How hard is it to correctly re-cover or replace seat?

[db4570]

I'm starting to look for a clean 550 Standard or E (so let me know if you know of one!), and occasionally see one that has a ripped or otherwise ugly seat.

I have read through some of the posts here about various seat cover suppliers, etc, but wanted to get input from those who have replaced seats or seat covers on how it went. For instance, I often see pictures of bikes that the seat cover was replaced on, and they usually don't look quite right. Like they don't fit right, with sags or wrinkles or puckers.

If I was really concerned about having it look perfect, is it possible? I'm terrible at anything related to upholstery, so would tend to have some sort of expert install it. Probably replace the foam at the same time. I don't care if a seat doesn't look 100% original, as long as it is close enough to look stock to someone not intimately familiar with a particular model/year.

Any experiences, pictures, shops, brands, or costs to share?

Thanks!

David

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Check out the seat cover replacement information on my website. It's not that hard to recover the seat yourself. You can even buy foam repair kits. If you take your time you can make it look great. Otherwise, many folks here have had great success with local auto upholstery shops and with sending their seat to places like Sargent's. But that will be more expensive.

This is a $65 seat cover over the original foam on my bike:







Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[gs road racer]

NICE Job Cliff!!

[twr1776]

Another option if your cover is in decent shape is to buy some of the Sargent Super Cell foam, cut it in and re-use your OEM cover. The foam is around 25-30 per piece as I recall. I re-did one of my seats last year and have been happy with it. It is not too hard to do it yourself. I used the 3M super adhesive and it worked well.

One word of caution the new Sargent material is a LOT firmer than the old saggy OEM foam so it did take about 1500 miles to get used to it. I took it on a 450 mile day right after installing it and it was not very pleasant but after a while you do get used to it and will like it IMHO.

Post # 9 has a link that shows how it looks before putting the cover back on. Photo courtesy of BWringer.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...t=sargent+seat

[Colin Green]

My 85 GS1100G with a NZ$65 cover installed with the help of Basscliff's Pdf's

I think a lot depends on the condition and form of the padding. If it has compressed then the cover wont align well (the less pattens and piping the better).

[BassCliff]

NICE Job Cliff!!

Aww, gee, thanks!

Here are a few more shots of the seat before I wrecked, restored, and repainted my bike.







It's not a 100% stock replacement look-alike, but the Saddlemen's is a fine seat cover.

Here's the stock seat. In this picture you don't see the rips, which is why I replaced the cover.



On the stock seat, the square designs are formed by what looks like a heat press. On the replacement seat cover the squares are stitched, which I actually like better. The Saddlemen seat cover has a layer of padding under those stitches to even out any irregularities you might have on the top of your old foam. I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately, I broke a couple of the plastic nubs used to install the seat trim. I still have the trim and might re-install it some day by drilling out holes and using small stainless steel or chrome nuts and bolts.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Roger P.]

This is a Saddleman from JC Whitney. It was a bit of a struggle to get on, but it looks good, better than in this photo actually. This is without stapling it to the seat pan, just using the draw string.

[niko]

I did mine at home, with a little help from my mom who is good at sewing etc. the seat on my 85 550l was fairly complicated, its two level with the rear seat higher than the front. it came out really well, we basically took the seat stitching apart and used the old vinyl as a pattern to cut new pieces out of new vinyl, i left the foam alone as it was in good shape.

[suzu650]

Look through the parts for sale on here to. You would be surprised how much stuff there is in there for real good prices and in good shape!

[morpheus666]

Check for a local upholster, I had a nasty cover and dropped the seat off and it was recovered quite nicely for $50.

[OldVet66]

I'll be re-covering the '79 seat to put on my '78 to get some more height to relieve circulation problems from too low a sitting position, as soon as I get my covers from B&H about the end of, the month. I'll post pictures.

[db4570]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like as long as I get a good quality cover, any good upholstery place can install it. Any idea what it costs if I send it off to one of hte seat places, like Seargent's, instead?

David

[Ponderosa]

Upolstery

I have used my local shop for most of my projects, some I do myself when looks are not important, LOL.. No really, you can do a good job yourself, example are the seats done by members here, very nice. A few tricks, one make sure your padding/foam is in good shape and you have the proper cover. Two, use a large piece of saran wrap over your padding before you start your stretch, it gives the cover material the ability to stretch. Three, take your time, I usually start lengthways, and move to the sides.

I am having my local shop do the seat on my project this time, wanted something special. It will probably cost me about $200.. Will post some pics shortly..