reupholstering your 02 F4i seats

I had a rodent sneek under the bike cover and nibble a few pieces of the rear seat so I looked into getting maybe Corbins. For the price, I decided to just try recovering both seats since the guts of the seat were perfect. The material is held on by many staples which come off with either a small flat bladed screwdriver or a needle nose plier. The stock covers are actually "bean bag" fabric which is actually pretty cheesy stuff. I went down to the local fabric store (JoAnne Fabrics) and picked up a rich looking black fake leather material (to match the strap). If you do it the way I did it, you cant use a matersial that is too thick. Its tempting to get the thickest material they have cause you're not buying that much, but it wont fold around the back of the seat right. Using the original covers as templates, I cut the stuff to a slightly larger size. I couldnt fasten them with the Honda staple method becouse they must use a heavy duty special stapler to get into valley of the back seat. I then streched the material around the seat and sissored off just enough to fold around the back lip. I then applied (do not skimp) solvent based contact cement (avail in small bottles at hdw store) to the back lip and to the material edges and folded it tightlly around the seat just like you are redoing a seat cushion. Next take a single edge razor blade and trim off excess. Do this on the back seat first.. its easier because you can stretch the material on nice and tight and just fold it around. The front seat came out perfect as well but some of the this seat has "soft" edges without the plastic frame to stretch it over. You just have to fold it over more gently in these areas. Thats one of the reasons not to get a really thick material. The other reason is when you fold the material over in the rounded areas, it will bunch too much. I did this several months ago and have had zero creep of the material off the glue line. Its looks totally stock for qualiity, with a leather look. For the more adventurous, you can always go with a color to match the bike.

Need some pics.

MDFF

Since you were reupholstering, did you consider repadding your seat?

No, not really. The original foam looked like new, so I just went with new covers. I tried a few pics, but since the recovers were black, the just looked like the originals. Might try a diff camera on macro.

I think I may try this. My rear seat is slightly faded, so it dosn't match the paint. I would rather a Black seat.

Just wondering, what kind of solvent based contact cement did you use, or does it not matter? How long does it take for the glue to dry?

What kind of stapler would you have to use to work?

Thanks!

Contact Cement: Weldwood Contact Cement, make sure its solvent based (it will say "Caution extremely flammable". Its the same type you would use for Formica. You just apply it to BOTH surfaces, wait about 5 min for it to dry then push together.
Stapler: It is factory stapled, but you wont find a stapler that will work. The contact cement would be easier anyway.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Pugetpower
Stapler: It is factory stapled, but you wont find a stapler that will work. The contact cement would be easier anyway.

I stapled mine on, used an electric stapler, have to put some weight into it but it worked fine for me.....would be easier with the contact cement, but will it last thought the weather changes cold/hot/cold/hot???

I've done both of my seats and a stapler is the way to go. I had no problem squeezing my staple gun in there and sticking it. I wouldn't trust adhesives. On the front seat, if you want to do it right, you've got to do some sewing. Cut apart the old front seat and use it as a pattern. It's made of three pieces. Doing it this way rather than just wrapping and stapling allows you to use thicker material and avoids those ugly areas where the foam gets squished and indented. There are really nice vinyls available that are incredibly leather like. Since you need just a small amount it's really cheap too. $10 or so for both seats.

link with pictures of my reupholstered seats...

Nice pics of the seats and backrest, jjbtao. Mine seats look identical to yours (w/o the backrest). That backrest really looks outstanding. I would have to disagree with you on the sewing bit for the front seat. I found the front seat almost as easy to do as the rear just laying out and folding the fabric in one piece. I would think that making the front out of 3 pieces would be beyond what the average reader would want to tackle. BTW the only adhesive that would be practical is contact cement. You can stretch and stick. Once the two pieces are stuck and pressed on, you can tell they arent going anywhere. The other day I saw a F4i done this way in a kind of sofa fabric. His girlfriend probably pick it out. Looked pretty nice.

I agree that breaking out the sewing machine may be more that what many people are willing to do. I was just noting that if you want to use a thicker, sturdier, longer-lasting material and are worried about the material bunching or indenting the foam beneath, sewing is the way to go. I attempted going without and I just wasn't that into it. After sewing it, I was completely happy. I also wanted to make new grab straps, since I was using a different black vinyl and also the red so I knew I was going to be sewing anyway. As for the contact adhesive, I fully believe what you're saying. That's some good stuff... but like I said, the staple gun worked for me and was much easier than adhesives.