Here are some of the maintenance methods we’ve received from the Webike Community "MOTO HACK Maintenance" campaign that we’d like to refer to. Maybe you have an idea you'd like to try!
In this issue, I'm going to introduce the maintenance HACK from "Commuter" who rides VT250 Spada.
Introduction of the motorcycle and its maintenance
About the motorcycle
This is a HONDA VT250 Spada.
Working process
This is the replacement of the seat upholstery, which is often hardened in used motorcycles. If left unchecked, cracks will develop and the urethane will corrode through rainwater absorption, making it impossible to see, so it is important to treat the problem as soon as possible. In addition to the reupholstery, this time we are adding urethane to the seat surface to raise it up and make it a high seat.
Working hours
I did my best to make it work, and it took about 5 hours (appropriately).
Working difficulty
As long as you prepare the tools and take your time, you can get a decent result on your first try. It takes a delicate amount of force to achieve a beautiful finish, and people with good manual dexterity are still at an advantage.
Items to use
[Parts]
- Weatherproof synthetic leather
The surface texture is reproduced in a genuine leather-like manner, which seems rather weak.
It should be strong enough to resist pulling and have a clear direction of stretching. The best material is one that reproduces the leather and has a direction of good elongation and another one that is difficult to elongate (orthogonal to each other).
The thing sold for motorcycles is safe, but the price is still high. - Chip Urethane
[Tool]
- Tucker.
A so-called stapler. They are available from about 1,000 yen, but the strongest ones are good. - Wrench (for 10mm)
- Washing scissors. A large quantity is very useful for temporary fixing. You can say that it's essential to finish the job nicely.
- Staple removal
- Grater metal (100-yen)
Learn more about the work
[Work Process]
1) Remove the seat from the body of the motorcycle, remove the rear fixing nuts, remove the seat belt and remove the original outer skin.
This time I used a staple remover as a new weapon. The photo shows a cheap Monotaro brand, but it works great.
It's so easy to use that it's ridiculous that I had to use a flathead screwdriver to forcibly remove the staples. It also saves a lot of time. Moreover, it is very inexpensive (less than 400 yen), so if you are thinking of replacing the seat, I highly recommend buying one.
2) Scrape the chip urethane. Use a hundred-grade grater here. If you use a cutter, it will be rickety, but if you stroke it with a grater, you can make a relatively gentle curve. Even so, some bumps and bruises will remain due to the nature of the chip urethane.
3）Apply thin urethane on top of the chip urethane and glue it on to the surface of the chip urethane to prevent any unevenness.
(4) Rubber glues were used to secure all of them.
Stronger glues tend to make the applied surface harder, so they often feel uncomfortable sitting on after they are finished. Although the adhesive strength is weak, there is no danger of it slipping as it is fixed with a surface.
5) Stake out the cut seat skin to match the base. Take the seat skin so that the one that stretches laterally is better. First, position and temporarily fix the motorcycle body front to back. It's best to apply a little tension.
(6) Then pull the sheet sideways and temporarily fix it gradually and strongly so that the protruding skin is snugly attached to the sheet. If the tension is too strong (or even too weak), it's better to take it all off and start over. Do it a few times to get a feel for it.
7) When you are in a good state of temporary fixation, hammer in the tucker and lock it in place.
8) Once the whole thing is secured with a tucker, cut off the excess length of seat leather.
Advice
The first step is to fix the seat. If you pull the seat vertically as hard as you can, the seat base will warp, so be moderate. Also, if you pull too hard, the reupholstered surface will start tearing from the corners more quickly. If the tension is too weak, wrinkles will appear as you use the seat, so it is necessary to have enough tension that you will not feel the surface of the upholstery shifting when you press the surface of the seat with your finger.
After all, you should use clothespins to temporarily fix the fabric, and use trial and error to get a good sense of the strength of the pull. It takes a lot of skill to get a professional finish, but even an amateur should be able to get a reasonably good finish.
The best part is that the sheets you've done will look brand new, which is very effective.
If you are not satisfied with the factory seats, it would be interesting to try out various ways to reupholster them.
Thank you, commuters, for posting your valuable maintenance HACK! You will receive 1,500 points to be used at Webike!
See HONDA Moto Index Page
See Accessories for HONDA VT250 SPADA
