I have done many motorcycle seats and was taught by a proffesional upholsterer. Always staple front and back of seat first, then pull the sides tight. That will keep you from having to unstaple the sides. Not knocking the video just sharing what I was taught. I used to always do the sides first and have the same problem.

Ten points for the clothes dryer trick. Most of us use a Steam Box. Keep a hair dryer handy for when the fabric starts to cool and you need it to stretch. FIRST, apply the spray glue down the center of the seat on the long axis and wait for it to get tacky. Use a GOOD brand, the glue isn’t just to keep the vinyl from slipping. When you cover a concave surface, good quality spray glue makes the skin flow right down into the concavity instead of standing up like a drum head. Second, don’t put the seat on top of the vinyl, put the vinyl on top of the seat, stroke it down into the concavity, working on the long axis like you’re petting a cat, and watch for wrinkles. You have only a little time to pull them out. Then work outward from the long axis, stretching when you can. Once the vinyl is bonded to the skin from front to back down the center, you can fold the vinyl back and do a second pass of spray glue. When you get to the sides, invert the seat on a towel placed on a sturdy table. Lightly spray glue the side of the foam. Heat the vinyl with the hair dryer, and then stretch. The glue will grab the vinyl as you pull it over the edge of the plastic. Staple ! Start with staples here and there at the critical points. You pull out the slack between them later. Working around the radii on the ends takes practice, and pleats. But do the long, straight edges first. To do the pleats, pinch the excess vinyl, fold it over, and walk your way along the radii, stretching as you go. Fold, stretch, staple. If you find a wrinkle has escaped you, be prepared to pull a few staples, heat, and stretch. There are tools that will help; you can get a 3” wide locking pliers from Menards that is used for sheet metal bending. It will grab the vinyl and make pulling easy. Obviously, you only use this at the edges just in case you pull too hard and leave a stretch mark.

Champion. Thanks for showing your mistakes, too. I reckon that's pretty important and comforting for anyone who's stuffed up the same way.

Just re did my seat based on your video and it turned out great! Thank you for posting this

Well, I've recovered both my seats and they look fantastic, thanks again mate! Much easier than I expected too .

I watched your video and was able to replace my seat cover for $4.50. The vinyl was on sale ..usually 36 dollars. Took about 2 hours to complete..but not bad. The spray adhesive helped greatly. Thank you for your video.

I just wanted to say your videos are great! I'm sending them to my n00b motorcycle friends. You explain everything very well!

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. For those of you who are frugal like me and looking for cheap fabric, you can find it at the thrift store. Last time I needed to reupholster my seat, I went to second hand store and purchased a leather jacket ( yes real leather) for only six bucks. My seat came out awesome. Where else can you get leather for that cheap? You'll have enough for two seats if you come across leather trench coat.

Thanks for the video mate! Will do both my bikes this week, make them look better and easier to sell!

Awesome video. I'm trying to build a cafe racer and there isnt a seat that will work so I decided I'm gunna cut the stock one down and re wrap the seat like this. This was very helpful

Great video & very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to make this.

I'm glad you made this video. My yamaha seat was really bad. I bought the same material and I didn't know how to do it yet. I was waiting until I could find a video or something to help me. But thank you for this video.

thank you sooo much I just bought a Seca II cant wait to redo my seat,great vid

Awesome vid man, ty. I will be doing my seat with some vinyl now. I didn't even think about buying vinyl at a fabric store.

Thanks man... I appreciate this video in 2019

Did my seat today! Was not too bad for a first try, thanks again! BTW you want the PVC backed Vinyl (on the roll) and Joann fabrics, not the pleather that is on the shelf.

just did my bandit seat, came out perfect, took a couple of hours with an extra pair of hands mind. apparently if you put the seat above the boiler for a couple of days the staples go in a lot easier. O and remember people when you get to a curved part just pull really hard in the direction of the foam, the part where the pillion part slopes to the riders part is the hardest! Thanks for the vid man!

