How do you repair a tear in the stock seat?

[Mancolt]

Before you ask, I tried a few different searches. The only thing I could come up with was results for shipping back aftermarket seats that arrive with tears in them.

I noticed a small tear, maybe about 3/4" - 1" long in my stock seat. I want to cover it up so water can't get in there and so the tear doesn't spread any further. I'm not overly concerned with appearance so it doesn't need to look like a professional did it. Are there repair kits or should I just cover this with black tape?

 

[autobahn70]

I wouldn't use duct tape or anything like that. The adhesive melts when it gets warm and just turns into a mess... I'd hit up the old hardware store and ask a pro. They gotta have patches with epoxy or something

 

[reiobard]

almost any fabric store will have adhesive that you can use on vinyl (should be good for our seats too). then get some fabric that will cover the hole and glue it on there. you want an adhesive that will remain flexible so that you don't make the seat brittle

 

[FrankieOC82]

I've never actually done it yet, but I have a tear in my carseat upholstery that I've been meaning to patch also. Although it's not really apples to apples here, i thought I'd share the idea I had; maybe it could work for you too:

So once you find the patching material and adhesive you need, you could cut a square of it maybe 1.5X the length of your tear and instead of patching it on top of the seat, try placing it underneath the seat cover material, then add the adhesive between the layers. I was going to try it this way to make the repair less noticeable. don't know if it would cause any problems for retearing, though. Anyways, just thought i'd share the thought.

Good luck !!!

 

[Geoff]

I know a guy that re-wrapped his seat with entirely new leather, its not an fz6 but, same idea, I imagine its like stretching a painting canvas. Not much help but hey what do I know, never stretched leather on a seat.

 

[jtarkany]

Hi! I'm Billy Mays

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USRDNlEqIfk]YouTube - Mighty Mend It Review[/ame]

No, seriously...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnTHzlgdoI"]YouTube- Smart repair vinyl repair, leather repair with hbc system[/ame]

 

[RJ2112]

It's actually very easy to take the cover off the seat pan.... all you have to do is remove the seat from the bike, and flip it over to expose the staples that hold the vinyl on. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the staples.

If you really want to fix the OEM vinyl, find an upholstery shop, and have them make the repair. Pretty much like the video here shows. When it's fixed, use a staple gun to mount the seat cover back over the seat.

If you go through that much effort, why not buy some upgraded foam for the seat, and make it more comfortable? If you are at the upholstery shop already, they'll be able to sell you what you need. You want closed cell foam. It should realistically be more dense than what is on the OEM seat pan. Believe it or not, a more firm seat will be more comfortable.

If that's too much work (but very, very cheap), you can go one step further and have a local seat shop re-do your OEM seat to make it personalized, and more functional.

The OEM seat is actually pretty good, right up to where the foam 'sacks out'. After about 20K miles, mine was pretty good for about 30 minutes, then the burn set in badly.

 

[McLovin]

electrical tape!