My first bike - 1982 GS650

[lilbilly]

Hi guys - great forum here...I was searching for a place like this as soon as I bought the bike.

I just bought a 1982 GS650 on Sunday for $450. Most everything is in pretty good condition - I'll post some pics up as soon as I get time.

Right now I intend to keep it stock, I may end up modding it later, but for now I want to get it looking good, running, and enjoy riding it.

As far as appearances go, other than a good detailing, it only needs a few things - the first is the seat. The seat is torn at the seams and the leather shrunk, so it either needs new seat altogether or it needs reupholstered. If in the process of fixing the seat I could shave some height off, that would be great (I'm only 5'5"). What do you guys recommend?

[lilbilly]

Anyone have a recomendation for the seat? Reupholster it or where would I get a new one? Also, is there a way to shave off some height in the process?

[posplayr]

U might need a custom fit cover

if you want to cut down the seat for lower height. Corbin makes GS1100's street fighter seats for the 82-83 but not likely to fit yours.

Talk to a local upholsterer and get soem high density foam to cut it down.

Good luck.

Do a google search for "how to".

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...t&aq=f&oq=&aqi=


Pos

[lilbilly]

if you want to cut down the seat for lower height. Corbin makes GS1100's street fighter seats for the 82-83 but not likely to fit yours.

Talk to a local upholsterer and get soem high density foam to cut it down.

Good luck.

Do a google search for "how to".

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...t&aq=f&oq=&aqi=


Pos

Thanks for the response...I wasn't sure if the local upholsterer would do that and didn't think about googling a DIY.

[skidMarkNZ]

Mwuahaha another to the dark side of the gs650g

Here's my ahem slightly modified one...

[MellowMoodz]

Mwuahaha another to the dark side of the gs650g

Here's my ahem slightly modified one...

HOLY SH!T....that thing is flippin bad AZZ.....what front end do you have on there? Was the mod really hard.....I am totally diggin' this machine.....

[Paul_IOFJS]

I vote for taking it to a local upholstery shop. The guys around here at least are awesome! I pulled my seat off the bike and took it in about 2 months ago, had him recover it and round over the edges so I didn't have corners pinching off the blood flow to my lower extremeties. Took him 1 week and ran me $95 + tax on materials. Having a local shop adjust the seat for you should be no problem for them. Plus you can have them recover it in a much larger variety of materials.

[lilbilly]

I haven't called them all, but the upholsterers I called today said they won't alter the shape, they only re-cover it. But I still have a few left to call. Thanks for the advice - I'd be satisfied spending around $100 if I could get some height off and have a good looking product when done.

[ThomasTedder]

I haven't called them all, but the upholsterers I called today said they won't alter the shape, they only re-cover it. But I still have a few left to call. Thanks for the advice - I'd be satisfied spending around $100 if I could get some height off and have a good looking product when done.

Go to a thrift store or Walmart and get yourself an electric carving knife. About $10 at Walmart. Spray the blades with silicone spray (also at Walmart or Autozone), and start carving. Take it easy, and get both sides equal. Then have your upholsterer recover it. If they can't recover it without the old seat cover to use as a pattern, they don't know what they're doing.