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Message started by Jay on 04/02/09 at 01:02:24

Title: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by Jay on 04/02/09 at 01:02:24

Ok, first off disclaimer: There are no pics with my post. Why will be evident soon enough. Short story: LOVE the mod; and I definately need work on my reupholstery skills.

I have been admiring Diamond Jim's seat mod for some time now, and finally decided to go for it, and do my own version.
I have the one piece seat on my '08. Using an electric knife, I sliced off a generous portion of the seat foam up to the pillion. I decided not to do any mod to the pillion portion, as I was not going to move the rectifier. This left me with a foam ring with the center piece missing for the riders portion of the seat. To this I attached, using Elmer's spray adhesive, some high density foam, shaped to fit the left over foam ring. This high density foam was in the form of a sleeping bag mat, found in the camping section at Wal-Mart. Cost, about 5 bucks. I didn't use any of the expanding foam on the seat pan. Just the leftover original foam and the sleeping bag mat, cut to fit the ring. After about 20 minutes to allow the adhesive to set a little, I put two layers of batting over the revised portion; and began the process of recovering the seat. This is where I screwed up, and the reason why I haven't posted any pics. I made the mistake of starting at the rear of the seat, and working up both sides toward the front. My (il)logic here being that the rear of the seat hadn't been touched, the seat cover was already formed for that portion of the seat, and I could work the cover over the changed areas as I went. WRONG!! I should've started at the front and worked my way back. About the only thing I did do right in regards to recovering, was to invest $30 in an electric staple gun. The plan for now is to ride it this way for a few miles, and redo the recover on my next couple of days off.

The result? I can definately relate to Diamond Jim's statement about being "in" the bike as opposed to "on" the bike. I probably lowered my seat height about 2 inches. There is definately more of a saddle shape to it. There also much more of the spooning effect (couldn't we all use a little more spooning?) than there was before. I was only able to take about a 10 mile ride, but I definately like the position. I think DJ is right; you don't need more padding on the bike, you need less! Leaving the pillion as is made for better lower back support, as the leading edge of the pillion now hits me right about the middle of my low back. I may have to revise my seat lift mod. Not sure yet, but there may be, ahem, a little too much spooning on certain parts of the old anatomy. Some lowering in the front may fix that. I plan to ride it for a while as is, to get a feel for what else may need to be done. If it all settles in, then I won't change a thing. If I start singing a few octaves higher, then I'll lower the front of the seat.

The plan. Well, I will redo the recover the next time I get two days off in row, and can do the job without being rushed. I'll also take my wife up on her offer to help. I'll also be examining the bottom of my new seat to see if I do indeed need to put expanding foam on the seat pan. If it looks like it would bebefit from it, fine; if not, it stays as is. If that job looks better, then I'll post pics. For now, thanks Diamond Jim. The seat mod was a definate comfort success, if not an asthetic one.

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by Rogue_Cheddar on 04/02/09 at 09:59:34

:-/ I'm a visual aid kind of guy, much like I don't look at Playboy for the articles.

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by diamond jim on 04/02/09 at 10:38:06

Jay, it's amazing what 2" will do. Doing the cover from the unmodded back then front makes perfect sense. I did it like that with a previous seat and learned my lesson. But at the time it seemed the best way.

You've probably got it figured out already but I'll add my two cents here anyhow. You want to be able to put pressure on and compress the shape of the cover/foam to get a good fit. I'd do the driver's area first. To do this I'd use a 40-50 pound bag of dog food, a thick bed pillow rolled and tied to keep it's shape or a puffy arm of a couch. I'd put the cover on, flip the seat over, rest the driver's section on the dog food bag, pillow, couch arm or whatever, lean on it to compress the cushion and pull the sides of the deepest section of the driver's area and put in maybe two staples on each side to hold it. Then I'd work outward from there. I'd move up two inches and do the same (lean on it, compress cushion to shape, snug, staple) then do the area on the other side of the first section and do the same, snugging it up and using just enough staples to hold it. The last three areas I'd do are in this order: the corner transition from diver to pillon, the front and the rear. I'd then pull a staple here and there, snugging it more and restapling. Take the completed seat outside in the sun, look at it at different angles and look for areas needing fit improvement. Also used transverse lighting meaning a light at the level of the seat and not above it. Any irregularities will be revealed by shadows.

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by Jay on 04/02/09 at 19:29:47

Thanks Diamond Jim. That's a good tip. Will definately put that to use.
To all who were disappointed by the lack of pics, I'm sorry; but the mod is to good to have been served by the poor quality recover job I did. When I get some time off, here in about a week, I'll redo the cover and take some pics of it then.

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by diamond jim on 04/02/09 at 19:48:55

242F37223E7F7F4E0 wrote:

A week? Is that how long the upholstery shop said it was gonna take? Ha ha, just kiddin. Cool. Can't wait to see it!

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by Jay on 04/02/09 at 19:53:44

2D20282426272D232024490 wrote:

[quote author=242F37223E7F7F4E0 link=1238659345/0#3 date=1238725787]Thanks Diamond Jim. That's a good tip. Will definately put that to use.
To all who were disappointed by the lack of pics, I'm sorry; but the mod is to good to have been served by the poor quality recover job I did. When I get some time off, here in about a week, I'll redo the cover and take some pics of it then.

A week? Is that how long the upholstery shop said it was gonna take? Ha ha, just kiddin. Cool. Can't wait to see it![/quote]

;D ;D
I was tempted, but no. Can't afford it right now. Just dropped a bunch of cash on new riding gear, and a Dunlop 404 for the rear. Plus, I wanted to take some time to ride it with the seat as it is and see if it needed any "tweaking" before finishing the recover. I only want to do that job once....well twice. You get the idea.

Title: Re: Diamond Jims seat mod
Post by Big Nix on 04/03/09 at 06:09:31

6E636B6765646E6063670A0 wrote:

Yah that'll work jim but when i did it i didn't have a big bag of dog food so i just sat on the floor and used my thigh. It worked rather well. That and before you try streching the fabric over the seat throw the fabric in the dryer for 20-30min. It'll soften it up and make it alot easier to strech. And with this mod remember less is more with padding i took all of my factory padding off. I used just a little spray foam insulation to take care of the bigger holes in the seat pan then i went to a carpet store and got a huge left over pieace of carpet padding for $4. It worked really well it's good and stiff but gives just enough cushion for your backside. Here is the link to my bike the seat was the last mod i got around too so check it out.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1237595638