Leather seat cover idea

alemonkey

Active Member
Ok, probably a dumb idea, but here goes....

I've seen people cover their seats with leather salvaged from stuff like old leather coats. What about going to the junkyard and getting a leather seat cover off a car? If you get the right one it might even have some nice looking cross stitching. Just a thought from a guy who likes to DIY but has no sewing skills. :D
 
Good idea :D

Remember to skin the foam with closed cell material such as yoga mat, a few $s will water proof the foam. Use an electric carving knife to shape the foam and 40/60/80 grip paper to smooth, messy but effective.
 
The problemis that the stitching and the shape of the leather sections is determined by the matting below. You can salvage an old car seat but once you remove the leather and the padding and try to apply it to a different shape it'll fight ya. Not saying it can't be done, but... Not as simple.as you may think.
 
Honestly, go talk to you local upholstery shop. See what they say. Sometimes it's better to just save up and pay to have the job done right.
 
Leather isn't the most expensive thing in the world. We eat a lot of cows and a few cheeseburgers would net the leather needed for a motorcycle seat.

Buy a remnant somewhere and then take a crack at doing it yourself. Try it with vinyl first and then move on to leather.
 
Or stick with vinyl because leather will be a constant battle to keep it water resistant. Believe me, I've had a leather seat on my 750 for about 6 years now and it has never been or ever will be waterproof. Keeping it treated will work for light stuff but a downpour will give you swamp ass in a hurry.
 
VonYinzer said:
The problemis that the stitching and the shape of the leather sections is determined by the matting below. You can salvage an old car seat but once you remove the leather and the padding and try to apply it to a different shape it'll fight ya. Not saying it can't be done, but... Not as simple.as you may think.

That's good to know...I honestly don't know the first thing about upholstery. I don't mind paying someone to do it, but I enjoy doing things myself when I can. Sounds like this is one situation where it makes sense to pay a professional.
 
alemonkey said:
Sounds like this is one situation where it makes sense to pay a professional.

Although I agree with doing as much as possible yourself, I opted for a pro for the seat as it makes or breaks the look of the entire bike if the upholstery is shoddy or too home made if you get me? I considered it an investment and very pleased I went that route with mine. However, using a seat skin could work quite well, provided the seat pad is simple enough....it's all about the pleated folds though :-/

If you do what I did and made the seat base and foamed it, then handed it over to the upholsterer who thought it good enough for him to skin it.

Just 'cos I love showing it off, here's mine:

 
I've learned something about the leather in most automotive seats; often only the part you actually sit on, the seat and up your back, is leather. The pieces up the sides, around the bottom, back, headrest, etc. are matching vinyl. I don't know how it is on the higher end vehicles, see if you can find a Rolls, a Jag, or whatever in a junk yard (yeah right!). I'll bet if you got a leather seat from a junk yard you'd be surprised and disappointed to find very little real leather.

If you really have your heart set on it you can find all kinds of leather; cow, goat, sheep, deer, etc on eBay.

I'm w/ Mr E; you could try to water proof it, but it would probably end up slippery and anybody who's had a well-meaning spouse/friend do them a "favor" and clean their MC seat w/ Armor All will tell you that ain't fun.
 
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