Gix11

How to "Make a Custom Seat "Submitted by EXBEN (Ben Shaw - Extreme Creations)

I've been getting a few people asking about making a custom seat so because I needed to make one for the TL, I thought I'd through up a bit of a how to. Before I start, just know the usual disclaimer applies (If you fuck up don't blame me). Getting Started There's many way's of making a custom seat for your bike, eg: a piece of neoprene glued onto the bodywork, a piece of checker plate screwed on etc... but when it comes to a bike your actually going to ride then a decent seat is the go. This is how I go about it. Here is the seat unit I'm using on the TL I'm building at the moment, as you can see it has a full glassed in seat area which makes life easy for me, but if your bike has a cut out area you'll need to fill it in with cardboard & masking tape so you've got a reasonably even area to work with. Prep First I rub 3 good coats of release wax over the area I want the seat to go, the stuff I use comes from my local fiberglass supplier. I like to make my seat bases out of fiberglass because you know it's gonna fit exactly over your seat unit. I usually use 4-6 layers of 450gsm chopped strand matt depending on the type of shape required. Glassing Once the wax is dry you can start laying the glass down (I'm assuming you know how to use fiberglass) for this seat I used 5 layers. After the first three were down I put some 6mm Tee nuts in the positions I wanted so that the seat base can be screwed to the seat unit easily, then the last two layers went down. I use Tee nuts cause they have some nice barbs to bite into the glass so they don't spin (You could also just use some squares of aluminium, about 4-6mm thick, which you could drill & tap). The masking tape you see is there to support the glass so I can extend the front of the seat out a bit so it matches the tank nice. Prep fixers Once the glass was cured I separated it from the seat unit, turned it over & marked out the shape of the base I wanted. You'll also notice I've drilled through the Tee nuts with a 5mm drill. Do this before you remove it from the seat unit so you get it in the right spot. Then I run a 6mm tap through to clean out the threads. Cutting base shape Using my trusty angle grinder with a 1mm disk I trimmed out the shape then cleaned it up with a flap disk then sandpaper. So now you've got a seat base. Next up you need some foam, I get it from my local motor trimmer, the pink stuff is the go cause it's firm without being too hard & it gives good support. Also get some 3mm foam, you'll see why in a minute. I used 50mm foam cause you cut a fair bit of it away. You can see I've shaped it to match the seat base, this is so the foam doesn't want to spring off the base while your working it. I use a bandsaw to cut the foam but an angle grinder with a flap wheel works as well. Next you need to glue it to the base, preferably use a good quality foam adhesive, I use the 3m stuff cause it works great & you don't get a hard edge on any joins.You can get it from somewhere like clark rubber. Shaping Foam Next comes the creative bit. You gotta decide what you want your seat to look like, personally I think you can't go past a traditional saddle shape for comfort. Here I've rough trimmed the shape on the bandsaw then I use my air grinders with flat sanding disks to trim the shapes. You can also use you grinder with a flap disk but be careful cause these can be quite aggressive. Take your time here cause your trying to get it as smooth as possible. Another tip for final finishing is to use an orbital sander, but you'd only use it to get the final few slight bumps out cause it's pretty slow. You can see where I've added a bit of foam to the front of the seat cause I wanted it to go up in the front a bit more. This is where it pays to use foam adhesive that dries soft so you don't get a hard line in the middle of your seat( Believe me you'll feel it & it'll piss you off.) Once your happy with the shape & finish glue a layer of the 3mm foam over the whole thing. This smooth's out any slight imperfections in the foam so your covering looks nice & flat. I'm using black Macrosuede as the covering. Seat Covering Once again the spray adhesive comes out, be sure to coat both halves leave it for 15 seconds ( for this brand) then lay the covering on being cageful not to get any glue on the good side & be sure to get the position right cause this stuff sticks like a bastard instantly. Work it from the middle out then flip the seat over & spray a bit more glue on the underside edge, & start wrapping it over. You'll need to cut a slit where the fabric gathers on the underside & you may need to remove some excess material. Stick it all down & give the underside a final trim. Depending on the material you use you may need to staple the fabric on as well. You're done! So basically that's it, all you need to do is screw it to the seat unit & your done. All proper like!