Nice. The glue is a good touch, helped hold the stretch as I worked. It’s hot today, I just left my vinyl in the sun. Looks perfect.

You just made a task I was dreading to tackle seem like a breeze. Thanks.

Great job young man, thank you for sharing this very useful info

Thanks for this, great tutorial!!

Really helpful. Thanks for posting this.

Great Vid! I'm going to attempt this on my bike...

This is the best video i have seen that i can do.oh and the dryer trick is a must.

Great video, very descriptive. You could use that second piece of vinyl to make a pair of shoes so that you won't be walking around barefoot.

thanks for the video starting recover right now

Great video

Love the Smurf blue xj. I got a 92 red. I heading to the fabric store. Good thing I get 2 pieces out of a yard but I think I can get it right 1st time

Thank you for showing this. Now I know how to cover my zx9r seats.

When I am making a leather piece for a re-cover on a seat, I just use the old pre-cut and shaped cover for a template. It comes out perfect every time and during the process if it isn't coming out perfect then I know that I need to make some adjustment to make it right

Great video!

Great video, thanks for posting.

Awesome this video along with some modified help from the comments is awesome. Now I know just what to do :D Thanks

a friend of mine had a body shop. when he re-upholstered car seats he couldn't always pull them tight because they were several pieces sewn together. he would use the heat method after the material was on the seats to make it "shrink fit". he would use a heat gun or good blow dryer. just have to be careful not to melt it. btw, I am about to do the seat on the same model seca II you did. by coincidence, this was the first video I found. I will definitely try the dryer pre-heating method on it.

Actually surprised at how well you were able to do that seat. It almost makes me think I can do it if I'm willing to screw around enough with it.

good video. Love the dryer trick. Evidently you're so cheap you dont even buy shoes :) Seriously, good video

Thanks for the video,done my cbr 600 today worked out a treat,only cost me 14 euro.

Last year when I was down in Guatemala visiting my mom, my 1986 Honda VT700 needed the tow piece seat redone and I went to the guy who fixes sofas and love seats and made new covers for both seats, since down there things have a much less price than here in Maryland, i paid about $15 bucks to get the tow of them done.

Try using outdoor usage vinyl, it stretches a little more and is usually UV resistant. A little harder to find but same cost and holds up better in the cold from cracking.

Sweet! I'm trying to restore an old, '70s Yamaha, and the seat was hideous -- I think it once was blue and white, but now it's dingy charcoal and beige...and glitter(!). Oh, yeah, and the seat pan is 90% rust. So between Dime City Cycles' "How to build a cafe seat" video and your upholstery video, I'm hoping I'll have something I won't be embarrassed to be seen on come spring-time ;) Thanks!

Great video, Jo Ann Fabrics is having a sale on their vinyl (50% off) and my seat is in need of a recovering. Thanks for the video I will definitely be using this when I redo mine.

I totally agree with everyone else, your videos are extreamly informative and easily done. The only queastion that I have is: when placing the vinal in the drier to make it more plyable, what heat setting do you recomend? Thanks for your all of your great vids and please keep them coming :)

Best one on youtube...

You just saved me 300 bucks. Thanks

Good video, but I have two suggestions (after doing 3 seat rebuilds myself). If at all possible, use a pneumatic stapler. They work with the smallest compressors, so the total cost isn't that much. It will come in handy for many projects over the years, so it's a great investment. Every staple goes in the way it should, and your hand muscles will thank you! Also, you may try using a heat gun to go around compound curves. Be real careful with the heat, since you can easily ruin the fabric. I used the same fabric recently to recover a drummer's stool. Didn't get it at Joann though.

Thanks, brother!

Very nice, thank you vm for the vid!

@mrmaxstorey Hey, thanks right back buddy, never thought of the tumble dryer either, good call.... tips is for sharing hah?

Good job! How well does this technique work with more shaped seat foam such as the KZ1000 CSR M1 The pan is metal but it has the advantage of having those sharp fold over barbs making it easier than staples I'd have thought.

