How to Fabricate a Motorcycle Seat
Once the sole property of specialized motorcycle shops, many custom-built bikes are emerging from the garages of ingenious enthusiasts. These home-based customizers go to great lengths to put their personal touch into their mechanical steeds, often fabricating many components from raw materials. Although it would appear to be an easy enough part to piece together, creating a seat from scratch requires some familiarity with metal working.
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Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- Paper
- Marker
- Sheet metal
- Metal cutter or grinder wheel
- Metal shaping hammers and dollies
- Foam
- Spray adhesive
- Knife
- Leather or marine-grade vinyl sheet
- Scissors
- Rivet gun and rivets
- Metal curler or brake (optional)
Instructions
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Fabricating the Seat
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1
Sketch out the concept for your new seat. Take measurements of the seat's mounting point and plan around this information.
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2
Draw the seat's basic shape onto a piece of paper that you will use to create a pattern. Carefully cut the pattern out and check your measurements.
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3
Place the pattern on a piece of sheet metal and trace the design onto the sheet. Using a metal cutter or grinder, cut out the basic form from the sheet metal. Refine the shape by trimming away excess material.
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4
Form the sides of the seat by using a metal roller or brake to bend the edges at a 90 degree angle before shaping the contour of the seat. This will provide a solid area to rivet the seat cover into place later. Use metal shaping hammers and dollies to form the contours until you are satisfied with the shape.
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5
Remove any burrs or sharp edges by gently running the seat against a grinding wheel.
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6
Place your paper pattern onto a sheet of foam padding, tracing and cutting out the design to match the seat. Test fit the foam by placing it onto the motorcycle's seat. If the foam is too large, trim it down slightly to fit. Additional layers of foam may be cut at this time to increase the padding thickness, if desired.
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7
Spray the seat pan with spray adhesive and let it sit for five minutes to allow the adhesive to get tacky. Carefully, place the foam padding onto the seat.
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8
Trace the seat design onto the back of a leather or vinyl sheet. Cutting the design out, leaving at least 2 inches of extra material.
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9
Cover the seat with the leather/vinyl sheet and secure in place with a rivets. Be sure to pull the sheet tight, working slowly from one end of the seat to the other.
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10
Attach any necessary mounting hardware and place your new seat on the motorcycle.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Take care when selecting sheet metal for the seat. A higher (thinner) gage sheet will be easier to work with, but will not be as strong. Likewise, lower gage sheet is thicker and will provide more strength, but will take a bit more sweat and energy to shape.
Several tutorials are available from Diymotorcycleseats.com, if you are unsure of the best way to stretch the covering material. An inexpensive alternative to leather is marine-grade vinyl, which is available at many craft stores. It is much cheaper and very easy to work with. If you don't feel confident that you can complete this project, have the work done by a professional metal shop and upholsterer.
Wear proper eye protection and gloves when working with metal.
