Low profile "Cafe" seat Build

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deadchef: I think i'm gonna just leave the rear fender off, or maybe add something smaller, I did change the rear brake light stock one was way too big after I took everything off the rear end. I will want to remove the old ugly blinker mounts on the frame and relocate the blinkers too.

 

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Okay, this is the material I got for the cover at a fabric/crafts store, its black, fabric backed vinyl "leather". I chose vinyl because its water proof and much cheaper than leather, and with this stuff you would never even know its not real, quite happy with the quality of this stuff. In the pic you can also see the thin fabric backed foam backing I got to allow me to make the raised pattern I wanted.

 

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Next I cut out the covering and covering backing again with the template I've used all along but made my cut about 1 1/2 inches outside the line to make the pattern bigger to give myself a seam that I could sew together and trim off the excess after. I used 2 layers of the backing foam to give a little extra padding and some more definition to my stitched line pattern. I marked the top piece every 1 1/4 inches with a white grease pencil and used pins to hold it all together before sewing it.

 

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Take warning, I know how you feel about budget, so far most of my available budget has gone towards reliability / safety items like new Pirelli rubber, EBC clutch/ springs, new brakes, battery, stator, and rotor, dosen't leave much for the pretty stuff, hence this "budget" seat mod, It was fun making it though,and you get a lot of satisfaction creating something yourself.

 

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Okay, for this next step I used a sewing machine to stitch the pattern on the seat top, I was a little intimidated at the prospect of using the machine because I've never used one before. My girlfriend showed me how to operate it and about 15 minutes later after some practice pieces I tackled the pattern, not too hard really, all straight lines. After I sewed the pattern I used a clean moist rag to wipe off the grease pencil lines.

 

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Now the entire cover is made from 3 pieces, the top, sides ( which I made from one long strip about 3 1/2 inches wide, and the little front piece which can be seen in the first pic. When I sewed the pieces together I put the "good" sides facing each other, stitched my seam, and then when you fold the cover over the seam is on the inside, the pics do a better job of describing the construction than I do, LOL

 

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Almost Done!!!

 

[Airwolfie]

This is so cool dude, well done!!

 

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Thanks Airwolfie, I'm pretty happy with how it came out too,

 

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Alright, now that the cover was done I needed to figure out how I was going to attach it to the seat. I also wanted a solution that was removable so I could replace/repair if need be. What I ended up doing was using some industrial strength sticky backed velcro I got at the same fabric store that the vinyl came from. This stuff is made by 3M and is really good. once its stuck on something you almost need pliers to remove it and the glue is water proof so no worries there, You can see in the pics that I applied the strips around the edge of the bottom of the seat pan and also how I sewed the mating strips to the cover.

 

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That it, Done!! And it looks great! I'm very happy with what I achieved with this project especially for the price.
Total spent:
Sheet metal: 5$
mounting tang and rubbers: free (reused from old seat)
foam rubber: 10$
paint and spray glue: free (already had it)
vinyl covering: 20$
foam backing: 8$
velcro: 8$

Total: 51$
Time spent: about 10 hours

 

[Airwolfie]

Very clever! As a rule of thumb for me, I ALWAYS add a tiny bead of superglue to the sticky side if the velcro, they say it will hold, but it never does!

 

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Hope this little thread can help out some guys that want to try to tackle this themselves, Have fun!! and Ride Safe!!
Sam

 

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So far no hold problems, we will see as time goes by and I do more ing

 

[Airwolfie]

So far no hold problems, we will see as time goes by and I do more ing

Yeah you might be OK as you don't take it off all the time, but yeah time will tell! I'm sure it'll be fine!

 

[Speedthriller]

Nice seat! The velcro is a good idea!

 

[Square Circle]

Did you have to use a special needle on your sew machine ??

 

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Nope, the vinyl I used is pretty soft and even with the backing material both together are not as tough to sew as jeans would be.

 

[Take Warning15]

Nice job! I'm going to post up what I've been working on as well.

 

[Lasper01]

Great write-up! Thanks!!