[Haggis]

Take your seat off: Obvious, but, you never know....

Turn it over, and you'll notice the seat fabric is stapled to the seat pan.

Remove staples. I had to use a narrow flat screw driver, becuase the staple remover couldn't get in deep enough.

Pull the fabric back:

I didn't remove the portion at the fron end of the seat.

Mark out which portion of the seat you want to replace:

 

[Haggis]

I used an electric carving knife, and it was just like carving a trukey - if not easier!

Here's my buddy cutting the seat for his Daytona.

This is what my seat pan looked like, once I had cut out the section I wanted to replce.

However, I didn';t like the idea of the memory foam sitting right on the pan - it's too lumpy - so I sliced that piece in two.

 

[Haggis]

This is the bottom of the piece I took out.

I glued it back on the seat pan with general purpose/automotive spray glue from Canadian Tire:

According to instructions I had to spray the faces of the seat foam that will adhere to the memory foam 3 times, each time letting oit go tacky.

Then cut memory foam to suit:

Spray glue the sides of the memory foam that will match up with the seat pan, and have a couple of these:

 

[Haggis]

After your beer the glue should be nice and tacky. It's time to place the memory foam in the seat pan.

This is my seat pan, with the new foam up front, and the old foam cut away in the pillion area.

Both sections done:

Time to trim them a little bit and replace the upholstery. I just turned it over, and re-stapled the seat fabric to the back of the pan, re-attached the strap and voila!

The seat back in place.

There are a couple of lumpy bits, but I'm going to wait a week or so and let the new foam settle in. I'll then take the seat fabric back off and trim any remaining lumpy bits with the electric carving knife.

I took the bike for a spin, and the seat was definately more comfortable!

 

[MiBonnie]

Great Idea

you make it look easy enough that I might give it a try. where did you get the memory foam? fabric store?

 

[Calliway]

Fantastic Haggis! Well done. Are you going to take the Bonnie to Nelson this year? If so I will check out that great seat!

 

[Haggis]

Thanks guys: I got the memory foam from a motorcycle custom seat shop in Calgary!

It cost $160 for a 3 foot by 3 foot piece. We only used a quarter of it!

 

[propforward]

Brilliant stuff Haggis.

If you haven't added this to the "info" sticky already, then I'm off to do it now!

Excellent tutorial, might well give my stock seat a going over!

 

[Catenaccio]

Mighty talented there...eh?

 

[biker7]

Thanks for sharing your stock seat DIY with us Haggis. I am of the school the stock seat is close but can use a bit of work to dial it in as you have. Since I sit back a bit I want to build the front of the seat up fractionally to lessen the transition to the pillion portion and so will be taking my cover off to add a thin layer of foam in front. A further tip is...you can see that any imperfection in the foam telegraphs through the cover. When you take the cover off next...don't use a turkey knife to trim it because you can't get it perfect that way. Use a die grinder with 4-5" wheel on it and sand the shape you like. This will get it as smooth as a babies' bottom.
Thanks again for sharing your mod with us. I have rarely owned a motorbike I didn't change the seat shape just a bit. Also guys...a good foam to use is available at the carpet store. Its called rebond...which is a 7# or so composite of high density foam glued together that goes under plush carpets. It is firm to support an adult male rider and good memory and a lot cheaper than memory foam. Many focus on what type of foam to get...and some are for example big on gel foam inserts which to me simply trap heat. I am of the mind that shape is what matters i.e. weight distribution. The better the shape conforms to your bottom, the less important the price of the foam provided it is stiff enough. I learned this from racing bicycles for many years. Ironically soft bicycle seats end up hurting a lot more because your sit bones sink in putting pressure on your soft bits
Thanks again Haggis,
George

 

[BornAgain]

Good how to information on types of foam and how to shape for best comfort can be found here diymotorcycleseat.com/ I used re-bonded foam over neoprene. Great job haggis

 

[biker7]

Good Link BornAgain.
Here is another...showing how to reshape a seat with rebond which is relatively inexpensive:

http://www.obairlann.net/reaper/motorcycle/ninja/seat/

Above technique uses headliner fabric to wrap the foam prior to replacing the vinyl cover. This makes for even a smoother look.
Many sport bikes need their nut crushing ramp into the tank tweaked in my experience which helps tremendously...and pertains to the Ducati GT1000 often discussed here in my experience.
A tractor seat is hard but comfortable because it maximizes surface area and therefore lowers psi. A Bonnie seat with convex shape can be a bit tough on the tail bone because it is crowned so taking some of the curve out would help. This btw is one of the reasons the Scrambler seat is more comfy...its more planar and some would say why it doesn't look quite as nice. Seat shape is somewhat beholden to style....a challenge for designers.
George

 

[Haggis]

Thanks George, some great tips there!

 

[Adamantium]

Great diy and tips

Just finished my seat mod. I took out just the piece for my butt not the passenger and replaced it with a 2 inch memory foam. Big 2'X2' piece cost me 20 bucks in Ontario, seems to be a big markup on that stuff elsewhere.
I used the advice I saw here and went crazy with the hand grinder to smooth and contour the seat, turned out beautifully. Once I put a new garbage bag over the foam and fastened up the vinyl cover, stapled it down you couldnt even tell i refoamed it.
If i pressed on the foam and on the unrefoamed part there is a HUGE difference. My tailbone is still sore for all the riding I did last summer.
Only thing left for debate is if I am going to put that useless strap back on.
Thanks for the help!

 

[pz1]

have been using the memory foam on a triumph solo seat, it does make a difference. it will be hard when it gets cold, but will warm up, made that solo seat a 100% better.