As your motorcycle gets older, the seat cover may see a significant amount of wear and tear. If you’re ready to bring the original aesthetic appeal back to your bike, you may be wondering: “how much will it cost to reupholster the seat?”
If you choose to visit an auto upholstery shop to have your motorcycle seat reupholstered, expect to spend anywhere between $100-$300.
If you choose to reupholster your seat yourself, however, all the material will likely cost you under $100.
Keep reading to learn more about the cost of reupholstering your motorcycle seat, as well as some tips and tricks for doing it yourself.
How Much Does it Cost to Reupholster a Motorcycle Seat?An auto upholstery shop will generally charge more to reupholster your seat than you would spend doing it yourself.
While the exact cost will depend on the type of bike you have, the seat’s material, and the shop you visit, most shops charge between $100-$300 to reupholster a seat.
If you don’t want to spend a ton of money to restore your seat’s original appeal, you can try reupholstering it yourself.
A DIY reupholstering will typically cost under $100 for all the materials and tools. In addition, doing this job yourself will allow you to get more creative!
If you want to upgrade your seat to something more comfortable or more aesthetically pleasing, it’s more economical to reupholster it yourself.
You may want to replace your vinyl seat with leather, or you may want to add some extra padding to make it more comfortable. Whatever the case, there are several materials you can use to increase the comfort of your motorcycle seat.
Leather vs. Vinyl Seats: Which is Better?While motorcycle seats may be made with many different materials, leather and vinyl are by far the most popular.
There are many pros and cons to choosing either material, so the decision is completely up to you.
Below, we’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of both leather and vinyl.
Many people prefer the appearance of leather over vinyl. A leather seat gives your bike a classic look, and it typically lasts for many years.
It’s very comfortable to sit on, and lots of people enjoy leather’s unique grain. Leather does not fade evenly, which can help give it more character. Unlike vinyl, it also tends to soften as it ages.
However, it can lose its grip over the years and get shiny in areas of the seat that see a lot of wear. A leather seat will require more maintenance than its vinyl counterparts.
It’s much more prone to staining, so anything spilled on it will need to be wiped off immediately. At least a couple of times a year, you’ll need to use a leather conditioner on your seat to keep it looking nice and prevent any cracking.
Leather picks up and holds moisture relatively easily.
Because of this, you’ll want to remove your seat any time you wash your bike.
Leather can also be prone to fading and cracking when out in the sun or rain, so it will need to be covered in these types of weather.
While it looks and feels nice, leather is one of the most expensive seat materials. It also requires a lot of maintenance.
If you like the look of leather but don’t want to pay the premium price, you may only want to consider faux leather instead.
A Vinyl Motorcycle SeatMany motorcycle seats are made out of marine-grade vinyl. While it’s not as comfortable as leather, it’s a good option if you go on a lot of short-distance rides.
Compared to its leather counterparts, it’s much more affordable and requires significantly less maintenance.
Vinyl is typically much stretchier than leather, and it’s a more “breathable” fabric.
It often has a grippier surface than a leather seat, which is great for motorcycle riding! Plus, if you spill anything on it, it will be much easier to clean than a leather seat would be.
However, vinyl can heat up a lot more than leather on long-distance rides. It also tends to get harder with age, as opposed to leather, which gets softer with age.
While each option comes with its upsides and downsides, vinyl is a great option if you’re looking for affordability. It’s much lower maintenance than leather, and will usually last just as long.
How Can You Make a Motorcycle Seat More Comfortable?Seat cover material definitely plays a part in comfortability, but the real comfort level depends on the foam underneath.
Most seats come from the factory with polyurethane padding, which isn’t always the most comfortable material.
If you want to increase your bike seat’s comfort level, consider adding some extra padding while reupholstering the cover.
You can add any padding material you’d like, but gel and memory foam are often popular choices.
A gel seat pad will be more cost-effective than memory foam at about $45-$80.
However, the gel can get hot when left in the sun or on longer rides.
Memory foam, on the other hand, is significantly more expensive, at between $75-$100 for a seat pad. However, it won’t heat up and is typically considered the most comfortable padding material.
Most motorcyclists take great pride in the appearance of their bikes. After many years of riding, your seat may be cracked, scratched, stained, or ripped.
To keep your bike looking good as new, you need a quality seat cover. From an integral standpoint, keeping your seat cover in good condition will protect the foam.
Your seat cover can’t do its job if it’s not completely covering the material underneath. If you wait too long to replace your seat cover, you may end up having to replace the padding, as well.
If you’ve decided to save some money by reupholstering your motorcycle seat on your own, you’ll need to first gather all the right supplies. To do the job correctly, gather the following materials and tools:
When choosing a staple gun, it’s important to consider how much power and versatility you’ll need. A pneumatic staple gun is often the best choice because it offers a lot of versatility and can staple nearly any material well.
The next best choice is an electric staple gun. A corded gun will give you more power, which may be necessary for this kind of job. In a pinch, a handheld staple gun will work as well. Just be sure you can operate it as needed!
Check Your StaplesBefore you purchase the new staples for your seat cover, check the length of the ones you currently have and try to choose a similar length.
If your staples are too long, they may stick through and poke you. If they’re too short, they may not hold the cover securely.
Remove the Seat and Old CoverBefore you can take off the old cover, you’ll need to remove the seat from your bike. This should be an easy task. Typically, you’ll only need to remove a couple of bolts that are holding the seat to the frame.
If you can’t figure out exactly how to remove your seat, consult your owner’s manual. There should be a diagram in there highlighting the points where the seat is connected.
Once you have your seat off, use your pliers to remove the staples holding the cover on. Typically, these staples will be on the bottom side of the seat.
