VFR1200 Seat rip - repair, replace or re-cover?

Krusty_Clown

Hey, looking for some advice. In 17 years of biking, I've never had a seat rip before, so not sure what the best route is to getting it sorted, before it gets worse. It's a vinyl seat, and the rip is narrow - around an inch long, along an external rounded edge (but not along a seam), so I'd imagine it'll get worse pretty quickly. Would I be better off trying to get it repaired (any suggestions), get a cover for it, or send it off to be re-covered?

A quick google suggests I could get it re-covered for about ?180, a seat cover would cost about ?80 (stapled + glued), and not sure about repairs. Any recommendations? Wouldn't imagine there'd be too many vfr1200 seats at the motor factors.

Wonda-Boy

If you are touring alot or commuting alot maybe upgrading the seat would be a good idea, the seats on the 1200 are very thin and not very comfy for a touring bike IMO. You could get a heated more padded seat or get a sargent seat series or the like.

Krusty_Clown

Thanks Wonda-Boy. Not much touring or time in the seat, so really looking to get it sorted economically, rather than looking at upgrading the comfort. Are vinyl seats repairable? Will a seat cover fit properly, or just look sh1te?

GBX

Maybe have a look on the vfr forums and see if it's a common issue and if they have a cheaper solution for you.

Vfrworld.com/

frozenfrozen

could try do it yourself http://www.biker.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=139958

Krusty_Clown

Ehm.. Think he'd do it for me?
I'm leaning towards a bit of black sticky tape, and when it gets bad, a cover.

frozenfrozen

I have a little cigarette burn on my seat (from a car driver flicking it out the window) and just put black tape under the burn facing up and sellotape on the top over it. Forgot about it until this thread... so depending on your damage try a bodge like that as a short term fix.. and if you forget about it then hey presto it's a permanent fix

Jimmy Bottlehead

It's fairly cheap to get recovered. I got mine done for ?50, if I remember correctly. Left it in at night, it was ready next day and looked a world apart from a worn and torn seat.

stewygriffin

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

It's fairly cheap to get recovered. I got mine done for ?50, if I remember correctly. Left it in at night, it was ready next day and looked a world apart from a worn and torn seat.

Who did it for you?

Jimmy Bottlehead

stewygriffin wrote: »

Who did it for you?

I'm fairly sure it was the lad mentioned in this post: http://www.biker.ie/forum/showpost.php?p=3267455&postcount=5

stewygriffin

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

I'm fairly sure it was the lad mentioned in this post: http://www.biker.ie/forum/showpost.php?p=3267455&postcount=5

Just spoke to Liam,and hes gonna do a bit of work for me on some seat units next week.

Thanks for that link.:)

blade1

I put tiger seal on a rip I had on a tdm before.
Worked perfectly.