DIY Cutdown Seat

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bikedave99

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This writeup details how I reworked my seat over the weekend. It was really not that difficult a process as long as you
take your time and work carefully. As you will see, I even reused the original seat cover without modifying it whatsoever.
This mod is for those of you who, like me, no matter how hard you try, just can't manipulate your budget enough to justify
an awesome seat from Morley or UFO or whoever. I will start with a picture I found on the boards which gave me a
little bit of guidance as to what to shoot for shapewise:
1.jpg



First off, of course, is to remove the seat from the bike. Once you pop the middle section back, there are four bolts which
you must remove in order to allow you to lift and slide the seat back. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this but I think
you can figure it out. The middle section of the seat will come with the front so you will have to remove these nuts and
bolts to separate them:
3.jpg



Ok, here it is:
4.jpg



Flip the seat over, and using a special staple puller or just a tiny flathead screwdriver like me, start to very carefully pry up
the staples just far enough to get your needle nose pliers onto them and pull them the rest of the way out. You want to be
careful here because any damage to the vinyl will make it weaker when you restaple it on:
5.jpg



This next picture shows how many staples I initially removed, but I actually went further. I went 3-4 more inches up the
neck. I figured it prudent to leave the top portion of the seat stapled as it would give me something to pull against when reattaching. Plus it
would already be lined up:
10.jpg



Now at this point I reattached the middle section finger tight and placed the seat back on the bike, just without bolting it
down. Flip the middle section down and lock it in place:
6.jpg



Then I took a sharpie and traced along the foam where the front and middle sections of the seat come together. I want to
maintain this line and not carve it down there so that it doesn't create a gap:
7.jpg

8.jpg



Pull the middle section back off and you have this:
9.jpg



I then freehanded this shape on the seat, the lines on the sides are down about 1" from the original height. These are not
strict guidelines for cutting, they just serve to make sure everything is staying symmetrical and to give a frame of reference,
which is very important:
11.jpg



Now, out to the garage to begin carving armed with my reference pictures:
12.jpg



This is the primary tool: 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a 40grit sanding disc attached. I took the handle off, it would just get
in the way:
13.jpg



This is where you start to get really nervous because everything after this is pretty much permanent! Put on your safety
glasses, respirator, and ear plugs and find a good way to anchor the seat while you grind on it. For me, the best system I
found was to sit on the ground with the seat turned sideways and pinched between my legs. This process creates foam
dust which sticks to everything so it is good to do it in a contained area. Go *very, very* slowly. The sanding disc will dig
in, and pull itself deeper so, you must go very carefully. This website give some good techiques:
(http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/modify_3.htm). My first cut gouged deep and thats where I learned to be careful. I
was able to get it out however. So, after a little while of grinding I had this:
14.jpg

15.jpg



Not far enough, but getting there, after a little while later:
16.jpg

17.jpg

18.jpg



Now we are getting closer to the final shape. Once again, use surgical precision with the grinder and you can get the most
of the ridges knocked down and the edges round over. It is possible. Next, get a rasp, a nice coarse wood rasp and file
away at the ridges and corners. This will smooth it all out, which is important because any imperfection in the foam will
"print" through the vinyl cover:
19.jpg



Once again, I loosely put the seat back together and placed it on the bike to see how it lined up and sat:
20.jpg

21.jpg

22.jpg



I like it! So, back off with the seat, and off with the middle section again and now to getting the seatcover back on. Here
are the tools of my choice (make sure you are using 1/4" or shorter staples:
24.jpg



Now, use the clamps for your mock-ups. This is critical. Don't just start stretching and stapling you will end up with folds,
creases, and ridges. Stretch one section and then clamp it, then another and clamp it. Then go back and readjust where
you started. Repeat this until you like the way it looks. This took me probably 45minutes before I started stapling:
25.jpg



Now that you like the way it is clamped, pull one clamp off, pull the vinyl in that area tight, brace seat against your leg and
staple it. You must have very firm pressure on the stapler as well as a solid backing, otherwise the staple won't go deep
enough, will not hold the vinyl securely, and may tear out. Go to the opposite clamp an do the same. Keep working your
way around the seat until it is done. You may have to go back and pull some staples and restretch and staple an area, its
ok to do that.
27.jpg



And, the finished product:
26.jpg

28.jpg



Bolt it back together and back on the bike:
29.jpg

30.jpg

31.jpg

Now, get out there and try it out!
As a disclaimer, for me this is a work in progress. It is much better than it was, however, I believe I can mod it a little
more and get it better. The shape it is now is not the final product, find something that works for you. This may be a bit of
a process but it will go much quicker next time. All told, this probably took me 4 hours start to finish. If you have any
questions or comments, please feel free!
 
