How To Make Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable – While I was waiting for the parts to appear, I saw that it was time to go to the seat cover.
I am by no means an expert, or even the slightest bit familiar with making seat covers. I’ve done it once or twice, but this is the hardest cover I’ve tried. I think it turned out really well!
How To Make Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable
It’s not perfect, but if you want perfection, you’re in the wrong place. In these parts, we are rough around the edges!
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I spent about $40 at Walmart on materials, but I found enough material to make 2 chairs. When I was buying the seat foam and seat covers, it would have cost at least $110 if I just ordered- that means I saved $90 by building it myself!!!
This step only applies if you don’t have seat foam, or you want to make a custom shape for your seat. It’s straight forward. Since I wanted to use a stock seat pan, I used it to trace the shape onto the foam, then cut enough layers from the foam to get the height I wanted.
Once you have your layers, use a hot glue gun to glue them together properly. The glue is NOT structural, so it doesn’t need to be very good. The only reason to glue the layers together is to hold them in place while we sand the foam into the shape we want! Grind / sand gently, checking the shape often. It’s easier to go slow than to take it too far and have to start over.
When the foam block is formed, you can glue a layer of backing material over it if you like. I find that it helps to smooth out the look and hide any bumps or small imperfections in the foam block. Again, this glue is non-structural, so you don’t need a ton. It’s just enough to hold the material where we start making the cover!
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With the seat pan and foam block shaped, we are now ready to start measuring our seat cover. I would recommend checking out many different types of seat covers before you start so you have a good idea of exactly what you are hoping to accomplish. Covers can be made in many different ways- including simply covering the foam and pan with a sheet of material! I will include a picture at the end of this Order of another seat I did for my WR450F. It was made by stretching fabric over foam- no cutting or sewing!
REMEMBER to leave extra fabric for the hem, where the pieces are joined together! I left an extra 1/2″ wherever I was joining the two pieces. I think most pros do it with only about 1/4″, but I feel like I have fat fingers and need the extra space.
Take time to PRACTICE!!! I found an old shirt, cut it up, and used it as an exercise mat to measure my measurements. I’m glad I did- because I was a little off and needed to make a few changes!!! I didn’t connect the pieces together for test measurement, I just used a bunch of pins to get an idea of how it would work.
ALSO- take time to PRACTICE again with the material and the sewing machine! Some materials can be very difficult to sew- Materials can bunch up and become uneven, thicker materials require more powerful sewing machines or the “soap trick”- applying seam soap to the seam area to lubricate the needle as it pierces the material.
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Once you’re satisfied with your pattern and have practiced with your sewing machine, it’s time to put things together for real!
This step will require some math skills… I won’t go into all the ins and outs of using a ruler, but if you’re struggling with that you can check out the “How to Read a Ruler” Instructable. and a few of my arrangements here:
Once you have a handle on using a ruler, it’s time to start putting pen to paper, as it were!
Place the pattern on the BACK of the fabric. Remember that if you are making 2 opposite sides like I did on this one, you need to mirror image the patterns of those pieces.
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LEAVE THE EXTRA FABRIC AT THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE SEAT COVER!!! You will be stretching the cover over the foam and attaching it to the seat pan, and it is easy to trim the excess but very difficult to sew more if you are very short! I left an extra 4 inches or so, which was A LOT but I’m glad I had it.
The stress point! Take your time, make sure everything is lined up, and don’t be afraid to use a seam tool to undo something if it doesn’t sit right. I had to do that once or twice on this cover! The hardest part for me was anywhere the 3 pieces of fabric joined together. It takes some practice to get all the angles in line. AGAIN, UNLESS ON YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT, don’t give up!!! It doesn’t have to be perfect!
There are generally two common ways to attach a seat cover to a motorcycle seat pan- if the pan is plastic, the cover is often placed on top and either glued or attached to the pan.
If the pot is metal, it will usually have metal spikes carved around the rim of the pot. Turn all the spikes so they point straight out of the mouth.
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I like to turn on the lid, stack it as high as I can, then turn it up and about halfway to one side, stretch the material as far as I can get it and either put the material in the pot or drive a spike through the material. Then I repeat the process on the other side. DOUBLE CHECK the setting before doing more! If the cover is broken, flip it off the spikes and try again. I like to work down the sides evenly, then go to the end of the seat and stretch.
Once the cover is on and happy with the fit, use a flat-head screwdriver to push all the curves down and trim any excess fabric.
It *always* feels the best to me to see a finished project that I built, start to finish! It can be hard though, because I see all my imperfections and flaws. Don’t let it get to you. Sure, it’s not perfect, but if you’re looking for perfect, you’ve come to the wrong place!
Also attached are some pictures of the WR450 seat cover I made. It was made from a single piece of canvas, without stitching, and camp pad foam. It made the seat wider, thicker, WAAYYYY more comfortable for a multi-day trip!
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If you enjoyed this, I’d love to follow along on my YouTube channel- I *love* motorcycles and plan to make TONS of how-to videos! The slant towards the tank and the texture of the seat gives a wedgie from time to time. The other week I tried to ride with the front seat tab over the part on the gas tank bracket not under it.
That 1 inch lift only eliminated the front diagonal. Once that worked in theory, I added 1 inch grommets to the 2 very front rubber pads.
If you were making a seat cover why not just add a little foam to the front? That would correct the slant and add more padding
I tried that before and never got it to look good. the shape of the good carving combination ETC.now that I have installed the seat cover.
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A thin layer of quilting for the whole seat makes it a little easier to hide imperfections. I have done a few. I went 2 tone when I did the front and rear seats for my 06 cbr 1k. I also made my seat covers and they came out pretty good for my first time, I think.
Buy a motard and ride it alone for a month then go back to the stock seat. Problem solved, plus now you have a motard in the garage, win, win.
I realize the use of grommets is 1″ but did it make much of a difference when sitting in the pocket?
Remove it and replace it with a Yamaha comfort seat, Sargent or Corbin seat. I have upgraded to a Comfort seat, very good value for money.
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Add a square block of foam UNDER the stock seat (between the pan and the stock foam). previously tiler grout sponge. Look for grout sponge mod, but it can be any type of foam, really.
I did this a week after I bought it..it helps the slope.. and it’s cheap..also added grommets to the front as an op.. fixed all the stock seat issues… then got a deal on comfort.