Last fall on a cold day my seat cover cracked. I'd like to fix this.
The original seat cover is a single piece of vinyl stretched over the seat. That's easy enough to replicate. All I need is a piece of vinyl, I have a heat gun to shape it. Marine-grade vinyl is about $50/yard locally.
eBay has several choices. There are a couple of shaped vinyl covers for about the same price as a yard of vinyl. Upside is, I can pick a fancier vinyl pattern, like carbon fiber grain.
There is also an outfit out of UK with the eBay handle topgaiters. They have a leather cover for $80 or so. Comes with the passenger half of the seat in different colors. Here is one of their auctions (http://www.ebay.com/itm/PURPLE-AND-BLACK-CUSTOM-FITS-YAMAHA-FJ-1200-84-96-100-LEATHER-DUAL-SEAT-COVER-/390778615839?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item5afc38781f&vxp=mtr).
Has anyone used one of their covers? $30 isn't that big a difference, is it worthwhile going to leather?
Leather looks good but not to waterproof. I would stick to a vinyl product.
George
I recovered my seat a couple of weeks ago. You my have missed the post.
http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=10694.0 (http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=10694.0)
I payed $16 with the shipping, enough vinyl to do two seats.
I have a Corbin Gunfighter and Lady for My 89' with the seating areas made with Leather and a Corbin Gunfighter for my 87' with the seating areas made of vinyl. I have found with the firmer foam used on the Corbin seats, that the leather makes the seat almost too hard. I will be having the Gunfighter and Lady recovered sometime this spring with all vinyl.
For a OEM seat cover, I would recommend the following. I used the cover for my OEM seat and have since sold it. I liked it very much while I had it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-FJ-1200-SEAT-COVER-/141213193688?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item20e0f655d8&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-FJ-1200-SEAT-COVER-/141213193688?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item20e0f655d8&vxp=mtr)
(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o145/aviationfred/IMG_20120717_200306.jpg) (http://s119.photobucket.com/user/aviationfred/media/IMG_20120717_200306.jpg.html)
(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o145/aviationfred/FJ1200cowling.jpg) (http://s119.photobucket.com/user/aviationfred/media/FJ1200cowling.jpg.html)
Fred
Quote from: JPaganel on March 15, 2014, 12:31:58 PM
Has anyone used one of their covers? $30 isn't that big a difference, is it worthwhile going to leather?
Leather is the premium material for many things, clothing, shoes/boots, gloves etc. Motorbike seats are not one of them.
For comfort, durability, maintenance and appearance vinyl is by far the superior product for this application.
Noel
I had a leather covered seat on my Norton Commando. It looked nice when first installed, but didn't handle weather very well, and was slippery when wet. I also had a Bultaco Metralla with a wide strip of suede down the center of the seat. Great when dry, very cold and slippery when wet, and it stayed wet a long time.
(note: I did not have any incontinence problems, then or now)
I'd go with one of the vinyl seat covers.
Hi,
I recovered my seat with a Sargent seat cover that comes in either regular looking vinyl or the carbon fiber look. I bought the carbon fiber one. It was 69.90$ shipped in the US. Here is a picture
http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz86/chockerca/SONY-VAIO/Pictures/20140313_163410.jpg (http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz86/chockerca/SONY-VAIO/Pictures/20140313_163410.jpg)
I recovered it myself. Not perfect but I think it is a good enough job compared to the original one.
Mark