seat discolor

[racoon5266]

Hello

I've bought a nice Goldwing 1500 seat, Grey, I've had it for 2 years, but noticed that the passenger seat there was a spot where I thought there was some redish colour in it. I tried to rub it off with some cleaner, spot remover I think.. well the spot got bigger and is now going around the seat, is there some paint I could buy for leather seat that I could just spray the redish out.

I thought it was some kind of stain and that's why I used the fabric spot remover, to late now.. can't take it back. it's an expensive seat, Sadlemen type. any suggestions, would be appreciated.

Thanks,

The White Knight.

[aj1500]

they do make vinyl paint that can be used for vinyl, rubber, pvc, and some leather
the results vary depending on how well you prep and your ability of painting
also the lasting of said paint will vary
getting it in the color you want might be the trick. also you could consider using actual die but that is rather time consuming and can get costly
I painted a grey seat black with said paint and had great results, but after about a year you will need to go back and touch it up again
here is the seat I painted

[Viking]

It sounds like you bought it new, so why not get hold of the folks you bought it from and ask if they have any ideas? If you did not buy it new, then please disregard.

[NVSB4]

here is the seat I painted

I like that seat, especially the passenger backrest.
What brand is it?

[aj1500]

here is the seat I painted

I like that seat, especially the passenger backrest.
What brand is it?

Pure Honda, that is the original seat from the 88 in the picture, it was grey from the factory
the pass. back rest is the backrest from an 1800 modified to fit the 1500 pan.
I can tell you if you have a 1500 and ride 2 up a lot it's hard to beat that little mod for your passenger
my wife loves the way the back wraps around her when she sits in the seat

[dingdong]

If it is a Saddleman I would contact them anyway. They probably have a dye that will work for repair.

[CrystalPistol]

If it's vinyl, Duplicolor will be OK likely if done correctly by manufacturers directions. If it's leather, use SEM Classic Coat. The SEM will work great on vinyl also .... but it's a must on leather as far as I am concerned.

Last year I took a maroon or purple leather / dk grey vinyl Corbin seat and refinished it black, tried Duplicolor vinyl & leather color at first following directions, it peeled on leather that stretches & breaths. Cleaned it and did it again thinking I screwed up with prep .... same thing again .... so I looked on line and found some costlier SEM products, ordered Classic Coat and again cleaned the seat and stripped all that Duplicolor product off the leather (maroon) part even using orange citrus stripper followed by thinner and finally, and lastly with SEM Soap..... did exactly as SEM says .... over a year later it looks as good as the day I finished it.

[aj1500]

Wow that looks great, I'll have to remember that about the leather

[WingAdmin]

If it's vinyl, Duplicolor will be OK likely if done correctly by manufacturers directions. If it's leather, use SEM Classic Coat. The SEM will work great on vinyl also .... but it's a must on leather as far as I am concerned.

Last year I took a maroon or purple leather / dk grey vinyl Corbin seat and refinished it black, tried Duplicolor vinyl & leather color at first following directions, it peeled on leather that stretches & breaths. Cleaned it and did it again thinking I screwed up with prep .... same thing again .... so I looked on line and found some costlier SEM products, ordered Classic Coat and again cleaned the seat and stripped all that Duplicolor product off the leather (maroon) part even using orange citrus stripper followed by thinner and finally, and lastly with SEM Soap..... did exactly as SEM says .... over a year later it looks as good as the day I finished it.

Did you modify the seat base? I see on the original seat, it curves up at the back of the passenger seat, like Corbins do:

Original seat

However installed on your bike, it looks like a piece of it has been cut out and is missing?

Seat with missing part?

I ask this specifically because I have the identical seat on my GL1500, and my wife HATES this curved part, and says it hurts her back.

[CrystalPistol]

Did you modify the seat base? I see on the original seat, it curves up at the back of the passenger seat, like Corbins do:

However installed on your bike, it looks like a piece of it has been cut out and is missing?

I ask this specifically because I have the identical seat on my GL1500, and my wife HATES this curved part, and says it hurts her back.

"Sharp Eye" you have there!

OH YES, my trunk is moved backwards 2-1/4" a few years ago and no way the "Wife Unit" was gonna give that up!

