Still learning upholstery...

Hey folks! Here's a pic of my latest seat cover. I've changed the seat shape some, and am really experimenting with the covers. This one is actually held on with duct tape, and has no seams at all. I'm getting better, and have decided to go for it myself. The actual cover will be navy blue (looks great surrounded by all that black), and have some seams, but not many, and none on the top that will show. The seat cushion will be built up a little more in the back to meet the tail, also. The riding is great! Lots of different positions, and I'm totally stoked about it. I've sanded the tail some, in preparation for the final assault on it. This paint was just to ride around in, anyway. Here's the list of things to do...

1. Resin layer on the bottom of the pan to fill the staple holes from all the experiments. There will also be a two layer pan over the battery and tool kit molded, and attached to my seatpan to give me a more rigid pan, and make the side lines straight at the bottom along the frame.

2. final smoothing of the tailpiece front section where the cushion meets the tail (this section will be satin black, not gloss.

3. Paint (duh), including underside edges of tailpiece.

4. Build-up of the cushion to final size and carve to shape.

5. Attach cushion with Goop marine contact adhesive.

6. Scotchguard the inside of the vinyl, after sewing the cover.

7. Attach cover.

8. Install completed unit..getting pretty good at this one.
Sounds like alot, but it's just a process with steps. Those steps may change, like custom stuff often does. Still not going to do any work that disables the bike for riding until the weather turns bad again. Then the paint will happen quickly on the next available warm day.

So the frame rails will be visible.....or not?
I like yer attitude...."Nothing ventured....nothing gained"
What ya end up deciding to use for the seat cover material???? And keep up the posts for the "How to" upholstery. We may need another forum!!

Post edited by: indykaw77, at: 2005/10/27 20:31

Frame rails visible, but I want to hide the battery box mounts.

Oh! Seat cover material. I found some Navy blue pebble grained vinyl I really liked at Walmart! This is more supple than the black I was using, and is opening some new posibilities for the cover. The shape I wanted in my concept drawings was looking too hard for a do-it yourself project with the black stuff. Now I think I can do it..For a total cover cost of about $15, including all the flubbed test covers, the thread, needles, batting material, and plenty left over for spares in the new color. All of the original foam materials were scrounged, so that's a break even. The actual foam was 25 dollars for two pieces, and I haven't even touched the second piece. Total seat with foam and cover under $30. Yes it has been lots of work, but that's what projects are about...a challenge.

The seatpan/tailpiece I have'nt totalled up at all, but it's a one-off piece, so that makes it pretty special to me. It has been through three distinct trial and error stages, as you all know, so the cost is probably elevated compared to a commercial piece, although stage one was also scrounged materials, to a large degree.

The blue seat sets the black bike off with just enough variation to really look good out in the sun.

Looks great! I can't wait to see the finished version. That bike looks good now, and it's going to look damned sharp after the upholstery and paint are done.

ronboskz650sr wrote:

There will also be a two layer pan over the battery and tool kit molded, and attached to my seatpan to give me a more rigid pan, and make the side lines straight at the bottom along the frame.

How are you doing this? Are you making your own pan somehow?

Another question, with the frame rails exposed, are your legs against them at all when using the passenger pegs? It's hard to picture your riding posture, although I suppose it's a bit hard to take an action shot of yourself on the bike. :side:

The second pan will be made the same way as the first, only not as long front to back. While it is workable, I will place the first pan into the wet resin/matting, and fold the sides up and over the original pan. Basically just adding two layers to a key part of the pan...between the frame member and the battery box mounts. I'm gettin a little flexing there, because I left room for shop rags over the tool kit, and I've decided to store those inside the tail and fill that space with fiberglass for reinforcement. No big deal, since I wanted to straighten out the seatpan sides anyway. I molded the first pan with the forward helmet hook on the bike. This deformed the pan around that area in such a way that too much frame is exposed when I cut it out. Then I matched the other side to it, and i don't like it that way. This is just a tweak of the seatpan, basically. It will be all in the same molding step to prevent the old pan from warping when assembled to the two new layers. I'll push it into position and hold it down with some weight while it cures. The top central area of the pan won't be affected. Just in case, i'll wrap the weights in glad wrap to make sure the resin doesn't stick to them.

The frame rails haven't presented themselves as a comfort issue to me while riding, so I'm not really sure. I'll take note of that and get back to you.

I forgot, the original seatpan was kindof being done around the time of the site switch-over. There are some pics over there I think. Basically...lay garbage bag over frame with seat off. Cover body parts, engine and rear tire with garbage bags. Apply glass matting and resin directly to the frame over the garbage bag. Cut your pieces of glass matting ahead of time and lay them across something near you. Figure out any areas that need strips cut a certain shape to allow conforming to the shape. If this makes you nervous, get 2-4 mil drop cloths instead of the bags for puncture resistance. Cover the whole area you want to sit on and all the way back to the end. Overlap the frame enough so you can trim it as desired later. Hinges and helmet hooks can be problem areas, so plan them out carefully to avoid "bubbble" areas that will be voids if you try to trim them back (this is what happened to my pan in the battery box area.) Either cover and later cut out the air intake area, or just don't cover it. Make sure you cover the battery area, and don't take the tool kit out before you do this, or it won't fit afterwards. I recommend you make it at least three cloth layers thick, or four. This stuff is light, so the bike will be lighter either way. Search for seatpan pics onder my name in the archives, they should come right up.

Your seat reminds me of an sr-71 black bird.

Post edited by: galaxian, at: 2005/10/28 08:47

:laugh: One of these days, i'm going to make side badges that say SR-79.

Here's the same test cover on my modified seatpan. I'll get some pic of that when I finish the paint on the tail. Basically, I laid glass cloth (not matting) on the frame and resin, then laid the tailpoiece onto it, laid glass matting (not cloth) on the edges of the pan where it wasn't straight, and folded the cloth up and over to get a straight edge on the bottom of the seatpan. made a huge difference in gettin the vinyl to pull without wrinkles. This is a single rectangular sheet of vinyl, with no seam, ductaped together on the bottom of the pan. I'll use the folds in it as a guide for a pattern to sew a one piece cover from a new piece after I fool around with this one and ride some more. It's pretty good, considering it isn't stapled or even sewn into a cover! I also haven't used any adhesive on the top to conformit into the swoop from the back and the little one in front. I'm convinced I can do this now...it just took practice and alot of sewing! Meanwhile, here's how it looks after sitting in the garge all night and the tape probably loosened up considerably. It's getting down into the 30's at night here, and it's only 50 right now.