Has anyone had direct hands on experience with trying to install the pre made seat covers shown on Ebay?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-85-BMW-K100RS-K100-K100RT-Custom-SEAT-COVER-NEW-/370754017165?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5652a9578d&vxp=mtr
Seems like a couple of users said they were ok but ended up with a small ugly wrinkle in one place or another.
I'd like to recover mine and perhaps add some Gel-pad. Can anyone speak to that? I'm not concerned about height....I can reach the ground.
Currently my upholstery is starting to show some cracks.....and my limit to "durability" on my butt is only 1 hour or less. I don't have a lot of cash so a Russell is out of the question

Upholstery is not an easy task Ibjman, for some it can be terrifying and for the seldom few a real pleasure.I have a little bit of experience as an upholsterer, mainly with furniture.
I can only make some suggestions for you but essentially it will come back to your own ability.

if you start by aligning front to back( centreing), if necessary make a pen mark on both the seat and fabric, to keep an eye on it during the attachment process.

Then align the section of the fabric that flows over the hump, where front seat meets the rear..
this area will be the first to be stretched and attached at the sides.

gently pull each side down, where your buttocks sit into the rear of the front seat.and attach.
move slowly forward to the front on each side, applying a slight stretch to the fabric , attaching as you go,alternating from side to side during the process.

keep an eye on the centreing mark, whilst moving along.
do not attach ends until the last thing.
The shape of the cut out should hopefully be keeping up with your movements.

once the front seat is done, move onto the rear and follow the same process, gently stretching the fabric , alternately over each side,
as you move to the rear.

when you have completed the side attachments, gently stretch the seat cover to the rear and attach, keeping an eye on any over stretching and wrinkles during the whole attachment process.

when the rear is done go to the front of the seat and gently stretch and attach.

most importantly is to align the pre stretched part of the fabric, over the hump.
too much tugging at any point will create creases.

I had my seat professionally recovered recently, mine requires stitching for the shape .The thing I wasn't happy with was the staples used for attaching ,came through the fabric where my inner thighs make contact, and is now not looking the best.They have offered to recover/ replace at no cost.
so be weary of the type of fasteners you are using under the seat.
Good luck with it and keep us posted with pics of the results.

I have not tried those ones, no.

I have recovered 2 K100 seats. In both cases I removed the old vinyl before applying the new. Locate centrally as described. I then used spray floor tile glue to stick the vinyl to the top of the seat, left it to dry in position then stretched over the front and glued with imapct adhesive and then fixed with a staple gun. Same at the back - fix with some impact adhesive then staple for extra strength. Then at the mid point on each side. After that gradually work around the seat stretching the fabric and gluing then stapling in place. I painted the staples black at the end of the exercise. Some crannies are diffcult to access with a staple gun, you could rivet but I didn't, I just relied on imapct adhesive - Evo Stick is the brand I used.

The first cover I put on was really good, the second is not good because the material is too thin - it stretches much too far and shows every blemish on the old foam - unfortunately I could not find the original supplier so another re-cover beckons.

Cheers
Dave

MT, the adhesive you used would be very much likened to a "contact adhesive" where it grabs on impact, be careful as it is difficult to adjust once in place.Still a good technique.Good to hear you had success with the first recover.

Grover thanks for the correction, my imprecise use of the great British lingo bites me on the arse again. 'Contact' I would think it is. You put a smear on both surfaces, let it dry and then push them together hard and it doesn't budge.

Cheers

Dave

Have a look in the your own renovation section and look for one by Oldgoat.

Have a look from here
Video of him re-doing it at post #127

Should give you the confidence to have a go.

I did not look at your ebay link, but I got a cover from Canada. I did not make a real good job of fitting it but with care it could be done properly.

Hi,
Be aware that the early seat pans are steel and require pop riveted strips to hold the seat cover in place, as well as adhesive. The later pans are plastic and the cover can be stapled.
I successfully re-covered the outfit seat with flat vinyl cloth, not a pre-formed seat cover.

Paul.

