Seat Cover Wars

[Motocross83]

This spring I decided to do up my 04 YZF 450. It's gone pretty good and after lot's of money and work, I'm very happy with the results.

However for the life of me, I cannot get my "One Industries" seat cover flat.

This is the first time Iv'e done this job. I took my time, I warmed it, I yanked it over REALLY HARD, as hard as I could, I used a staple gun but It just won't go flat at the very top. I find this bizarre really because they give you so little material to begin with. I'll probably leave this one now since it still looks respectable and to be honest, the cover is starting to wear underneath through all my pulling and 50 million staples.

However for future reference, can anyone tell me the correct way do this? Any tips for this job? etc.

Cheers.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/BlueMX83/DSC00052.jpg?t=1242746918

[O'Brien#12]

Check this link out:

How To Make Fitting A Dirt Bike Seat Cover Easy! (http://www.motocross-racing-tips.com/dirt_bike_seat_cover.html)

should be helpful, if not sorry! :)

[Motocross83]

Cheers man. After reading that, I think my actual seat was a bit crap, probably should have replaced it. Just run out of money in the end. Other than that I did everything in the order described. Oh well, we live and we learn I guess. Thanks.

[757]

meh, just tell everyone you put the wrinkles in there on purpose. tell them it works better than those bump seats.

[O'Brien#12]

Yeah extra traction....
No worries man anything to help a fellow motohead!!

[Demon]

I spray adhesive on the foam then put the cover on and smooth the wrinkles out before it dries

[Motocross83]

I spray adhesive on the foam then put the cover on and smooth the wrinkles out before it dries

Thats a very good idea, I wish I'd done that.

[Motocross83]

meh, just tell everyone you put the wrinkles in there on purpose. tell them it works better than those bump seats.

lol :lol:

[O'Brien#12]

I've never had an issue with wrinkles other than when a friend of mind tried making a bump seat, but didn't remove the previous cover underneat. That was a complete bi tch!!!!

[757]

What did he do just stick a bump on top of the old seat cover and then try to cover it? hahaha

[O'Brien#12]

Umm he used half a Renthal Bar pad cut to size....stuck it to the old cover it was less permanent so he could just remove the old seatcover if he didn't like it. Worked well......for a while! He is a pretty fast rider (Top 30 brit nationals or Pro over your way) and it "migrated" to the rear of the saddle as the glue wasn't up to the job!!!!

[757]

sheesh, and you brits say we do things half assed hahaha

[O'Brien#12]

This was inspired in part by an ex-pat. hahahaha

[Falcon991]

I'll tell you the tried and true method for this. For the record, I used to be the go-to guy at Alba for doing seat covers, and I probably did hundreds of them.

1) REMOVE THE OLD SEAT COVER AND ALL THE STAPLES. It's important for the proper grip action on the new seat.
2) Lay out the cover in roughly the right position and put two staples in the front, just under where the fuel cap will be. Staples should go straight into the seat base, as close to the seat foam as you can get.
3) Now, run your hand from front to back, making the seat cover touch the foam. You want to determine exactly where the cover would be if it were completely tight. wrap the cover over the rear portion of the seat at exactly this juncture and staple. In fact, pull about an extra quarter inch to ensure you'll have plenty of tension.
4) You should now have a seat cover that looks like an extremely tall seat foam has been installed. the tension from front to back should be enough that the seat cover doesn't actually touch the seat in the middle where you'll be sitting. If not, try step 3 over again.
5) Now, with both hands, grasp the sides of the seat cover and stretch them down around the corners of the seat base. (When I say "corners" I mean the part where the seat/tank juncture is at its lowest point.) This is the part where you are doing lots of stretching and it requires some grip strength. At the position where both sides are equal and there is lots of downward pressure on the seat foam is where you'll want to staple. Let go of one side so you can use the staple gun, but be careful not to lose the position on the side you are holding. Staple that side there.
6) Now pull the oter side over and staple. You should have a pretty tight seat now.
7) The last steps are to staple up the sides from the corners to the front, and down the sides from the corners to the rear. You may have to do a little folding near the back where the seat bolts are, but don't worry; you probably won't see them on the cover when it is installed.

Good luck!

[Motocross83]

Nice one man! Cheers. Damn, I wish I'd made this thread before starting the bloody job now! lol :lol:. Certainly useful advice for future reference though.

Thanks everyone!

[Spydee]

Falcon's method sounds almost identical to the way i put on my One Industries seat cover onto my Suzuki back in '03. Fitted perfect even though it was designed for a Honda :-D