+1

I'll be doing this mod. Thanks for the pictures and the description. The finished product looks awesome.
 
I will give you some hints. To get the wrinkles out you can use one layer of good density 1/4" foam. This smooths up your sanding and gives an even look. Then you should of had a plastic layer that I did not see in the pictures. Think of it as haevy duty saran wrap. This is what keeps you seat relatively dry when it rains. Without that layer the seat acts like a sponge through the stitch holes. Then it takes forever to dry.

I could not tell what kind of staples you used either. They need to be stainless or you'll have rusty staples in no time.

Most will have a hard time getting rid of the "loose" area in the center of the seat after reshaping if they re-use the stock cover. The only way to get rid of it is to pull the seat too tight which is hard on the material and wrinkles it again.

All in all, it looks like reasonable enough work for minimal budget. Good job.

On a side note, it also works well if you "borrow" the wifes electric turkey carver!

Sean
 
Thanks for the tips Sean!

I was going to use the smoothing layer of soft open cell but I didn't have time to find some and the rasp worked much better than I was hoping. As far as the plastic goes that makes perfect sense. I would assume that this would come from the factory as well right? I saw a scrap of it left on one corner but other than that it was totally gone, which leads me to believe someone actually took the cover off the seat and pulled the plastic then recovered it....eh? Plus there were some extra staples in there of a different variety so it does look like it. No foam was messed with though, strange.

Also, as I noted, I am not done with the seat yet, and after some riding, I think I will add back some foam and possibly gel in a little more supportive manner. I intentionally went deeper than I would have to this end. This really is an art and something that takes time to develop and make work with your hindquarters.

Thanks again Sean!
 
Great Job Dave, nice work and great step by step.

I did mine too awhile back and and it came out good, but not perfect. I used a dremel with a barrel sanding bit, worked great. I did use 1/4" foam and plastic to smooth it out. My big mistake was the rear section, where the flat section is, I cut too much and there is a bit of a gap :bang head:

Again, great DIY thread.

Mike
 
I will give you some hints. To get the wrinkles out you can use one layer of good density 1/4" foam. This smooths up your sanding and gives an even look. Then you should of had a plastic layer that I did not see in the pictures. Think of it as haevy duty saran wrap. This is what keeps you seat relatively dry when it rains. Without that layer the seat acts like a sponge through the stitch holes. Then it takes forever to dry.

I could not tell what kind of staples you used either. They need to be stainless or you'll have rusty staples in no time.

Most will have a hard time getting rid of the "loose" area in the center of the seat after reshaping if they re-use the stock cover. The only way to get rid of it is to pull the seat too tight which is hard on the material and wrinkles it again.

All in all, it looks like reasonable enough work for minimal budget. Good job.

On a side note, it also works well if you "borrow" the wifes electric turkey carver!

Sean

Now this just goes to show you what type of a guy Sean really is! He will help you out no matter what!

Good job on the seat too!
 
Nice article but I wanted to give Sean an award for helping out with his experience. Since he does seats as part of his "services", he could easily let this go by with people getting mediocre results. You are a stand up guy Sean. I have loaned out my Muscle seat to see if there is another convert out there. I am gonna try my electric foam cutter used for model airplane wing cores to shape a seat. I will let everyone know if it works better than the turkey knife! No foam dust thats for sure!
PATMAX.:clapping:
 
Hey Patmax, if you're into loaning out your Muscle seat, how about sending it to me and I'll let you know how I like it at the end of the riding season :rofl_200:

Seriously, I decide to do my seat a few years back after being turned off by Sportmax and UFO's attitude and before I found out about Morley's seat. So sometime in the future, I will get a Morley Muscle seat , but till than , mine will do me fine.

