How to Rebuild and Upholster your Bike s Seat

Here are detailed comments and pictures of how to rebuild a bike's seat. Thanks to jsinn02 for the original post and instructions.

Posted 19 May 2012 - 05:16 AM I am by NO MEANS claiming to know much about the art of upholstery, but i did have a really great opportunity come my way.... here is the story: So for the months after having this seat pan done by Larry, i was researching various options as to what i could have done, what i could afford to have done, and who could do it... I ended up finding a few random people, but they all seemed to be a bit pricey, and for whatever reason it just wasn't happening... I did notice that I kept hearing about this one guy in particular, and how he was hands down THE master of this craft.... he actually specializes doing full interior restoration on classic 60's & 70's sports cars like Lamborghini, Porsche, and Ferrari to name a few...

So that was enough for me to hear, and i figured he was the guy i wanted to meet....and so i did. i contacted him, and set up a time to stop by his shop... I was instantly blown away at the level of his skill, and spent a good amount of time talking to him about what he does, but also going over my bike and talking to him about things I have done, and what I still wanted to do... long story short, he basically proposed that instead of him doing my seat for me, that I could come and use his space, equipment, pay for materials only, and do it myself.... with him there for direction of course... NICE!!! So I spent the next few weeks going in to his shop here and there when I had the time, and I cant tell you how much enjoyment I got from this whole experience... I couldn't wait to get back in and continue this project... Working with him was such an incredible learning experience, and I truly got a chance to see first hand the dream projects this guy gets to be involved with daily... And for me...not only did I get a chance to make a cool-ass seat, but when I got finished, I was asked if be interested in doing an apprenticeship with him.... The strange thing is i have been ITCHING for something new in my life... and its just crazy how this whole thing worked out.

So I've been doing that for the past month or so, and couldn't be happier... I am surrounded by cars that I've drooled over all my life, learning the differences in how the Italians did things versus how the Germans did, etc...its so cool! anyways, enough about that....

So I did take some photos through the process of doing my seat, and wanted to share them with anyone who is interested... by no means did I take as many as I could/should of, but hopefully it will be enough to at least give an idea... and I will try and explain them to the best of my ability, but I am gonna try and let the pix do most of the explaining themselves...

SOOOOO.....here we go.....

This first shot is of my pan, cleaned off and ready to begin.... . . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . . So there are basically 2 different tasks that need to happen.... first being the body/cushion of the seat, and then finally the making the cover... Working from the inside out.... there's more than one way to build the cushion of a seat... most mass-produced seats, including our old CX seat, are made with some sort of injection-type of foam.... and I'm sure if you had this foam (which I never did) and it was in good enough condition, you could cut/shave that down and possibly use that... I was told by my guy that he would rarely, if ever, do that himself, so its up to you.... So the first step was to create a base layer of super dense foam on the base of the pan.... being that a portion of the original CX pan was used, There were a few low spots that i needed to fill in first, in order to get as flat a base as possible... The next pix show the foam being used, and cutting the pieces to fill in 2 main low spots, and then using spray adhesive to mount in place... . . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . Next step is cutting the shape of the base pieces, and its then a matter of building up multiple layers of this foam till you get to your desired height.... For example, I knew that I wanted to add between 2" & 3" to my final ride height.... with that said, I knew to build this first section of dense base foam to roughly 1/3rd of that amount.... . . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . I basically built up a block of foam by gluing roughly 4-5 sheets of this 1/4" foam together.... this is also where you'll be starting the shaping of the seat... So with a Sharpie I placed the pan back on my bike, and marked certain spots, like the area where my thighs contact the seat while in a riding position, a well as feet down at a stop... i right away noticed the edges of the foam digging into my inner leg, which i know i didn't want... using razor blades, i began roughly cutting some of the mass away.... it doesn't have to be perfect at this point, but try and get the shape close to what you want. i should also mention, i was told over and over how important it was to always make sure you have your center points marked, and to use them... i learned quickly how true this is, because you ultimately want the seat to be symmetrical, and this is crucial to that actually happening.. you can see in the next pix where my lines are.... so this is also where the next layer is applied... this was 1in medium density foam...or comfort foam... although i wanted to sit up higher, i didn't want to be pushed forward towards the tank... or as little as possible. so by laying just a layer of this thicker foam down, it would do just that... so in order to utilize the thickness for height, but not to sit forward, i cut the foam at a severe angle...or beveled it. this way its full thickness is below me, but wraps up behind me... . . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . then its time to break out the sand paper and get busy. this is really the final shaping of the seat, so spend some time, put it on your bike 100 times if needed and make sure its perfect.... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

once you get to a point where you feel you're happy with the feel of it, one final layer of 1/8 in finishing foam is stretched over the base foam.... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 1117) - Click image to enlarge

. time to move towards figuring out a cover... and that includes which materials, as well as the overall style and look of the finished seat. i wanted a few specific things, like having the pleats, and also using 2 different textures of vinyl... one a somewhat dull, almost leather-looking. and the other, which is being used for the pleats, is called a "basket-weave"... so once the materials are decided, its time to start thinking about the final look... to do this, i put the pan back on the bike, and started sketching lines down till i found something i liked..... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . I also realized i wanted the front portion of the seat to have a slight hump in it, for aesthetics, so i built that area back up with layers of foam... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . OK....so the final layer placed over all the foam is just a thin plastic sheet, to keep it waterproof. the next step was taking pieces of string and gluing them in the places where the seams were going to be... and you do this just on one side... basically everything from this point on you do on one side, then mirror it over for the opposite side, which keeps your work as symmetrical as possible... this next pic shows the purpose of the string.... if you look towards the cowl of the seat, where the piece of vinyl is, you can see the string under the fabric.... with a piece of chalk, you rub a line on the vinyl from the string.... this is especially important in places where 2 pieces come together and where a seam will be... you trace the string lines onto the vinyl, and then cut your patterns from that.... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . next i moved to the pleats... i got my vinyl, traced out a rough line indicating the full area where they will be, and then glued this down onto 1/4" foam.... then with chalk and a ruler, i drew in exactly where the stitch lines would be.... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . then came time to sew....i ended up practicing for a while before actually doing mine, and for the most part they came out fine... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

. . unfortunately i don't have any more pix of the process after this last one, but basically the next steps are to stitch the pieces together, get it over the cushion you made earlier, and if all your measurements were correct, you will have a properly fitting cover for your seat pan....

Here's the detail... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

So I realized after i posted this that i didn't even mention how i mounted it.... I have seen a few different methods since being in his shop and old seats coming in for recovering.... hog rings in one, but honestly the only thing i used was this stuff called "barge cement".... you basically start by tacking down one area first, say the front, and you brush this stuff on the vinyl as well as the pan, then kind of activate it with a heat gun.... its actually incredible how strong this stuff holds...and my seat is on there tight as a drum,... also, there's NO spray adhesive used to hold the cover to the pan....you want the vinyl to be tight, but not stuck anywhere but the underside edges....like a drum.... and there's no rivets, no staples, nothing but this cement....

and finally the seat on my bike.... . Resized to 40% (was 1000 x 747) - Click image to enlarge

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Alright then....i hope this makes at least a little bit of sense to someone out there... Good luck!