Measure, Cut, and Stretch the New Cover OnUsing the old cover as a guide, cut your material roughly into shape. To help it stretch out faster, you can leave the new material in the sun for a couple of hours.
If this is your first time doing a project like this, make sure you have extra material in case of mistakes.
Now, it’s time to stretch the fabric onto the seat. This part is very easy to mess up, so work slowly and carefully. Here are the exact steps you should follow:
Once you’re satisfied with the appearance of your new seat cover, reinstall the seat onto your bike. This process will take a couple of hours, but it will be much less expensive than having a professional do it for you.
Final ThoughtsReupholstering your motorcycle’s seat is key to helping your bike look its best for years to come.
If you have a professional do this job for you, it will cost somewhere between $100-$300. However, you can always save some money by performing the reupholstering yourself. After purchasing all your materials, a DIY project should not cost more than $100.
The seat on your ATV will take a beating over time. With the constant pressure of the rider, rain, sun, and other elements, your seat will wear out, fade, crack, and tear eventually. Luckily, it’s not to difficult to repair or reupholster at ATV seat.
But first you have to decide, do you want to reupholster the seat altogether or find a quick fix that won’t cost you much time or money. This is up to you, but for things like a small tear, I find it easier and cheaper to just stitch it up and put a nice seat cover over it. If your seat is just falling apart with big tears, cracking, fading, or could use some new padding, I would go with reupholstering.
This quick method will work in a pinch and I usually do this for small tears and splits in the seat fabric. But this method will also work for more beat up seats if you don’t want to spend the time or money reupholstering.
You simply stitch up the tear and get a decent seat cover to put over the seat. If you get a good seat cover, you won’t even be able to tell the seat ever had a tear in it. I usually use strong dental floss to stitch the seat with. I know it sounds weird, but any strong thread will work just fine.
Some people, instead of stitching the tear, will actually just put some duck tape over the damaged area. It works just fine for the most part, and since you’re covering it up anyways, why not.
You can find some pretty cheap ATV Seat Covers on Amazon to cover your stitch job. There are universal options out there that work great. But for the best fit, look for a replacement for your specific make and model.
Keep in mind, an exact replacement will cost more than a universal seat cover.
If your ATV seat is just to far gone for a quick easy fix, your only other option might be to just reupholster the whole seat. It usually costs more time and money than a stitch and cover, but it’s really not too bad and can get your seat back to looking brand new.
I’ve done this a few times myself for quads and motorcycle seats and you only need a few common tools to get the job done. Here’s a list of the tools required, this might vary a bit depending on what’s needed to remove your seat from the machine:
To start, remove the seat from your ATV. You will either use a screw driver or socket wrench to remove the bolts holding the seat to the quad. On some machine you won’t need either because there is a latch at the back of the seat you can pull to pop the seat off.
If you flip the seat over, you will notice staples holding the upholstery to the seat frame.The seat frame is usually a plastic piece holding the foam or seat cushioning. Remove these staples with a pair of pliers. I’ve noticed needle nose pliers work best for gripping the staples.
This step is optional, it’s up to you if you want to remove the seat cushioning material and replace it or not. If just the seat was damaged but your seat was still comfortable, you may not need to do this step.
Cut away the seat foam from the plastic seat frame with a knife or cutting blade. A sheet-rock razor blade works good for this step. The foam will most likely be glued to the plastic frame, so this part can be a bit of a pain.
This step is only required if you did step 3. Cut a new piece of foam or seat cushion for your seat. I find it easiest to place the seat frame on the foam and trace where you will cut with a marker or pencil.
Here is Standard Piece Of Seat Foam found on Amazon to give you an idea. You may need to cut its shape to match your old seat foam.
This step is only needed if you’ve done steps 3 and 4. Glue the seat foam back onto the plastic seat frame. I’ve found cement glue or contact cement works good for this step.
Measure and cut the new piece of seat fabric you are using to reupholster the seat with. Again, I use the seat frame with the foam on it to trace the fabric before I cut it. Or you could use the old piece of seat fabric to trace with for an exact match.
Keep in mind, the fabric needs to wrap around to the underside of the seat frame to be stapled back down.
Here’s a link to a good piece of Wear-Resistant Seat Cover Leather to give you an idea of what you want for a seat fabric.
Wrap the new seat cover around the seat and foam and staple the fabric to the plastic seat frame, like it was originally.
This part can be tough to get the staples to hold. I found it best to use a high powered staple gun like one run by an air compressor to avoid problems.
I’ve done it with a standard spring driven staple gun before and it worked just fine, eventually. I spent a lot of time messing with the staples that wouldn’t make it all the way into the plastic seat frame though. The air powered staple gun works like a charm.
Now that you’ve reupholstered your seat or did a quick stitch and cover fix, how do you keep your seat protected? You don’t want to be reupholstering the seat over and over and the seat will wear out again over time.
One popular option is to get a seat protector or seat cover that is easily changed out. The seat protectors even add extra cushion for a more comfortable ride. Here is a good option I found for you on Amazon, the MadDog GearComfort Ride Seat Protector.
This will also help cover up existing rips and tears if you decide not to reupholster or stitch and cover.
I recommend fixing the seat either way, but this can work if you just don’t care all that much about fixing your ATV seat.
There are a few options when it comes to ATV seat repair, from quick fixes, to reupholstering, to cover up jobs. Choose the option that works best for you. Reupholstering can get your quads seat looking brand new again. But A cover job or a quick stitch and fix will be cheap and less time consuming.
Either way, it’s a good idea to get a seat protector if you’re someone who likes to keep their machine looking new. To check out some other gear I’ve tried and tested for you, visit the Recommended Gear Section of this site.
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