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Post your custom seats. Preferably L models.

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    #16
    If Deesel's seat is what you want then go for it.

    Take the stock cover off, draw lines on the foam w/ a marker, and start cutting it down to the approximate shape with an electric carving knife (Walmart)
    If you cut off too much, just glue the chunk back on there with 3M Super 77 (Home Depot) and then give it another go.

    If you want some nicer foam to sit on than the 30 year old stuff on there, get yourself a chunk of 2" High Density Polyfoam from an upholsterer. (If you plan to have him do the cover for you, now is the time to tell him, so he doesn't rape you on the price of the foam.) The foam you can get at the local fabric store isn't worth ****, so don't even bother. Cut a rectangle into the seat, 2" deep, all the way across the main seating area, and glue the new foam in there. Cut it to the rough shape you want.

    When you have your rough shape, chuck a COARSE sanding disk into your drill, and start grinding it to the final shape. Don't worry about tiny imperfections in the foam - you can cover the final form with bonded dacron before stretching the cover on there, which will hide quite a bit more than you'd think.

    From the pic, it doesn't look like you'd need to add any foam to the stock "L" seat to get the final shape, so it's a pretty straight forward project.

    Now either have it covered at the local upholstery shop, or I can guide you through the patterning process, if you want to give it a go yourself. You'll need someone with an industrial sewing machine, (or one that can handle at least #69 nylon thread) to do the sewing.

    Have at it, and post some pics along the way.

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      #17
      Originally posted by Regent View Post
      If Deesel's seat is what you want then go for it.

      Take the stock cover off, draw lines on the foam w/ a marker, and start cutting it down to the approximate shape with an electric carving knife (Walmart)
      If you cut off too much, just glue the chunk back on there with 3M Super 77 (Home Depot) and then give it another go.

      If you want some nicer foam to sit on than the 30 year old stuff on there, get yourself a chunk of 2" High Density Polyfoam from an upholsterer. (If you plan to have him do the cover for you, now is the time to tell him, so he doesn't rape you on the price of the foam.) The foam you can get at the local fabric store isn't worth ****, so don't even bother. Cut a rectangle into the seat, 2" deep, all the way across the main seating area, and glue the new foam in there. Cut it to the rough shape you want.

      When you have your rough shape, chuck a COARSE sanding disk into your drill, and start grinding it to the final shape. Don't worry about tiny imperfections in the foam - you can cover the final form with bonded dacron before stretching the cover on there, which will hide quite a bit more than you'd think.

      From the pic, it doesn't look like you'd need to add any foam to the stock "L" seat to get the final shape, so it's a pretty straight forward project.

      Now either have it covered at the local upholstery shop, or I can guide you through the patterning process, if you want to give it a go yourself. You'll need someone with an industrial sewing machine, (or one that can handle at least #69 nylon thread) to do the sewing.

      Have at it, and post some pics along the way.

      Thats pretty much what I did. After carving with electric knife, I used my hand grinder with a sandpaper disk (flap disk) to do the final sculpting of the seat.
      I am happy with the result, more comfortable and looks good IMO.

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        #18
        Originally posted by Deesel View Post
        Thats pretty much what I did. After carving with electric knife, I used my hand grinder with a sandpaper disk (flap disk) to do the final sculpting of the seat.
        I am happy with the result, more comfortable and looks good IMO.
        Yea how much to make me one and a set of those fender mount covers

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by Mr_Shake View Post
          ^^^Looks great. What kind of shocks are those?
          Nothing special. They are a $50 set of MDL or something like that I got off ebay. Once I get the bike together, I'll figure out what I need for better shocks & go from there.

          Comment


            #20
            I didn't change the shape of mine, but I cut out a section of the seat on my GS850G and replaced it with Supercell foam from Sargent. If you call up, they'll send you a hunk of their magic foam for about $40 - $50.

            Before (tired and saggy):



            During - I cut out the original section with an electric knife I bought from Goodwill for $2, carved the Supercell foam to a rough fit with the electric knife, installed it with spray adhesive, carved some more to get the rough shape, then smoothed, refined, and blended the shape by hand with a course sandpaper block. I didn't change the shape at all -- the new seat cover from B&H only fits OEM shapes:


            Voila!
            New seat cover from B&H: http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
            It looks nice, but DO NOT make the same mistake I did and order the textured vinyl. This stuff is perforated, so it's totally stupid to use on a bike that gets ridden places far away. Order yours in another vinyl and you'll be very happy. They don't make custom shapes, so talk to a local upholsterer if you changed your seat foam shape.



            The results of changing the foam were incredible -- it's comfortable all day now, and before the rebuild, I was in gluteal agony within 100 miles.
            1983 GS850G, Cosmos Blue.
            2005 KLR685, Aztec Pink - Turd II.3, the ReReReTurdening
            2015 Yamaha FJ-09, Magma Red Power Corrupts...
            Eat more venison.

            Please provide details. The GSR Hive Mind is nearly omniscient, but not yet clairvoyant.

            Celeriter equita, converteque saepe.

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            Co-host of "The Riding Obsession" sport-touring motorcycling podcast at tro.bike!

            Comment


              #21
              Brian, Do you know if the supercell foam you purchased similar to the memory foam like the Tempur-Pedic material ?

              Mike
              Last edited by Guest; 10-03-2007, 08:05 PM. Reason: can't type

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                #22
                Hey Deesel what material did you cover your seat in?

                Comment


                  #23
                  Originally posted by mortation View Post
                  Yea how much to make me one and a set of those fender mount covers
                  Dont you want to try it yourself? Think about how you want to change the seat, and take your time. I wanted a lower, and farther back seating position with a sleeker look to the seat. It was actually kind of easy.

                  Those strut covers are just 3/16 thick flat stock aluminum pieces that I cut out on a bandsaw, polished and bolted on. Ive got about 15 min into making those.

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Originally posted by Ironriot View Post
                    Hey Deesel what material did you cover your seat in?
                    I had a local upolsterer cover the seat. He said he used it alot for motorcycle seats. It has the feel of soft leather. Its kind of stretchy and somewhat tacky (nonslip). Good seat material but I cant tell exactly what it is.
                    He charged me $100 to cover my seat after I carved up the foam.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Originally posted by mriddle View Post
                      Brian, Do you know if the supercell foam you purchased similar to the memory foam like the Tempur-Pedic material ?

                      Mike
                      I was just wondering that myself last night as I slept on my new memory foam pillow (yes, my mind is on motorcycles even in bed...). Bet that stuff would make great seats and it's only like $15 for a pillow-sized hunk at WalMart.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Originally posted by t3rmin View Post
                        I was just wondering that myself last night as I slept on my new memory foam pillow (yes, my mind is on motorcycles even in bed...). Bet that stuff would make great seats and it's only like $15 for a pillow-sized hunk at WalMart.
                        Was thinking about going that route myself but then I thought about it, the foam would probably wear out quick and start to shrink and then the material would probably start to look bad and wrinkle. But thats just my .02

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by Deesel View Post
                          Dont you want to try it yourself? Think about how you want to change the seat, and take your time. I wanted a lower, and farther back seating position with a sleeker look to the seat. It was actually kind of easy.

                          Those strut covers are just 3/16 thick flat stock aluminum pieces that I cut out on a bandsaw, polished and bolted on. Ive got about 15 min into making those.
                          No. lol. Last time I tried that on my GT550 and I trashed the seat it looked like poo. Then I stripped the foam and put new foam on and tried to carve my own seat and it looked even worse lol.

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