in the dryer for 5 to 10 mins.

Sprayed the glue all over the top and sides of the seat.
and then all over the back of the fabric.

Laid the fabric over the seat.

Went from side to side on the #1 area in the pic first.

From the #1 area, went down the middle of the back in the #2 area and worked the sides out as I went down the middle.

Then from the #1 line, went down the middle of the front seat along the #3 line.
but as I was doing that, I had to work the sides more then the rest.

For the sides, I started out on the right side of the seat in the pic.
If the glue was a little too dried, I pulled only the side up a little bit and sprayed more glue on the sides and around the bottom on the plastic.

Pulled it tight and if no wrinkles, held it tight and put a staple in.

Then I simply went around the entire thing doing the same thing.
Any wrinkles, I simply pulled the fabric off the sides away from the foam, sprayed more glue, pulled it tight to where there was no wrinkles, held it in place on the bottom and added a staple or two.

VERY easy solo project using the glue instead of multiple ppl with Only a staple gun!



and I know of that little wrinkle in the front left of it. (was my mistake)

Tomb,

I think it is my vinyl.  I bought it with the intention of covering a sub box but when I bought it I got way too much.  It's been sitting around the house forever and I finally decided to use it for this.  It has a fabric backing on it almost like a really light felt.  I've never done this before and would love to blame my failure on the fabric.  I could never get it to pull correctly over the hump where the passenger seat meets the driver seat; it's almost like it needs to be pulled in two separate directions.  It makes me furious when I am not good at something because I fix things for a living and am generally good at making things work.  That being said I did use your write up (and thank you, by the way).  You gave me the idea to use the spray adhesive because I tried the heat-it and tug-at-it method.  The other problem could be that the vinyl is fairly thin and had a lot of wrinkles in it because of the way it was laying.  I feel like I should have ironed it out and maybe that would have helped.

This is my effort after about 2-3 hours.  Please don't laugh...

Probably is the vinyl.
It looks pretty darn thin compared to mine.

As long as the foam underneath is stock, using the spray glue wont be a problem.
PO of my current bike modified the seat and added a softer foam on top of the stock foam.
So the spray glue made the fabric almost instantly stick and unworkable.

Its pretty easy to do as I described.

I went from side to side on the hump between the rider and passenger area.
got that smooth.
Went straight from the middle of the seat down the middle of the passenger area towards the rear of the seat.
Then worked the sides smooth.

Same deal for the rider area.

Started at the hump and went right down the middle towards the front.
Then stretched out the sides more to make it smooth.

Solo, that spray adhesive REALLY worked well!
Honestly, its better then even two extra sets of hands because it basically holds the fabric completely in place but doesnt fully adhere to it for Minutes!
and if it does start to adhere, just pull the fabric up and spray more to wetten it up again.

Try removing staples and heating the vinyl a bit with a hair dryer and stretching it and restapling it tighter.  The heat and the stretching will allow it to shape to the seat with no wrinkles.

I recovered the seat on a GS I am restoring a couple of weeks ago.   


Give it another shot!

Rob

I guess I'll tackle this early spring. Thanks for the info. Any good ideas for seat cushioning?

Tomb,

You hit on something I forgot to mention; the vinyl is pretty thin.  That, combined with the felt-like fabric backing, could be the reason for my troubles.  It would not retain heat very well either.  By the time I set the heat gun down and tried to stretch it it was cooling down.  I even put it in the dryer for about 5 minutes and got it fairly warm before I started.  I know it doesn't look like much but it's better than what the PO had on there.  What he had was probably better material but it had been sewn and stitched to try to wrap around the seat and was floppy at the front of the seat.  I will probably try again soon because I can't stand it looking like that.

Thanks for all the help guys.

-Andy

The way you describe the material, amkluttz, as thin and felt-backed it sounds like those outdoor tablecloths... which are thin vinyl and flannel backed (fuzzy underside).

I don't know how much it costed you or anything, but I've bought a LOT of fabric (I used to make stilt costumes), I would not rely on anything too much for your motorcycle seat priced under $10/yard.  Nevertheless, you can make anything work with fabric, the tricky part is making it function as it is intended AND making it look good at the same time. 

- Bboy