Saddle leather

Love..rda

Love..rda

Senior member
Location
Italy
Dear all
I have a original saddle (SF) and the previous owner provided to replace the cover and (probably in flashes of restoring inspiration) decided to diy.
The result is... well... let's go to the point.
I wonder if someone knows specs for the original cover.
I actually don't know if the original saddle was true leather or a sort of vinyl, leather thickness?, smooth or wrinkled? Stitching cotton thickness?
The only thing I have right now is the CAD logo (Laverda written in italics words).

These data would help me a lot in order to talk with a saddler.
Cheers
Love.
 
Original is vinyl with embossed (fake looking) stitch/lines. True stitching through the cover allows it to soak up water under the vinyl. Eldorado do replacement covers, but not sure if SF is in their line-up, and there have been numerous SF styles of seats. As the seat (generally) is very straightforward it is easy to sew one yourself or by any decent coach fitter, just stitching across the back and the front. I made one in black leather once, with waterproofing it never soaked itself wet, I was in the stinking hot tropics and it was less sweaty in the heat.
 
Pretty sure Eldorado (in South Australia) do SF seats. I believe the work is excellent quality. I've made my own covers from proper waterproof upholstery vinyl and it wasn't too difficult. One thing I hate is upholsterers who cut corners by stuffing a thin layer of foam between the base foam and the cover - end up with an ugly 'boofy' seat!
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
Pretty sure Eldorado (in South Australia) do SF seats. I believe the work is excellent quality. I've made my own covers from proper waterproof upholstery vinyl and it wasn't too difficult. One thing I hate is upholsterers who cut corners by stuffing a thin layer of foam between the base foam and the cover - end up with an ugly 'boofy' seat!
Click to expand...

Really, your own cover?? how do you do the stitch/lines? Photos??

What is the best way to make the foam? original looks like a liquid foam that gets its shape with a female form... but I guess there is no need for going so deep for making just one or two!

I confirm el Dorado has sf covers, but is now busy until mid january, he said. His quality is fantastic! it looks exactly the same as original

Miguel
 
"Really, your own cover?? how do you do the stitch/lines? Photos??
What is the best way to make the foam? original looks like a liquid foam that gets its shape with a female form... but I guess there is no need for going so deep for making just one or two!"
Do you need to do the foam as well? That is a totally different game. Apparently if you can find suitable foam the shaping is done with an electric carving knife.
I make the cover inside out, do the whole thing like that, stitching and all. I have done two SF seats and my Honda VFR (much harder) that way. There are probably videos on youtube. I staple and pin the parts to be joined before sewing along the line. The trickiest part is getting a nice line with the sewing machine. We bought a premade cover for my sons Yamaha from eBay that was far poorer quality and fit than we make ourselves.
 
unfortunately what I have is a DIY (not me) saddle and it is completely different from the original one.
Completely means both shape and material (at least). In order to understand, herewith enclosed two pictures, one is mine, the other is the expectation. I leave you the choice about which is what.

 

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Tippie said:
"Really, your own cover?? how do you do the stitch/lines? Photos??
Click to expand...

Snot rocket science Lee  :D

I made the seat for my track bike recently. It's not difficult, although getting the result to look good takes a little bit of sewing skill.  I'm not claiming that I have a high level of skill, but I wasn't too bothered about the appearance. I just wanted something I could sit on with reasonable comfort, and that hopefully didn't look too awful. As it turned out, it looked reasonably OK.

I'm only talking about plain covers. It's a whole lot more complicated if you want to replicate an original cover with embossed patterns in vinyl. You'd need heated dies to do the embossing.

You don't need moulded foam. You can sculpt the shape out of a block of high density foam with a sharp knife. One of those electric carving knives with the two oscillating blades does a nice job because it'll slice through the foam without applying much pressure (pressure will distort the foam shape). The shape doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. Any fine imperfections will smooth out when you pull the cover tight.

As for the cover, you need to work out the panels shapes and where the seams need to be to achieve the desired shape and look. If you're copying an existing cover, use the old one as a pattern (allowing a suitable margin for sewing). Cut the panels out of vinyl, leather, velvet, the Bayeux tapestry or whatever your preferred material is. Stitch them together with a sewing machine and Bob's your uncle. A normal sewing machine will be OK for most materials, including vinyl. You might need something with a bit more grunt for leather though.

Fitting seat covers to the base has been described before. There's probably a heap of vids on YouTube.
 
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