My First Mod - Custom Seat

I joined a Fury Forum and am starting to learn some stuff about Fury's and also meet other Fury owners from around the world.  It seems the big thing about being a Fury owner is making mods  to the Fury's to make them each unique. Some are downright fancy as all get out.  I am making my first mod - re-doing my stock seat.  I am making a custom cover embroidered with her name "Blue J" and a design.  Here is the prototype. it looks good on the bike, i laid the design on my seat to give an idea what it might look like.

I may or may not leave the date on it, not sure yet. but I really like the material, the design, and the name, how that all came out.  I ordered an OEM seat, so I could work on it in spare time.  I am going to install a gel pad to make it more comfortable. A Pro Pad Gel Insert from the Pro Pad company.  They have Cushions and Inserts.  I'm trying the Medium Insert.  I am going to follow This Tutorial I do not know how to load the video into my post here.

Okay all my parts are here. Let's begin...  We need to make the cover, insert the ProPad, and assemble it.  First We'll need the pattern, so let's take off the existing seat cover and disassemble it to make the pattern.

Remove staples with screwdriver (flat head) to pry up, and pliers to pull out.

Then peel the cover off the stock foam. We want to be somewhat careful here so we don't pull up pieces of the stock foam with the cover, or else we will have a lumpy foam base.  I say "somewhat" because we will be cutting out a good portion of the center to install the gel insert.

OK, so let's disassemble....

Now I've learned (the hard way) that the collar, should not be cut to size right away, or else you won't have enough to stretch over the pan to staple.  just leave a lot of room on that for that purpose because you can trim that up at the end.

So I cut out the pieces to my pattern. (don't forget the seam allowances.)  It's best  also to fold the pieces in half so the left and right side match equally. Then I did the embroidery.  So Far So good.  I also wanted some strength for the seat, so I spray glued two pieces together.

Well let's see how the seat will come along...

Let's mark it off...

We'll need to cut down the ProPad

(Yes, I signed it LOL)

Okay then trace it onto the seat foam and mark off the blocking.

So then i was following that tute and marked off my cutting knife for 1/2"

Started cutting the blocks out - not quite as e-z as you might think this might be. then peeled out the foam and it was coming out a little choppy, since i was unable to find a straight edge razor to cut underneath the blocks.

SO-o-o-o-o  I decided to use DH's Dremel.  This, too wasn't as e-z as you might think, however did a much better job, albeit QUITE messy. It is best to have it set on a very fast setting.

Made additional adjustments but this is what we have.  This should be comfy.

a fellow furyan on the Forum, said the best foam to cover it with was memory foam, so that's what we did.  We had purchased a sheet from Walmart for $14.

So, now we had to sew together the seat. Gee I hope this comes out.  Here we go... Since it's leather ( okay this is faux leather, but same principles apply when sewing ) you need to clip it instead of pin it, 

Now we have the major part of the seat done.  There are two "tongues" on the front and rear - I assembled those last, no pix.

I'm excited that this is working out pretty well.

Now let's see about getting this baby on the seat/pan. Will it fit????

Well, it fit, however I had to add those extra floppy pieces to give enough material so that I could staple to the pan.  However, the way I sewed those pieces on wasn't the 100% correct way that I wanted, (long story) so, the end result was that I was not really going to be able to glue the cover to the foam on the seat, the cover was too temperamental to get on... so while the end result was less than perfect, I know for next time, I can always re-make a cover any time I want, and i sort of think it has some charm.  (or am I trying to convince myself???)

I must say it is mostly right on centered, appropriate looking, stunning colors. Now let's get it on the bike and see....

Taking the seat off, was allen wrenches.  I had a set that I've had in my bikes for years, so why wouldn't I think they were Metrics?  So I just go and find the one that seems to fit the head.  Got one side off, and then oops stripped the 2nd side.  Now what???  Well, hubby came home in time and informed me that i was merely using the wrong size allen wrench.  He fixed me up, got me outta this jam, and I learned a few basic things.  So i got the seat off...

Installed my new one and let's have a look-see...

Love the color....

Posted a pic on the forum, and the guys told me gotta lose those reflectors.  Now they are really bothering me, so first up today will get those babies off!  (Hair dryer, Dental Floss, and Goo Gone)

Have a tank bib pattern cut out along with a design, thinking about a rear fender bib, and now the real nice Saddlemen fork bag (BLACK) that had to be put on the front, (now I'm riding solo seat) doesn't go, and I will need to make a matching one out of this same material as the seat.  I think I will need to make that before the bibs.  My only other choice is to add some of the material to the Saddlemen bag.  I just thought of that now, so I'll take a look in a bit to see if that will work out.  It can be a two tone fork bag.

Well I took a test ride yesterday, cruised for over an hour, and when I got off her I at least could walk! So the seat has been improved.  My first Mod.  A Success Story.

Cheers!

JDol