A piece of seat leather was torn off by something that fell on the side of the motorcycle, or a piece of seat leather was melted by cigarette ashes.....Have you ever had such an experience that made you feel disappointed? For motorcycle enthusiasts, tearing the seat leather, even in the slightest area, is a big problem. The size and extent of the tear may vary, but if it's a small tear, it's not a bad idea to try your best to "repair" the seat leather.
- Synthetic seat leathers can be "welded" together.
- Temperature control is the most important aspect of welding.
- Checking and setting up the blending process with a piece of seat leather material.
- Use cellophane tape to temporarily fix the damage.
- A temporary fix was achieved. The seat leathers of the torn parts were close to each other.
- If you heat it too much, it will cause a puff of smoke.
- A beautiful finish that you won't notice unless you're told it's here!
Synthetic seat leathers can be "welded" together.
Is it genuine leather or synthetic leather? Even if it is synthetic leather, is it easy to weld or difficult to weld? It is extremely important to check and set up the work in advance. A soldering iron is a handy tool to do this actual welding procedure. Before starting the real work, let's check the situation by applying a soldering iron to an inconspicuous area on the back of the seat. If there is a variable resistance device with adjustable power, the heat source will not get too hot, the seat leather will not carbonize, and the workability will be far better. Soldering iron of 50-60W size should be sufficient.
Temperature control is the most important aspect of welding.
A power supply with a variable resistor makes it easier to maintain a constant temperature without the tip of the soldering iron getting too hot. If you don't have a variable resistance power supply, prepare a wet rag. When you feel that the soldering iron is getting too hot, you can press the tip of the iron against the wet rag to clean it and cool down the tip.
Checking and setting up the blending process with a piece of seat leather material.
Prepare a piece of motorcycle seat leather. By cutting off the seat leather of the torn seats that are no longer needed, it can be used as welding debris in such cases. If there are pieces of material that can be purchased as seat repair material, there are many ways to use it. Cut into thin strips with scissors to make pieces for welding.
Use cellophane tape to temporarily fix the damage.
The torn part of the seat leather had spread and flipped up. First, thoroughly clean the torn part and the seat leather around the torn part with a cotton swab coated with mild detergent. If there is even the slightest shortage of seat leather, the welding repair will be more difficult, but in this case, I was lucky that there was no shortage of leather, only the part that was cut was turned up. Use a thin piece of cellophane tape to temporarily fix the torn part while returning it to its normal state. In this state, the cut parts of the top and bottom of the tape are welded and fixed.
A temporary fix was achieved. The seat leathers of the torn parts were close to each other.
The heat from the soldering iron was transferred to the seat leather, and the affected area did not flip open when the cellophane tape was removed. It's nice to see a weld from such a situation. As with welding metal parts, it is extremely important for a good finishing result that the butt of the welded object matches perfectly.
If you heat it too much, it will cause a puff of smoke.
While heating the torn part of the seat leather with a soldering iron, press the repair material cut into strips and melt both sides to weld and repair the torn seat leather. If a lot of smoke rises from the melted seat leather, it will carbonize the seat leather and reduce the strength of the weld. If the temperature is too low, the seat leather will not melt again. The trick is to set the temperature to a level that will produce a little smoke or not. While welding, press the torn part with a spatula to correct the shape.
A beautiful finish that you won't notice unless you're told it's here!
Affected area with splendidly completed weld repair. By pressing down with a spatula, there was no raised area and the weld strength seemed to be sufficient. If you compare it with the image at the top of this page, you will be convinced of the finishing quality.
- POINT 1: Weld repair is possible only with synthetic leather. If you melt and knead the same material, there's not much difference in appearance.
- POINT 2: Welding of seat leather and plastic that can be repaired with a single soldering iron. The key to success is not to raise the working temperature too high.
- POINT 3: If the temperature is raised too high, the torn part will burn and carbonize from the heat. Welding in a carbonized situation will significantly reduce the strength of the butt joint.
A small tear in the seat can cause a great deal of discomfort in the appearance of the motorcycle and the overall finishing. Since all the other parts are from that period, I want to do something about the cut on the seat by repairing it with tape. I understand the feeling of wanting to use the OEM seat. In the past, I had seen a few motorcycles like that.
If the torn piece is completely ripped, there is nothing that can be done about it, and even if it is repaired, the finish and appearance will not be as pleasing as it should be, so you may as well give up. If it is a popular model, there are replacement parts that are reproduced precisely from the manufacturer's original parts, so you could install those parts and keep the torn OEM parts.
However, like the repaired seat, the overall condition of the seat is excellent, and moreover, only a part of the seat leather is cut. Moreover, there is no such thing as replacement part. If this is the case, the best thing to do is to repair it proactively.
Aside from genuine leather seats, most motorcycle seat leathers are synthetic. In other words, since it is a plastic seat leather, it can be welded and repaired using a soldering iron. The secret to a successful repair is to use a piece of seat leather to weld it together.
If I had a piece of the exact same seat leather, the finishing would definitely be better.
Also, in the case of a soldering iron that controls high temperatures, the temperature must be managed well and reliably, as too much heat will cause the seat leather to carbonize, or burn. A good indication of this is the "smoke that rises" during the welding stage. This smoke = burning, which means that the seat leather is in a state of carbonization, and even if it looks like it can be welded, its strength has been significantly reduced.
As you can see, if you compare the torn parts from before to after, everyone will agree on the finishing quality. I would like you to know that there is a strategy called "adhesive" rather than "tape" and "welding" rather than "gluing".
In cooperation with Model Create Maxi