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+--- Thread: How to: DIY Hole in seat (/showthread.php?tid=41656)
How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-15-2012
I was talking with Zeus_R6 the other day about ordering some nice HT moto seat covers through his shop and getting my rear seat done so I can start doing FIS... Then he told me what HT moto charges to do the stunt seat! Well, from what I heat, HT moto seats are the best of the best, so if you have the $$, then maybe you should just get one. As for me, try as I might, whenever I sit on the toilet only one thing comes out of my ass and it ain't money!
So I did a little reading and decided I would attempt doing the mod myself. I got a yard of heavy duty textured vinyl from the local upholstery shop, and we had the foam lying around in the shop.
A little note on the foam. It is my understanding that you want the highest density foam you can get. I would also imagine you would want pretty firm foam. The high density will make it less prone to braking down. The foam I used it pretty light density but the material seems durable. I'm a little concerned about it collapsing after a while, but it's what I had so I guess I'll see ho it turns out. The point is if you are ordering some, go for high density!
Now on to the fun. Here is the seat how it came on the bike.
First thing is to pull the staples from the cover and get it off.
Then I cut a hole in the seat with a dremel and cutoff wheel. Wear eye pro, unless you want to catch molten plastic in your eye!
Next, I flipped over the seat pan and traced it onto the foam.
Both sides cutout. I used a bandsaw because I had it and I'm lazy, but a knife works surprisingly well at cutting this stuff.
More to come...
How to: DIY Hole in seat - chino12 - 07-15-2012
Nice! Keep the updates comin
How to: DIY Hole in seat - $Evan$ - 07-15-2012
i like it. and by best of the best u mean jb seats buahahha
How to: DIY Hole in seat - Righteous 1 - 07-16-2012
I soooo commend you for tackling EVERY project on your bike yourself!!!!
......but.....this is a job I'd leave to Joe @ JBseatz!!
How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-16-2012
Thanks!
I hadn't really given much thought into JB seatz. When I was looking for pictures of seats getting ready to do mine I kept of hearing complaints about JB... or maybe I'm mistaken?
Anyhoo, more pictures of how I did mine, for any intrepid DIYers out there.
Now would probably be a good time to show you the tools I used to work with the seat foam (I've got a bunch of pictures to pick through...)
And that's it, pretty easy. The sharper the knife the better, and if it starts getting glue on it and getting sticky, wipe it down with some brakleen. The super 90 glue works much better than the super 77 but it is harder to apply because of it's different nozzle.
The next step is going to be different for each model bike. My 06 636 seat pan was curved down a lot in the front and sides, so I glued some foam on with spray adhesive (3M Super 90) and shaved it flat with the knife.
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Next, I glued both halves of the foam together and glued them to the now flat seat pan. When using the glue, spray it on both parts and then let it sit for a few minutes before joining them together.
Now it's ready to carve and shape!
How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-16-2012
I took a marker to the foam to add some guidelines and plan out how the final shape would look like... The biggest problem is when you cut off the foam that is marked, the guides go away
One note on the side profile. Now that it is finished, it seems like I should have made the angle at the front of the seat steeper (angled farther back). When I sit all the way back on the seat, I can feel the top edge on my back.
And now for the fun part, hacking away with the knife! I started with pretty small cuts, working front to back or back to front and top down. Just take little bits off at a time. Small sawing motions can help but with a really sharp knife you won't need it much (for this foam at least). Apparently those electric turkey knifes are the bee's knees for shaping foam but I couldn't find a place that would sell them locally
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How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-16-2012
Once I had the basic shape down, I took some 40 grit sandpaper and just lightly went over it to smooth out any high or low spots. I found holding the sandpaper like so worked great.
Ta-da! Finished shaping the foam!
Awww yeahh, just like Cinderella!
How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-16-2012
The last thing I did before covering in vinyl was glue on some headliner foam we had laying around the shop. This stuff was a little softer than the blue foam, but the main reason I put it on was to further smooth out any high or low spots. It was thin so it wouldn't really change the shape of the foam under it.
For the cover, I'll admit I got some help from my dear sweet mother
I've never used a sewing machine before in my life and I didn't want my cover to look like total ass so she helped me. Mom: "What part is this?" Me: "It's the seat" "But why does it have a hole in it?" "So I can put my foot in it 
" "...But why would you want to do that...?" Then we went down to the fabric store to get some upholstery thread and heavy duty needles for her machine. I felt kind of out of place mixed in with all the old ladies, buying parts for my stunt bike!Anyway, I didn't take too many pictures of these steps but I'll try and explain what we did. I like the pattern of the HT moto seats, so that's what we decided to do. I'm sure you could get away with doing a two or three piece cover, maybe top, front, and inside (I'll call it the "tube") but again, I like the look of more pieces.
First I marked the center line on the foam, then I drew on where I was going to have the seams. Next, I transferred that to some thin, semi sheer cloth for making patterns. Fold it in half to make it symmetrical. Remember to leave about an inch along the bottom for stapling! With the pattern pieces made, it was time to cut out the vinyl and stitch it all together. For each of the main seams, the center was sewn, then each side was folded over and a piece of cotton strap was sewn along the seam to reinforce it.
Half way done
Now it looks like the turtle neck from hell! All of the pins on the front edge are holding the cotton strap in place on the backside so it can be sewn.
The cover is all sewn up, and ready to be stretched and stapled on! Thanks, mom I love you!
How to: DIY Hole in seat - 762SPR - 07-16-2012
Putting the cover on is easy, and there are plenty of guides on how to do it online so I won't cover that, but here is the finished product!
Can anyone tell me what the strap on the front is fore? I made it by covering a piece of nylon webbing with vinyl, but I don't know what it's for
Maybe to help remove the seat? Maybe just for looks? A handle for chicks that don't want to hug you?( never heard of such a thing!
)So it might not be the quality of one that was professionally done, but I'd say for the price (about $30) it came out pretty dang nice! Now the only real question is how well the foam and vinyl will hold up. I know the stitching is bomb proof because we reinforced the heck out of it.
Now I just need to do the front seat in the same material. Then make a subframe with a roundbar. Then get a new tail fairing and this kike might actually look kind of nice!
How to: DIY Hole in seat - StrictlyStunt - 07-16-2012
nice job!