New seat cover

[lurch12_2000]

I sourced a DL1000 seat off eBay for $10 that needed a new seat cover. We used marine vinyl from Joanne Fabric on sale for $12/yd which will do 2 seats. A few minutes in the dryer to warm it up, then with my wife stretching as I stapled (1/4" staples), using the hair dryer along the way to keep supple, trim off the excess under the seat after and....we were pleased with the results below. A nice improvement over the DL650 stock seat for comfort. A little wider and flatter so it fits the butt better.

NOTE: Correction as it's not a sq yd but the roll is usually around 48-54" wide and then you have them pull and cut 36" (the yard of material) off the roll. You need to have measured your seat so you'll know going into the store what you need. Sometimes you luck out with a "scrap" that could be big enough to work with marked way down and maybe get at $4/yd.

 

[posplayr]

That looks nicely stretched and very OEM.

 

[harley10]

Does look rather good , I say well done !!

 

[Guest]

I'm impressed that it followed the dips and curves so well. Nice job!

 

[Gorminrider]

Really good job!
question:
Which way did you align the "bias" ie fabric weave.
Also, I hope you made a pattern to share with other Dl1000 seat users!

 

[lurch12_2000]

Really good job!
question:
Which way did you align the "bias" ie fabric weave.
Also, I hope you made a pattern to share with other Dl1000 seat users!

There isn't a bias per se as it stretches equally in both directions and there is no surface pattern to orientate. There is no pattern other than a single 36"x48" rectangular piece after measuring length and width of my DL1000 seat foam and pan with a soft tape measure to wrap over/around contours and adding about a 4" overhang fudge factor to be able to grasp and pull the fabric with. When measuring, be sure to factor the approx 1-2" of material that is folded under and stapled with. Do not put staples closer than 1/2" from final edge of fabric as it may tear through material when stretching. We trim off the excess with scissors after stapling in place. Always start with stretching and securing the nose and tail with 3 or 4 staples each, then the mid section side to side just before the hump with 2 or 3 staples, then work towards the front evenly as you go, then work towards the back evenly, being careful to pull the corners over the lip as to not leave a bed fold. Don't put too many staples in right away since you may have to do again and less staples to pull out. I give credit to my wife for the detail, but it's a 2 person operation. You must keep the fabric warm to hot (not too hot) with a hair dryer to allow pliability. Heat the section, then stretch, then staple....not like those window shrink wrap winterize kits where you stick and then heat to shrink!

 

[Gorminrider]

Thanks, lurch. Good info here!
(I was wondering because I have some vinyl with "plain backing"-Old stuff apparently! ...it stretches differently depending on bias and is harder to get right. )

 

[Eccentric]

Very well done. Thanks for the info.