Mike
 
You can use a sanding block believe it or not to clean up some of the sharp edges and like Sean said an electric knife will cut it easily.
If you do goof it up all is not lost as you can glue a thicker layer of foam onto it and work away at it again.
 
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Yo Maxcruiser, Clintard has the muscle seat right now so you will be next on the list unless you want to try the UFO Starfighter. If I were a drag racer, it would be the one to have as it really "locks" you into the seat. And it is really low. For a big guy, it is what I call a two hour seat if you know what I mean. A lighter guy would probably go twice as long. The Muscle seat has a great look to it and is noticably more comfy. Sean knows what he is doing and his turnaround time and quality are up there too.:biglaugh: PATMAX
 
What a great write up with detail :clapping:

I will say this though, doing this type of work is talent and its a skill that Morley has mastered along with others that modify there seat to create a nice piece to place there ass.
I tried this many years ago doing my own seat and I will say its not my cup of tea!
Some have talents such as art. Some can draw a masterpiece and others like myself cant draw a smiley face with a craylon.
Great work, but for those that think they are going out to the garage to do this think twice.
 
Yo Maxcruiser, Clintard has the muscle seat right now so you will be next on the list unless you want to try the UFO Starfighter. If I were a drag racer, it would be the one to have as it really "locks" you into the seat. And it is really low. For a big guy, it is what I call a two hour seat if you know what I mean. A lighter guy would probably go twice as long. The Muscle seat has a great look to it and is noticably more comfy. Sean knows what he is doing and his turnaround time and quality are up there too.:biglaugh: PATMAX

Mighty nice gesture Patmax,

Clintard, your time is up, hand over the seat :eusa_dance:

Now if Sean can fix my seat and add a 2up rear section for my wife, I maybe in business soon.

Mike
 
hey patmax...

i'd love to try it out for a couple days if you don't mind. i'm trying to decide about it not b/c of comfort, but b/c i already had to go from drag bars to stock bars b/c the reach was too far b/c of my bum right shoulder.
 
Nice job on that seat. I'd give it a try but just don't have
the patience. Oh, and I ordered a seat From Sean yesterday.:eusa_dance:
I can hardly wait !
Chris
 
Mighty nice gesture Patmax,

Clintard, your time is up, hand over the seat :eusa_dance:

Now if Sean can fix my seat and add a 2up rear section for my wife, I maybe in business soon.

Mike


Hey now i havnt even recieved it yet LOL! Thanks again for letting me try before i buy, you are the MAN :punk:

When i get it i will try it for a few days and i could just ship it to the next guy in line in the same box etc to save on postage
 
Hey Garrett, I don't mind sending it along to the next guy but the seat may end up making it around the USA before it is all said and done! Clintard said all the right things to put me at ease before I sent it to him.He also has over 600 hundred posts on this forum which goes a long way with me. If Clintard decides he likes it, I offered to sell it to him. Obviously less than a new one from Sean and a core. The box should make it another four or five trips though! Anyways, hey Sean, YOU should be sending out the trial seat ! Just kidding, I want a cut of sales to those I loan seat out to and buy a Muscle. LOL PATMAX.:punk:
 
Hey Garrett, I don't mind sending it along to the next guy but the seat may end up making it around the USA before it is all said and done! Clintard said all the right things to put me at ease before I sent it to him.He also has over 600 hundred posts on this forum which goes a long way with me. If Clintard decides he likes it, I offered to sell it to him. Obviously less than a new one from Sean and a core. The box should make it another four or five trips though! Anyways, hey Sean, YOU should be sending out the trial seat ! Just kidding, I want a cut of sales to those I loan seat out to and buy a Muscle. LOL PATMAX.:punk:


hey patmax.. completely understand you concerns man! obviously after taking care of postage i have no problems shooting you $10-$15 or whatever for your troubles to help put you at ease. totally up to you bro!

-garrett
 
Hey Garrett, I'll give you a holler when Clintard says he is done or maybe he wants to buy it, who knows. I see you have been around for a while too so I am fine letting the seat make the rounds. I will NOT take any extra money for it. You pay whatever shipping is to get it to you and back to me unless you HAVE to have it! Now if I can just get one of you suckers to loan me their Magnacharger!
PATMAX:punk:
 

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