Seat repair

[Guest]

What's the best way to fix tips and years along seams on a seat? I got vinyl adhesive for it, but I want to know the best way to apply it. Any suggestions?

[rwnielsen]

Take the seat cover off and patch it from behind with some adhesive and scrap vinyl. Probably easier said than done.

[Phred]

Check out pitreplica online. They manufacture replica seat covers for these bikes at a very reasonable cost. And while you are taking it apart you might want to look into replacing the foam as well.

[Anthony]

It's just very small rips, I just want to keep it from getting worse is all. It's on the sides nearest the tank.

[bwringer]

There's a Permatex brand vinyl repair kit available in any auto parts store that works great as long as you follow the directions EXACTLY.

And the directions specify that you should practice on a scrap first -- they even provide said scrap of vinyl to practice on.

You want the kit with the electric heat sealing tool (it looks like a wee soldering iron). The one with the non-electric tool (you're supposed to heat it up with a torch or something) is useless.

Basically, you repair the tear with a clear-ish adhesive, let that cure a bit, then apply a thermosetting color compound on top of that, using a texture overlay to help it blend in. The layer of color is important, since the clear adhesive will degrade when exposed to sunlight.

You want this one, the "Ultra" kit:

http://www.permatex.com/component/virtuemart/permatex--ultra-series-vinyl---leather-repair-kit-detail

Don't bother with the cheaper kit that does not include the electric heat tool.


In your case, just go into this aware that the old vinyl may or may not be strong enough to hold up.

[GDT1960]

I have used this permatex repair kit many times!! Works very good, if you follow the directions like bwringer says!!

[Allie]

Good to know about the replicas. I've used super glue to repair the separation along the back seam years ago with good effect. It's just now starting to come apart in places. It also has a tiny little dig in the back now, and is just plain wearing through to the canvas from hiney traffic in a couple of places. It may just be getting too old to fix .