thats what i plan on doing. that is how my west eagle was done. im gonna use little metal grommets and put the rivet through that, if that makes any sense.
anybody rivit'd a seat?
I have a steel pan built and want yo rivit the leather to the pan, glue the foam, glue the leather to the foam rivit the leather under the edge of the pan....advice?
there's a couple of ways to go. it sounds like you want your rivets to show on both the top & bottom of the seat... tandy's leather or almost any of the ebay leather stores sell copper rivets with roves (which are the little washers that hold everything together). there is a cheap tool which is used to drive the rove up the rivet to pinch all the good stuff in. it's a force fit, so when the rove is driven it doesn't slide back (too much). dyke off the excess rivet shaft then peen over the proud part. peening is done really gently or the nub will look like shit. the rivets come in packs of 25 i think so try a few out on scrap first. a lot of people rivet leather on the backside of the pan then stitch the top leather to that... but tons of people just rivet a chunk of heavy leather to the pan with copper rivets all around. sometimes you have to drill out the pan holes a smidge to get the rivets all the way in.
I am in the process of making a seat. Just finished my seat pan and foam is pretty much done except maybe a couple tweeks. Anyways, I have some leather around(not sure what gauge but its not to thick or thin), I also ordered some upholstery leather. Anyways here is a picture of my seat, do you think it will work stretching the material over the back?
Your seat has too complex a shape to mold over. You will have to sew a cover for that out of a few panels to make up the difference in height between the front and rear of the seat.
I am in the process of making a seat. Just finished my seat pan and foam is pretty much done except maybe a couple tweeks. Anyways, I have some leather around(not sure what gauge but its not to thick or thin), I also ordered some upholstery leather. Anyways here is a picture of my seat, do you think it will work stretching the material over the back?
As stated you might be better off doing panels. I'm no pro but when I did my passenger seat I made a wood mold of the foam (yours will take a few layers and some work). Then put the leather over it and over a whole week would spray it with water and tighten the clamps a little bit at a time til I had the shape I wanted.
Thanks for this thread, after having to put my swingarm back on, Im having to make a seat. I've started with an old handicap parking sign for my seat pan, its pretty thick and don't bend under my weight. I'm thinking about trying to make a bump style seat. but I may have to go a slightly different route. I am considering using snaps to attach the final cover (which I still have to obtain) to the pan.
Wish I'd have been into this site back when I was riding sport bikes, I ended up having to recover the seat on a GSXR that was pretty thrashed. I ended up using a rubber bitch (sleeping pad) and carving and shaping with a bread knife (the serations make a cleaner cut). I used an old Jeep soft top I had laying around (didn't stretch for shit) and secured it to the plastic seat pan with a heavy duty staple gun. The finished product was acceptable and much better than the one I replaced. I'd like to give this a shot on the mustang seat I have on my bike, I think an oiled brown would look much better that the black it has now, especially with the direction I'm taking with it now.
Last edited by ThePete; 03-11-2012 at 1:45 AM.
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Iv'e got a few questions on my ongoing saddle project.
The frame and padding is finished and the seat covered with vinyl to protect the leather. Im planning to lace the 2 bottom parts together today.
- How much excess should i have for the bottom and top parts? Se pic
- How do i get the top part so fit the padding before lacing them together? Iv'e tried soaking the leather, but that didn't helt much
I'd say the more the better. You can always go back and trim it post stitching.
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I wish it was that simple. I'm planning to use the doule loop lace, that covers the edge, can't trim it afterwards
I've started to lace the bottom parts together at least.
Hey Greedy, got the seat back today stiched from the shoe repair guy,looks good now I need the dye HOW TO
I took my old seat apart trimed the pad & pan, covered it with new leather like Tob said in the beginning of this thread. Im thinkin black.
heres some pic
front & back stuck with contact cement
I like the fit now: Show's them Bones
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