Snaggletooth Posted January 23, 2009 Share #1 Posted January 23, 2009 Ok, I give up. This is making me nuts. The seat on my '84 started showing the stickyness that shows up on some older bikes. Some of the shops I have been to only say I put something on it and others claim it is a given on a lot of old bikes and very common on the GW's. They say it due to the glue used to attach the cover to the foam leaching thru the material. Ok. Good answer. So here is my question. What the hell is a reasonable price to pay for recovering one of these old saddles? I'm getting bids for anywhere from $150.00 to $475.00 for covering with similar material and $800.00 and up, and I mean UP for leather. Had one offer to do it in elephant for $2,500.00. To be honest, I really didn't think I needed the whole elephant, just part of a leg maybe. The low bidder showed me some good work but very simple. No pattern to it just a simple cover. Anything with stiching to match the current pattern ran it up quick. Mine is an everyday rider so I'm not all the gung ho on leather because it will see all kinds of weather. Be nice, but not practical for me. I'm willing to to pay for good and durable work but I'm a little baffled by the range I'm seeing. Anybody had theirs redone? How many clams had to die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapperMedic Posted January 23, 2009 Share #2 Posted January 23, 2009 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Motorcycle-Parts-Accessories__1983-Yamaha-Venture-XVZ12-Seat_W0QQitemZ120324029389QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2863QQddiZ2811QQadnZMotorcycleQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotorcycles_Parts_Accessories?_trksid=p4506.m20.l1116 There is this one for sale on E-bay, but there is a guy down here in San Antonio that does a great job on them for $80-$150 in good quality leather. I think he gets the leather from Mexico, so there might be some formaldehyde involved. I've seen several that he has done and like his work. I will get some pix and his contact info if you want, I had an extra seat and gave it to the guy who bought my other 87. Now I wish I had kept the pan for a re-cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaggletooth Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted January 23, 2009 Hey Sapper. Yeppers, I already bought a spare seat from one of our members here, and it is in excellent condtion, but it is black and my seat was the dark brown that came on the gold and cream models. I'd like to keep the color scheme original by recovering the brown seat. The seat I bought will let me take my time finding a decent option on reworking the old one. I'll let you know if I'll need info on your guy after this thread runs for a while. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapperMedic Posted January 23, 2009 Share #4 Posted January 23, 2009 He made himself a myspace website that kinda sucks but at least shows some of his work. He will use everything from lycra to ostrich skin http://www.myspace.com/lacustomsint Sapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaggletooth Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted January 23, 2009 Hey again. Thanks for the link. Looks like he might be an option. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffinman Posted January 23, 2009 Share #6 Posted January 23, 2009 Check out this place and do it yourself in the color of your choice. http://www.motorcycleseatcovers.com/order-item.asp?ColorID=1&Item=2798&Make=YAMAHA&HP= Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friesman Posted January 23, 2009 Share #7 Posted January 23, 2009 My 85 had the sticky seat and passenger backrest, so I replaced the seat, but a buddy conviced me to try Fibrenew as they clean and fix screwed up upholstery, vinyl and leather. Anyway they dyed my passenger backrest black to match the new seat and got rid of the stickiness and fixed a couple of small cracks for their minimum charge of 50 bucks if I remember right. It was done a year ago and the backrest looks good, i am thinking I shoulda saved my money and had them redo the seat instead of buying a new seat. I think you can find a Fibrenew business in almost any city in north america if you want to check them out. Here is the website http://www.fibrenew.com/index.php?option=com_easygallery&act=photos&cid=34&Itemid=106 Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctraylor Posted January 23, 2009 Share #8 Posted January 23, 2009 Try this site and you can buy a seat cover for 100.00 and do it your self. http://www.motorcycleseatcovers.com/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skid Posted January 23, 2009 Share #9 Posted January 23, 2009 A friend of mine purchased a cover from JC Whitney then had another professional put it on his seat pan, added more foam, for $25.00 extra. It was on a 86 GoldWing seat. Don't know if you can get one for a Venture.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaggletooth Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted January 23, 2009 Hi friesman1, I have tried with no luck at all to get Fibrenew to even take a look at my seat. They have a location about 50 miles from me in Lincoln, NE and I sent two e-mails to them explaining my problem and my interest in their service. Never got a response by e-mail so I called them. They were almost to the point of being rude. I explained the problem I had and I got transfered back and forth for a while. When I finally got somebody to talk to me I offered to drive the seat down to their location and leave it if needed. I was told that they had no interest in doing motorcycle seats at all. Before I could thank them for their time they hung up on me. So I figured that if that is the way they respond to customer inquires, what must customer service be like? That was a disappointment as their service seemed to be what I was looking for. And they say Midwest folks are friendly. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friesman Posted January 23, 2009 Share #11 Posted January 23, 2009 Hi friesman1, I have tried with no luck at all to get Fibrenew to even take a look at my seat. They have a location about 50 miles from me in Lincoln, NE and I sent two e-mails to them explaining my problem and my interest in their service. Never got a response by e-mail so I called them. They were almost to the point of being rude. I explained the problem I had and I got transfered back and forth for a while. When I finally got somebody to talk to me I offered to drive the seat down to their location and leave it if needed. I was told that they had no interest in doing motorcycle seats at all. Before I could thank them for their time they hung up on me. So I figured that if that is the way they respond to customer inquires, what must customer service be like? That was a disappointment as their service seemed to be what I was looking for. And they say Midwest folks are friendly. LOL! Wow! that sucks, i wont be recommending them again, then...i hate that when you recommend a place you had good luck with, and then it goes bad when someone else tries them out. Sorry that i sent you to get insulted, I just dont understand that attitude from a businessperson.... Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hig4s Posted January 24, 2009 Share #12 Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Ok, I give up. This is making me nuts. The seat on my '84 started showing the stickyness that shows up on some older bikes. Some of the shops I have been to only say I put something on it and others claim it is a given on a lot of old bikes and very common on the GW's. They say it due to the glue used to attach the cover to the foam leaching thru the material. Ok. Good answer. So here is my question. What the hell is a reasonable price to pay for recovering one of these old saddles? I'm getting bids for anywhere from $150.00 to $475.00 for covering with similar material and $800.00 and up, and I mean UP for leather. Had one offer to do it in elephant for $2,500.00. To be honest, I really didn't think I needed the whole elephant, just part of a leg maybe. The low bidder showed me some good work but very simple. No pattern to it just a simple cover. Anything with stiching to match the current pattern ran it up quick. Mine is an everyday rider so I'm not all the gung ho on leather because it will see all kinds of weather. Be nice, but not practical for me. I'm willing to to pay for good and durable work but I'm a little baffled by the range I'm seeing. Anybody had theirs redone? How many clams had to die? I'm not very good, but my father and grand mother were in the upholstery business and I worked in my dad's shop when I was young. So I have done my own saddles on several occasions. But I found Rick Mayer, http://www.rickmayercycle.com/ and had him do my last bike. He is slow, but does very good quality work, and uses very good materials. For the cost it was not worth my time to buy the materials and do it myself. If I ever need another seat done I would not hesitate to use Rick again. His seats are true custom, you really have to call and talk to him to get a correct quote. But he is showing a winter time special price on the website right now. Edited January 24, 2009 by hig4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadwolf56 Posted January 25, 2009 Share #13 Posted January 25, 2009 You could try talking to Rick Butler. He has an ad in the classifieds. He does very nice work and is very quick on turnaround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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