Seat Wrap Up

This post is going to cover multiple thing since I'm writing this way after the fact.

Finally got the balls to just go for it, cut the patterns, and start sewing the seat.  I marked the seat along the centerline, marked, and measured to get dimensions for the patterns.  I took the largest dimensions and them made all of the patterns symmetrical.   As I laid the vinyl over the foam I looked for how it draped.  My goal was to make the seams as straight as possible.

I must have practiced a couple hundred times walking the needle slowly along the curved seams.  Getting it to yield a clean product was impossible with my current skillset.  So I did two things:  

1.  I simplified the pattern removing as many curves as possible,

2.  I ended up hand sewing the finishing seam in the curved sections by hand.  

Pics

Not perfect, a lot of time, but pretty good for my first upholstery job.  You can see that I ended up pinching the middle of the seat panel in order to get the material to conform to the curvature of the seat.  

I struggled for a long time trying to find a clean solution for securing the seat cover.  I've seen the spike strips on Ebay, but I didn't want to have to attach another thing to my already beaten seat pan.  I also wanted something removable.   A couple of allen button head screws, lock washers and nuts seemed to do the trick.

Pics fastened.

Pics on the bike

Part and Repairs List

Engine:

Replaced spark plugs

Set timing

Set valve clearance

Intake and Exhaust:

Rebuilt carburetors, new gaskets, o-rings

New carb boots (intake side)

New UNIFilter

Black MAC exhaust

Controls:

Bikemaster - Superbike Bars

Oury grips

New black round tail light

Removed rear fender, made new bracket for tail light

New aluminum turnsignals, front (3-wire) and rear (2-wire)

BCR Horseshoe Headlight

New throttle and clutch cables

Wheels and Tires:

New Michelin Pilot tires

Sanded and wirebrushed rims and spokes

Suspension:

Replaced front fork seals

Sanded and polished fork tubes

Wirebrushed and polished rear shocks

Painted rear springs

Drivetrain:

New DID chain

New front and rear sprocket

Replaced shift lever seal

Brakes:

SS brakelines jacketed (front)

Rebuilt front brake cylinder with rebuild kit

Rebuilt front caliper with Phenolic brake piston and new pads

Replaced rear drum brake pads

new hard brakeline from hose to caliper

Machines make life better.. eventually

Sewing by hand is great.  You get that great authentic , custom crafted, artisan, imperfect look.  Blah blah blah blah blah.  It also takes me an hour to get through a one inch seam.  This statement definitely reflects more on me, than it does on the process of hand sewing itself.  In any event a friend of mine was nice enough to run some practice pieces for me just like the ones I produced by hand..  single seam with a top-stitch.

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looks awesome, I'm so excited this is going to be great.

cut to a couple of months later the night has come to try out my hand at using a sewing machine.  We are all set up, upholstery thread, heavier gauge needle, patience on hand.  

The initial seam goes down pretty fast and well. This is going to be great.  And now to the top stitch......  I'll let the following pics tell the story.

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I can't seem to get the foot to run over the material.  Or rather it just feels as though it's way too thick and too much pressure pushing it down from the foot.  Having said that my friend was able to do it successfully directly after, so time and practice should deliver good results.  Well still not bad for a couple hours of learning.... I'll get their eventually.

Sewing is for Dudes

So, I had to give it a go.  I cut out a couple of test squares and start sewing some test pieces to practice the seams and top stitch.  A couple of straight seams..


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And now the curved section.  This was a little harder keeping the pieces aligned while sewing.

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Seems like the trick is cutting little markers to align/re-aligns the seams as you are going.  Looks's pretty good.  I think this just might work.

Stock Seat: Nothing a turkey knife and a trip to Joann Fabrics cant solve.

So the big debate...  salvage a perfectly rusty but functional stock seat or sent a couple hundred bucks and wait a couple of months for the Vietnamese to craft you a solution.

Who can stand to wait that long.... And so I decided to tear my seat apart and 6 months later I've made excellent progress.

Started off reasonably simple, pealed the old seat cover off and went to town with the turkey carver.  Shaped, and shaped and shaped it until I got a nice curve from the tank to the tail.  This is the look that I'm going for.

A corbin seat on a classic Norton Commando

Rusted bottom edge:  As I was working, the biggest problem I encountered was the rusted bottom edge of the metal seat pan that kept coming apart as I handled the seat.  I found a solution in a plastic channel (used for paneling?) at Home Depot.  It bends fairly well around the corners and curved sections, added some relief cuts to help.  Several pop rivets later and I had successfully capped off the rusted edge.

Chopped rear section:  Getting the look that I was after meant that the rear hump in the stock pan had to go.  Not having a garage, I had to settle for the Dremel.  The standard cutting disks that are held in with a screw are way too thin for cutting through seat pan and I blew through those quickly.  Now they have a reinforced cutting wheel with a quick release fastener that is a dream.  Cuts through metal without breaking, and doesn't get eaten up in a couple of minutes.  By the time I was done I ended up cutting the hump and the very back end of the pan..  I like the shape and it provides a nice nook for the tail light.

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More foaming shaping and I was left with the question of how to cover this thing.. I had gone past the point of no return, stretching the stock cover would not suffice. So custom seat cover it is.  Got a great piece of marine grade vinyl from Joann Fabrics and started thinking about how to place the seams, what type of seams to use, and most importantly how was I (a complete newb to sewing) going to sew up a seat cover. 

Decide it was going to happen through some combination of hand sewing and a machine that I'd have to borrow.  After doing some research settled on some upholstery thread (again Joann's) and a some upholstery needles.  Decided on three main sections 1) across the forward hump that meets the tank, 2) the main saddle section, and 3) the flanks of the main saddle on the sides, and the rear hump where the passenger would sit.

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The latter may require more than one piece

More to come....  

Controls!

Got my superbike bars and Oury grips yesterday from JC Whitney

Wish List

Yamiya pipes

Too bad they aren't made for the 550