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Message started by ToesNose on 03/16/14 at 12:20:08

Title: First motorcycle seat
Post by ToesNose on 03/16/14 at 12:20:08

Well finally got to try my hand at making a seat, I have a buddy who restores Hondas and Ducatis who was in a bind to have a seat made in 10 days to flip a bike. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out and learned a lot that will make the next one better. ;)

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/16/14 at 15:00:31

Snot perfikk, but pretty danged good. What kinda machine did you sew it up on?

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by ToesNose on 03/16/14 at 19:04:55

I picked up a classic Swinger 247 off Craigslist on the cheap $30 with a cabinet, works great!

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/17/14 at 11:29:03

I can find a Singer 247,, How heavy is it? How old is it? What is the motor HP rating? Steel or plastic gears?
If youre serious about this kinda stuff you mite wanna go hunting an upholstery machine. BUT, if you do that, make sure you have it checked out by a pro before you buy it. I bought one, paid top dollar for it ( From a "friend") that simply would not stay in time. I spent more on having it "fixed" than it was worth.. I can buy one like it today for $100.00 thats in working shape..Takes 2 people to move one,,well,, not move around in a house, but to load in a pickup. Even then ya pull the head off the work table & load it, then load the table & motor. You gotta be GOOD to run one, even with the variable speed motor, it sucked material under faster than I was comfortable with. I put a smaller pulley on the motor & a shorter belt & slowed it down,
You did real good laying out the pattern. Kinda got the lines across a little off & had a narrow band just before the sweep up. Got a little crooked on the front seam, but by & large, you did real good.
IDK where ya got the material, but for bike/ATV/tractor seats I go to an upholstery shop & buy material that will go in a boat & survive outside for years. You can lay out a pattern, cut it out & have it sewn up & save $$ or do it all. When I did the back hoe seats I cut the plywood for the bases & hacked out the foam rubber & took that stuff to the guy. He made up the covers & I took it all home to assemble & saved a load.
Finding the right kind of foam rubber for a seat isnt easy. Sure not cheap. I had a junk pickup I stole seat rubber from.

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by gizzo on 03/17/14 at 23:52:02

Nice one Toes. A bit of heat and stretching might pull it tighter and get rid of the wrinkles. Better than my first try...

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by shorty on 03/18/14 at 09:29:36

looking good.. some wrinkles may come out on their own in the sun

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by Serowbot on 03/18/14 at 09:50:49

I think the wrinkles make it look more authentic and retro...
...due to the stud mounting instead of 200 staples...

Really nice job... cool look... ;)...

Title: Re: First motorcycle seat
Post by ToesNose on 03/18/14 at 09:54:28

Thanks guys, I think the lighting in the pic makes the wrinkles look worse then they are, for a first try I'm happy with the results and he paid me $200 for it.

@JOG- yea the 247 is metal gears, it's an older work horse model made in Italy, with the table probably 60Lbs. give or take. The variable speed is the toughest thing to get used to for me so far, starting slow and working into mid speed seems to do the job. I researched a number of sewing machines and had a list of ones to pull the trigger on if they popped up on Craigslist, which this one did :)