Seat

[Abner_Bjorn]

Stock w/ vinyl removed 


Flat surface to start


First layer of 90lb foam w/ gel pad installed over pan hump


Second layer of 90lb foam


Top 1" from Vespa ET2 seat added


Finished Seat covered w/ marine grade vinyl


I'll post a picture once the custom Sheepskin is installed.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Great job!
It is amazing how high one has to build the foam to make that hump in the seat pan go away!
OK, what kind of glue and where did you source the foam?
The seat front cover looks stitched - done at a ulpholstery shop?
Please give details of your work - powered staple gun, what weight vinyl, maybe an underseat picture of the finished stapling?
There are a number of guys who want/need a 'seat job' on this scooter - and many are put off by the $$ it would cost to have it accomplished.
They'd take a shot at it if they had some instructions.
Again, nice job - and probably very comfortable, yes?
Stig

[Abner_Bjorn]

Marine grade vinyl, Dan Tack foam adhesive, high density 1" thick upholstery foam and small motorcycle gel pad.  All off ebay.   
Seat is stitched front and back.  Done by my wife on a regular sewing machine.    Stapled with a cheap hand stapler that takes Arrow JT21 1/4" staples.
If I had to do it again, I would not have built up the 2nd layer of 1" foam.   One layer with the Vespa top would have been plenty.   The gel pad over the high part of the pan really helps.     
I never cared for the shape of the stock seat at the front and the rear.  I built the front out with the piece I cut off the top of the horn.  I built the rear up and flattened it out.   Materials were pretty cheap.   The glue is the same thing as 3M super 74 at about 1/3 the cost.   I used a bread knife, 4" grinder with an 80 grit sanding disc and a drywall rasp to shape it.   

[245luigi]

Nice profile pic, wallboard

[Stig / Major Tom]

Marine grade vinyl, Dan Tack foam adhesive, high density 1" thick upholstery foam and small motorcycle gel pad.  All off ebay.   
Seat is stitched front and back.  Done by my wife on a regular sewing machine.    Stapled with a cheap hand stapler that takes Arrow JT21 1/4" staples.
If I had to do it again, I would not have built up the 2nd layer of 1" foam.   One layer with the Vespa top would have been plenty.   The gel pad over the high part of the pan really helps.     
I never cared for the shape of the stock seat at the front and the rear.  I built the front out with the piece I cut off the top of the horn.  I built the rear up and flattened it out.   Materials were pretty cheap.   The glue is the same thing as 3M super 74 at about 1/3 the cost.   I used a bread knife, 4" grinder with an 80 grit sanding disc and a drywall rasp to shape it.   

Thanks wallboard....really nice job!
If you would ,please take photos of front and rear seams to show us your work, and an underside shot to show the stapling.
What do you think of the ride, now?
It took me awhile to get used to sitting so high.....but I think I'm a bigger guy than you - so, I wouldn't remove a mm of my foam! At 6'3" I still can be flat-footed at a stop light with my heels on the ground. Another benefit is - I've slowed the search for better rear shocks since doing the seat - the ride is so much better than stock for me. Some day I may take the seat to a motorcycle ulpholsterer to have a pro-seat cover sewn on. That shouldn't be too expensive _ and if it's snowing they might be glad for the work.
I cut away a lot of the nose, and added rebond foam (very firm stuff) to the nose - so I wouldn't have a tendancy to slide forward - and to the rear, so it feels like a small butt-back area to sit against. And with my size, there was no thought of trying to keep this a 2 person seat - never intended to take a passenger, then or now.
Good job - and thanks for sharing pics and info!
Stig

[Mscmkr]

Hey Wallboard, great job on the seat! I would love to see a pic of you sitting on the new seat to see how much higher you sit. Also, please let us know how it feels to ride on that seat as apposed to the stock seat. The more detail the better. I'm about to have mine done and the more info I can get the better.

   Ride safe, mscmkr

[JuanJax]

Excellent timing!

I just got a spare Like seat this weekend off from eBay. It'll be my weekend project.
I'll just work on the shape an padding, then will take it to a shop for upholstering.

[Abner_Bjorn]

I'm 5-11.  The stock seat wasn't horribly low for me.  What I did not like was the inability to change my riding position.   If I scooted back a bit, the plastic hump was right on my tail bone.   The new seat solved this.   The 2"+ build up has made it a bit squishy.     The dantack adhesive worked great.  The gel pad above the plastic hump takes away the harsh plastic bite.  I masked the areas I didn't want glue on, and used registration marks to get everything lined up right.   I've put about 50 miles on the scooter since the seat project.  It is much more comfortable.   Maybe 1.5" thick super high density foam with the gel pad would have been perfect.  I was shooting for the vintage Vespa banana type seat.   I am working on a sheepskin seat cover right now.   I did the same thing on my HD200.  The difference was amazing. 

[Dolemite]

That's some fancy stitching on the front there. Nice job, that vinyl leave little to no wrinkling. That gel pad INSIDE the seat is pretty inventive.

[Mscmkr]

Hey Wallboard, I'm starting to redo my seat right now and I'm not able to get the foam anywhere near as smooth on the sides as you did. I cut it with a bread knife and it's pretty jagged looking. I also can't get the original foam from the seat smooth either. How did you smooth out the foam to get it ready for the vinyl. I'm thinking this is the trick to making it look nice when it's done.


    Ride safe, mscmkr

[Abner_Bjorn]

I used two tools for 90% of the shaping. 
1 - http://www.harborfreight.com/snap-blade-utility-knife-60828.html     I extended the blade out most of the way and used it to follow the shape of the seat below the foam I had just glued on.
2 - a sure form drywall rasp.   This is like a cheese grater.  It smoothed out the transition from old to new.   This isn't the exact one I used, but it is close.    http://www.lowes.com/pd_57622-51834-8273_0__?Ntt=drywall+rasp&UserSearch=drywall+rasp&productId=4772251&rpp=32

One other trick I didn't show.  When the seat shaping was all done, I glued an 1/8" piece of dense packing foam over the whole area.   It is that real dense white stuff that comes in rolls.  It's used for wrapping fragile things before shipping. 

If you need more help, send me a message through the link.  I'd be glad to help out.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Hey Wallboard, I'm starting to redo my seat right now and I'm not able to get the foam anywhere near as smooth on the sides as you did. I cut it with a bread knife and it's pretty jagged looking. I also can't get the original foam from the seat smooth either. How did you smooth out the foam to get it ready for the vinyl. I'm thinking this is the trick to making it look nice when it's done.


    Ride safe, mscmkr

Hey Wallboard, I'm starting to redo my seat right now and I'm not able to get the foam anywhere near as smooth on the sides as you did. I cut it with a bread knife and it's pretty jagged looking. I also can't get the original foam from the seat smooth either. How did you smooth out the foam to get it ready for the vinyl. I'm thinking this is the trick to making it look nice when it's done.


    Ride safe, mscmkr

PLease search youtube for motorcycle seat recovering, rebuilding, there I found ideas for tools to smooth the foam (if not smooth, will show thru your cover). One fellow was using a disc sander and electric knife to shape and smooth the foam. There arehelp videos for doing this .... I Guess a lot of riders have issues with their motorcycle seats....so the videos are out there.
Stig

[zombie]

Applause!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mscmkr]

Ummm, applause?

[zombie]

That is a very helpful, and informative set of posts so I applaud you all.

Electric carving knives are used in LOTS of upholstery shops for cutting/shaping the foam. The fella that did my seat uses this method. Same thing for the thin layer of covering foam to neaten up the finished foam, and keep a smooth look.

Nice work.