Hey buddy, nice result there... i use a hair dryer to soften the vinyl while stretching round the last curves, and also, for a softer feel when its done, break the skin off the foam surface with some course sand paper.... great channel you have there fellah... Ride safe.. Del.

good work! im gonna have to give it a go on my suzuki intruder. think it will be much harder with the two up seating? also its got quite a pocket for the front, its an old corbin dual tour. again awsome video, no bullshit, no gimmicks! keep up the good work

Depending on the size of the seat, life preserver foam is supposed to work pretty well. If you want to splurge you can buy gel padding like in dr scholls foot inserts. Or, go to your nearest fabric store, find all their foam/padding, stuffing, etc, pull it all out in the aisle and sit on it

Great job dude!

Awesome good advice

sweet thanks how can you get decals on there? paint?

a seat cover for my motorcycle is almost $90 on ebay I think I'll give this a try first and it's a small seat shouldn't cost me more than $20 just to try it out, thanks for the video

Yeah a lot of older bikes have metal seat pans. You can still do this, especially if the seat is really flat, but youre right given that you cant restaple incessantly, its harder to keep it tight. In this case its usually better to buy a premade seat cover, you can find them on ebay, if its a sewn seat cover it will fit better. I bought one for my CB360 for just $20

In the past I paid $90 to have somebody do this in a shop. With my newer bike I just paid $40 to get a piece of vinyl shipped to me that I will have to staple by myself. Now I'll send it back and pay $10 for what it will cost to cover my seat. AWESOME vid! Dryer trick is epic. When doing this in the future, perhaps it might be beneficial to staple in the front and back first?

Top job mate - If you are replacing cover due to taste, not damage, would you recommend leaving the old vinyl on? Or remove the old cover? I want to go from black to brown.

Nice!

Really informative video... I am tempted to buy a pre-made seat cover off ebay and use this technique to apply it... Not sure I'm brave enough at the moment though!

Ive done canvas on a couple enduro bike seats, but its not as stretchy so its harder to make it look good. I used spandex once too, but that stuff doesnt stand up well to the sun.

great video sounds like its not to hard I need to do that I just got a free bike for my birthday its a honda gold wing. and the seet is in dead of a new cover. thanks for the video.

Im also in my home, homie, where we like to keep things very chill

thanks for this vid

Looks pretty sweet, altho recovering it using my method may be a challenge. See if the factory sells replacement covers

@mrmaxstorey Oh man, gotta say once again, BEST VIDEO EVER! Saved a ton of money, got some beige marine grade vinyl from Jo-Ann for less than $10. Thirty minutes later and, yes, a TON of staples, I have a brand-new looking seat. Once again, THANK YOU for this video!

@Toppye This stuff is pretty high quality, Ive had my bike seat covered for about 2 years and it still has the glossy shine on the surface, no signs of wear at all.

Awesome! i was very excited and ready to cover the seat of my XS400 (1979) but then the wind was knocked out of sails to see my plate is metal!! that has tab that are punched out that the cover attaches too, which most have rusted off.....

Great video! Never heard of putting in dryer first. I bought some cool leopard skin vinyl at Joannes for my KLR650 but its ripped after only 6 months. Guess not thick enough. Gonna try again w/ thick vinyl.

good video fellow biker

So I just bought a bike that came with a seat pan and spare vinyl, but no foam. Any advice on that one? Make a new one from scratch somehow, or find a basket case seat to have a shaped foam starting point?

mrmaxstorey is the material leather, vinyl or nylon that you use? I realize it says black nylon in the description, but I don't recall nylon stretching like that. I suppose there are various types of nylon material.

how long does the material last for a normal rider?

Right on dude

hi Max, I plan to do this for my bike, but my seat did not use any staples. Instead, it has these triangular metal tabs that go in the cover and u just turn the tabs down. I'm thinking it would be harder to do it since you can't just pull out a staple and tighten the cover. Have you ever come across a seat like that? And do you have any suggestions? Thanks :)

@eveRideorg Thanks man yeah it really does produce a quality job. I haven't found that starting at any one place is any better than any other, just toss in a buttload of staples and pull it really tight.

