To Cut the Seat or Not?

[thefish]

Hi guys, I have in my possession an old Kawasaki (more of a cruiser but looking to shape into half cruiser/half café... more on that later). It's got an enormous and ugly seat attached and must be chopped down. Look up Kawi 1983 750 LTD if you want to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

The question is whether or not I should cut the seat down myself or have a shop do it. I've never done it before so I'm worried about the final outcome and messing the seat completely up. Is this something better left to the pros?

Also, how much do I have to take into consideration completely messing up the riding position?

 

[spotty]

cut it yourself (using electric carving knife is best) but have it professionally covered unless you posses upholstery/sewing machine skills

but you might be better off making the rest of the changes to the bike first so you can cut the seat gradually to suit both the ergonomics and looks, its easier to take more foam off than put it back

 

[thefish]

cut it yourself (using electric carving knife is best) but have it professionally covered unless you posses upholstery/sewing machine skills

but you might be better off making the rest of the changes to the bike first so you can cut the seat gradually to suit both the ergonomics and looks, its easier to take more foam off than put it back

I read cutting it with a regular plain coarse tooth hacksaw blade works better. Your thoughts?

 

[adventurco]

I cut down, trimmed the foam and reupholstered the seat on the GS550 I just did a refurb on...its pretty simple. I cut the foam with a fine tooth saw and smooth it with a woodworking hasp ($5 at home depot). Recovered with marine vinyl. Use a 1/2" layer of upholstery foam on top of the base foam to make it look smoother than it really is. If you look through that thread the actual yellow foam looks like I cut it with my teeth, but the final outcome is nice and smooth.

 

[thefish]

I cut down, trimmed the foam and reupholstered the seat on the GS550 I just did a refurb on...its pretty simple. I cut the foam with a fine tooth saw and smooth it with a woodworking hasp ($5 at home depot). Recovered with marine vinyl. Use a 1/2" layer of upholstery foam on top of the base foam to make it look smoother than it really is. If you look through that thread the actual yellow foam looks like I cut it with my teeth, but the final outcome is nice and smooth.

Nice man! You've inspired me to stick it to the man and do it myself