photos of LIKE seat changes

[Stig / Major Tom]

Some owners (and scooter reviewers) of the Kymco LIKE have found an issue with the ergonomics of this scooter. Complaints include the closeness of the knees to the leg sheild and a genuine safety issue of the rider's knees coming into contact with the hand grips. The shape of the heavy plastic seat pan beneath the foam causes some riders a lot of discomfort as well.
Admittedly, the LIKE is not the only 2 wheeled conveyance with which some owners have found ergonomic issues....however, we can present here some solutions which our forum members have applied to their LIKEs. Two owners DIY'd their seat rebuilds - and two took their scoots to a shop for the work. All of the work involved adding some amount of various types of foam, and a new seat covering. I think the ridge in the center of the seat foam was removed on all of these seats, and the new foam was added most successfully atop the stock foam.
Photos are courtesy of members: oskuk, donandrews, stig and dolemite. 
[]This is the seat we started with. Sleek, hansome and smoothly covered - although the smoothness is likely related to the complaints of the thinness of the vinyl cover.[/color]


Member oskuk from Finland DIY'd his seat on his white LIKE 200i (the heavy vinyl just would not work!)

oskuk's final results...Nice combination!


donandrews took his scoot to a pro.....Very pretty seat & great color match with the floor area!



stig....pilgrim's progress...Started here:

heavy vinyl a no-go! It IS tight...just doesn't look like it!

Using the proper 4-way stretch sailright vinyl


dolemite - new seat from the custom shop. Well done! and nice color combination w/the black LIKE!


A look at the top area of these seats. Different results!
donandrews

dolemite

Stig wanted more side-to-side support so went for a much wider seat - by squaring off the shoulders, and added more & firmer foam around the nose to prevent the feeling of sliding off while braking.


After purchasing my LIKE I decided I wanted a better seat and better rear shocks under me. After rebuilding the seat with significantly more & thicker support - I'm no longer so driven to improve the rear shocks. But I will continue to look for a shock with more suspension travel - no luck so far. The rebuilt seat permits me a much different sitting/riding position on my scooter. I can ride longer. I no longer have the knees/hand grip issue. The seat height is much higher, but at 6'3" it is not an issue for me. I think we all are enjoying our scooters much more now.
I understand that not all LIKE owners have an issue with their seat - but I hope this helps any LIKE rider who is contemplating doing something with his/her stock seat.
Do look into using the sailrite vinyl - it is purpose made for stretching over motorcylce and scooter seats!
Stig

[200i]

Stig,  Thanks for posting... Good to know the options.  I wish someone would market a comfortable seat!!

[Dolemite]

Stig, about the shocks it's amazing the difference a few more inches of foam makes in the ride. The streets in Mobile Alabama are rough to say the least, now I hardly feel anything. On bumps that used to send an earthquake through my man regions, now I barely feel them. I rode 60 miles yesterday and my back wasn't sore from the beating it normally would have took. As for the new material, the thicker leather is no doubt going to last much longer than the stock vinyl, and it looks much nicer too, i'll upload a photo of the texture I choose later. I was curious about how my guy got all that leather to stretch over that huge seat with no seams and the trick is using a heat gun and patience. That leather gets very pliable, like vinyl, when heated. A heat gun might have also worked on that heavier vinyl you originally used, I think the trick is to use less vinyl/leather, heat it up then stretch it and you remove the necessity for the folds.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I think the trick is to use less vinyl/leather, heat it up then stretch it and you remove the necessity for the folds.

Dolemite, Thanks for your helpful comments. (KYMCO/Taiwan - see how much discussion centers around your LIKE seat!?)
Me, I think the 'trick' to doing these scooter/motorcycle seat recoverings is to do a whole mess of them !
Using a purpose made clamp to pull & stretch the material, having a powerful electric stapler, maybe a heat gun. And I think to totally remove the wrinkles on our seat - the front of which is like trying to wrap a basketball without a wrinkle! - the cover must be made in sections and stitched, like donandrews'  seat....or you must use the flimsy/stretchy  vinyl that Kymco used. Truly, as I sat there with sore fingers, recovering my seat for a second time - I thought of those folks at KYMCO whose job it is to do this all day long for a buck 85. Their work impressed the heck out of me!
It IS easier with the thin vinyl Kymco used - but you still need a lot of experience when working the front and rear areas of the seat.
I, too, have heard it said that a cover should have no stitched seams due to water finding its way in.....but over the years I have seen a whole slew of very handsome seats on very pricey scooters and bikes with stitched seat coverings. Perhaps a waterproof film is applied beneath the seams? They must be doing something right.

I wanted a sewn cover and a rebuilt seat - but the 2 local shops I was dealing with lost patience with me. Or me with them. I wanted to test ride any change they made to the padding before they covered it - to see if it suited my butt. I wanted that plastic intrusion in the middle of the pan to completely disappear....and I wanted NOTHING short of that!
They said, give me your little "scooter" seat - we'll give it a nice recovering. I'd already heard of one fellow who took his LIKE to a shop - and they'd messed his seat up.
When I found a donor seat on eBay from a LIKE - I said - shoot, I'm gonna take a shot at this myself. Watched a couple of videos on reshaping and recovering  motorcycle seats (example: http://diymotorcycleseat.com/tools.htm )....used their sources to buy good purpose made seating foam, spray glue, and (2) sheets of vinyl - got the tools and stainless staples. Figured out pretty quickly that there was no good way to go under the stock seat foam - so had to go over it with my foam. I bungeed the old cover on every time I shaped & added more foam - took it for rides - kept adding and shaping till I was happy. Then came the task of recovering. !#%! If it hadn't been so blessedly comfy - I probably would have quit any number of times!~ You need at least 3 hands - maybe 5.
Stig

[donandrews]

Stig - I still think that Mr Eds Moto (mredsmoto.com) is the best seat man in the US hands down! Note that in the pix of my scoot you have posted there are absolutely no wrinkles on seat. I don't know how he does it even though I watched him every step and it took him all of three hours. Cost me a $200 bill and worth every penny of it. If anyone is interested in a new seat, they should at least talk with him. He is truly a master.
Peace and Ride Safe.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Stig - I still think that Mr Eds Moto (mredsmoto.com) is the best seat man in the US hands down! Note that in the pix of my scoot you have posted there are absolutely no wrinkles on seat. I don't know how he does it even though I watched him every step and it took him all of three hours. Cost me a $200 bill and worth every penny of it. If anyone is interested in a new seat, they should at least talk with him. He is truly a master.
Peace and Ride Safe.

donandrews, thanks for your post....!
I gotta agree....Mr Eds Moto did a superb job with your seat - I suspect he could provide a nice seat for any scooter or motorcycle. After spending time reading up on the whole subject - I was surprised at how many 2 wheel riders disliked their stock seats - and took measures to improve the situation by contacting various shops across the country.

 I was thinking that when you spend $20K on a huge cruiser motorcycle - the company had already completely sorted the seat for comfort. Not always, I guess!
I very much like certain scooters - but I continue to read of complaints about the seat in reviews by owners of these scoots.
There are a lot of attractions to scootering - but after the 'new toy' excitement wears off - you better like where you're sitting when you climb on it each time!
Thanks again donandrews.
-11 this morning - but sunny. Too cold to even touch the scoot - something might snap off!
Soon, I hope!
Stig