Posted by: fartymarty
Careful, once you know how cheap and easy it is to recover a seat you’ll never buy another new seat again…
Do tell (or PM me). My Trailmaster LTD has two tears in the leather that I'm Shoe Gooing at the moment but would love to recover.
Edit - sorry saw your later post.
The way I do it is pretty simple really:
1. Remove old cover.
2. Repair/replace foam.
3. Glue the leather to the top. 3M Super 77 works for this.
4. Trim so there’s enough for it to wrap around to the bottom of the shell. There’s usually a little rim stamped into the edge of the shell to guide you.
5. Glue the bottom down. I like contact cement for this because you can work the leather into place but it’ll stick once you have it where you want it. I use a couple clamps in tight spots to make sure it sticks (the nose for instance). Take your time in tight spots and you can work out the wrinkles. Sometimes cutting wedges out of then invisible part helps it lay flatter.
6. Trim (or don’t, it’s the bottom of a bike seat) the excess leather once the glue has thoroughly set. Use something super sharp (brand new AB Olfa) for this so it doesn’t pull the leather off the base
- I’ve had good luck using suede, picked up a cheap jacket at a thrift shop that’s given me a ton of material. Thin enough that I can avoid wrinkles and cheaper than scraps from a leather worker.
- I bet you can glue over the existing cover if it’s attached securely but I haven’t tried it. SUPER 77 and Contact Cement should both bind leather to leather reliably. Saves a step and damage to the padding.
- I don’t know what to use for padding, but I’m planning on making a “cushy” Flite someday using an old yoga mat.