Thanks for all your help & comments.
As mentioned in your posts.....this cover kit is from Canada, so likely the same one?
My seat pan is steel with rivets, I have riveting tools, etc. The cover is said to be pre marked with "stretch to" lines to assure good alignment.
Seems like the one user that bought the cover liked it ok but wasn't totally impressed?
One thing I seem to see with most steel pans is the tendency for the vinyl to "cut through" at the lower & front edges.
What can be done to lessen the abrasion there????

On the steel seat bases sheet metal screws can be used instead of rivets to hold said metal strips and the fabric in place. That is how it is done on the Blue Bovine in my avatar.

I've threatened to rebuild m/c seats but never went through with it. However, I did have the opportunity to observe two masters at work. The thing that made an impression on me was the fact that even a pro had a helper when the time came to fit the cover and rivet or staple it to the pan. There was a lot of very physical work at that point, what with all the pulling, aligning and stretching to get it right and without wrinkles-- wrinkles that would no doubt bug a rider every time he or she threw a leg over thereafter.

MT350Explorer wrote: 'Contact' I would think it is. You put a smear on both surfaces, let it dry and then push them together hard and it doesn't budge.

Cheers

Dave

good on you Dave thats the one, just make sure you have plenty of air during use , can be quite strong at times.

[quote="brickrider"]I've threatened to rebuild m/c seats but never went through with it. However, I did have the opportunity to observe two masters at work. The thing that made an impression on me was the fact that even a pro had a helper when the time came to fit the cover and rivet or staple it to the pan. There was a lot of very physical work at that point, what with all the pulling, aligning and stretching to get it right and without wrinkles-- wrinkles that would no doubt bug a rider every time he or she threw a leg over thereafter.[/quote]

The old dude who re-padded and re-covered my seat works alone and made it look easy. We had the cover on and off a couple of times changing the shape to fit my posterior appendage.

I recovered mine with a good quality vinyl, it was not prefitted and I just streched to it to fit, which lead to 66 year old hands and fingers cramping a lot but no creases..

ibjman wrote:Thanks for all your help & comments.
As mentioned in your posts.....this cover kit is from Canada, so likely the same one?
My seat pan is steel with rivets, I have riveting tools, etc. The cover is said to be pre marked with "stretch to" lines to assure good alignment.
Seems like the one user that bought the cover liked it ok but wasn't totally impressed?
One thing I seem to see with most steel pans is the tendency for the vinyl to "cut through" at the lower & front edges.
What can be done to lessen the abrasion there????

Ibjman, Great Question. I can speak to the typical "sharp" wear-through points. I believe that these areas of "knife-thru" is when the fabric is tensioned over an edge that is too sharp, and that exerts a force per square inch (centimeter) that exceeds the ability of the vinyl reinforcement backing to protect the vinyl itself. The solution is to radius the edge. For example, If your front lip by the tank has a sharp edge, I would sand it to as true as a radius as is possible. There is an art to this. It doesn't have to be a huge 1/4" (6mm) radius because it will make the transition look clumsy. But it needs to take into account the minimum radius that the fabric will tolerate. Thicker fabric will need more radius, and visa versa If the edge is radiused it will spread and diffuse the cutting energy of the substrate. On my 1985 they actually put a plastic edge on that front edge of the seat to help with the fould. But the plastic edge can cut thru, or have a sharp seam on it. The idea is that you inspect carefully every place where there may be "sharpness" and remove the sharpness to allow nice curved flow of fabric over the substrate. You can add edging, file, sand any potential sharpness before you start. As the product becomes brittle with age, these defects poke thru or abrade the back side of the seat. I am looking at my old seat, and the bottom edges are all worn because the are too sharp, and the vinyl isn't necessarily thick. I have the same riveted plates that you speak of. I think the material technology has improved since 1985 and one can find better, longer wearing fabric on the recover.
Recap: thin material, too sharp of a substrata, requires better product, and better preparation to avoid this problem. It isn't mass produced anymore, it is hand made by you. It's got to be good.

UJ