Just one question please. Did u put the "stretch" of the fabric you used across the seat? Or down the length of the seat? ( assuming that it was a one way stretch fabric) Thanks in advance!

I can hear your wife now "Hey honey...why is there a hole the shape of a motorcycle seat in the area rug?"... This is all good stuff. I like shoulder pad thing. Nothing wrong with being frugal.

@schnellschnells Awesome thanks man, great tip. Yeah I remember I did a virago stepped seat a while back, and it was a major PITA, but still doable. Good job on your seat!

@jdogface Could be a fuel delivery problem. Basically, your bike in neutral revving at, say, 4k rpms, is using less gas than the bike riding down the road revving at 4k rpms. This is because the engine obviously moves more freely, and needs less gas, when it doesnt have the bike and you to push around, so on side stand you still get enough gas. Reason you bog down after a lil while and then start up again is that the partial gas block allows the bowls to refill, slowly, and then start the bike.

For what is the spark plug?

@AlwaysAccused A number of reasons. First, it was pretty well destroyed. Second, it was in a 3-d shape, whereas my new material was still flat. Third, I needed to stretch the new material pretty well, and if it was pre-cut, I wouldn't have had anywhere to grab onto as I pulled it over the foam.

@ShredderBenjamin Hey if I can do it with a flat sheet of vinyl, you can definitely do it with a premade cover!

ok well thanks for the tips how ever I have some for you lol from the looks of this video you do some seats so I would just spend the money on a trim stapler that is pneumatic and a little air compressor and also try and start in the lowest spot on the seat and streach the material up instead of down in the end you will have a better finished product and save more time. that is my advice take it or leave it thanks

cool good luck

THANK YOU ❤❣❤... especially for the STAPLE SIZING!

Im sure they have all kinds, I just get the glossy black one. Its definitely not stretchy like spandex, but if you really pull on it, it will get tight. How thick is it? Send me a picture and I'll let you know if its like the kind I buy

thx, added a like

Bear footªª great vid ª

@eveRideorg Nice man post up a video of your bike, I'd like to see how another type of material looks on a bike seat

any idea how to get oil stains off a seat? Nothing major, just a few fingerprints.

@srosburg I would say so as long as the metal pan is not too badly rusted, and the hooks aren't broken or weak. Just be sure to fill in those chunks in the foam or replace the foam itself, heat up the cover material in the dryer, and pull it as tight as you can to smooth out the lumps. Good luck man post up your own how-to video if you can, my video doesn't show how to recover a metal pan so that would be good to share.

Right on man, I think real leather would look pretty cool

Hey max, hopes it's going well. Ive got an unrelated problem regarding a 1990 ninja zx6r. It runs great while on the stand ( I can accelerate, in or out of gear) But when riding I can only go about 2 or 3 blocks then it pops and dies and will not start again for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then I can get about 2 or 3 blocks out of it then pop I get it home, put it on the stand and it'll run forever (or as long as gas remains heheh) Take it off stand the same thing, 2 or 3 blocks max. Crazy huh?

why didnt you use the old material as a template ?

@Moonfleet41 Wow man thats a great idea I never thought of breaking the skin, thanks

top tip: sand down the upper surface of the foam, to get to the softer material, it will make the seat much more soft and new-like....

Nice job although I have done it even cheaper! All that Ive used is an 8-mm staple gun for £10 and simply a black leather box jacket I got from the charity shop for £5. Amazingly the jackets cut and the seams are all symmetrical so it looks completely natural .Basically without cutting the jacket up I just staple the whole thing down front then rear and the sides then all I have to do is to cut the excess off with a stanley blade job done I will post a video on my channel

Barefooted doing restoration jobs to a bike on a budget? You got yourself a fan sir.