Working on the seat, part II

There was some trimming to be done on the seat pan, so it would follow the contours of the side panels. The seat pan, being nylon, was easy to cut. Dremel was out of the question, as the high speed cutoff blade melts the nylon, immediately sealing the cut it just created. However, the old fashion approach, using a hacksaw with metal blade never fails. After cutting the pan to the desired shape, I smoothed all edges with a 100 grit sandpaper, to prevent future rips in the seat cover.

Next step was to glue seat foam onto the pan. I opted for using the old KLR foam, as it is more rigid that any foam I can find locally. To adhere the foam on to the pan, I used 3M spray adhesive.

As you can see, the KLR seat is of a completely different shape than what I was looking for. In addition, since I trimmed the seat pan, the foam came over the edges.

After cutting the excess foam, I bolted the seat in place and started on shaping it.

This was done with a metal hacksaw blade. This method, while fast, only gives marginal results. Although the blade cuts through the foam with ease, it flexes too much to achieve any accurate results. To produce the final shape, I used a belt sander with a 100 grit paper on it. I tried using an orbital sander, but the edge of the disk was cutting into the foam too much -- the belt sanded worked much better. During the process, I sat on the seat numerous times to ensure it will feel right. Since I plan to ride this bike, a comfortable seat is more important to me than a good-looking one.

A quick session with an electric stapler, some vinyl, and a lot of cussing later, I had a decent seat to test.

I drove up and down my road (no lights, no front brake - so I was limited), and I really liked the way it felt.