I didn't include that in my posts as I didn't think anyone would care much.

The Corbin cover is held on by 3/16" aluminum pop rivets. I actually did the pan mod before coloring the seat .... drilled out rivets for rear half of seat cover and gently worked rear of cover up and over rear towards front out of my way.

I started with a HD cutoff wheel in a dremel to cut but soon realized it was over matched after breaking a few dremel cutoff wheels ..... so I eventually put a new cutoff wheel into my 4-1/2" Makita Angle Grinder and cut the fiberglass lip off even with top of the rest of seat pan and then contoured the edges so no sharp corners. That fiberglass was a good 3/8" thick. As it was in my case, my first cut I made was only 2" strip of the fiberglass lip .... after a trial fit we found that it still had a little lip that she could feel so I slipped back off and just took it flush next time with another 1-1/4" cut. Wife liked that.

Measure twice, cut once.

I used a long knife then to trim excess foam that remained. Used air hose & shopvac to clean all that dust created and pulled seat cover back over rear and I just tucked excess back under the seat for the most part and re attached using 3/16" x 1/2" long pop rivets with aluminum washers under the heads as I did not have the ones like Corbin used which have a larger head ..... but you can get them easy enough. I just used what I had on hand.

For the most part, I simply used same holes in the pan by finding them with a awl through the vinyl. First just pull it tight at rear and tape or attach with two rivets and fit on trike and let wife try it out. I did drill a couple new holes in a couple places ....... and after I had it secure and just like we both wanted, then I trimmed excess vinyl away under seat.

At rear sides where there is no longer a lip, you will get a "fold" or "flap" of excess on each side starting at top rear corner .... I folded it flat against side of seat pan neatly on each side and at bottom under seat pan out if sight, added pop rivets to hold the fold. Look closely at the picture with the white plastic tucked into the drivers back rest, and you'll see the "fold" and a small zip tie at very bottom .... also I used a hole punch and punched a small hole in cover to wrap the edge piping and cover with a small zip tie at top rear corner in one place. It's not really needed though.

I pull the driver's back rest out for "Wife Unit" to get on or off. Behind the seat across the front of the travel trunk where the plastic was visible, I cut a piece of tempered particle board to fit, sealed it, painted it black, and simply velcroed it into place a few years ago when I moved the trunk. In the last picture which I brightened, you see a very low lip shadow, without cutting and re-sewing the cover I could not get it to lay flat .... but in use it has no support and she does not feel it.

Hope it helps!

(Edit Added .... SEM products used were SEM Products #17093 Black Classic Coat (formulated special for leather and plastic), SEM #38353 Plastic / Leather Prep (SEM says to use a different product for vinyl), and a bottle of SEM #39362 Soap)

[FM-USA]

GREAT JOB and sharp looking seat.
Looks comfy on long rides.
BUT, where does the passenger seat "lip" come from?
(see last pix, between arrows)

[CrystalPistol]

GREAT JOB and sharp looking seat.
Looks comfy on long rides.
BUT, where does the passenger seat "lip" come from?
(see last pix, between arrows)

seat.JPG

Thank You!


As far as I know, it's a "Corbin" feature only. It flows the seat into the matching rear co-rider's back rest. They do make their seats more form fitting to begin, they have a firmer seat as a result and they add the lip in the rear of the seat pan on GL1500 & 1800 intended seats. There is no such "lip" on my Corbin on my GL1200.

In the last of those pics, I could have completely removed the lip if I had been willing to cut and sew on the seat cover but as it is, "Wife Unit" can't feel it and it keeps screw drivers or sockets or etc from rolling off between the seat & trunk due to my set back trunk. What's there is just a result of excess padded seat material now.

[FM-USA]

. . . she don't complain about tools on her seat?
Even if I use a mechanics cover, I hear about it.

As for the Lip, I can see that now. It's acts like an upholstery welt or a transitional line.
And if you had a seat rain cover, any leaked water could flow behind her seat.

.

[CrystalPistol]

. . . she don't complain about tools on her seat?
Even if I use a mechanics cover, I hear about it.

As for the Lip, I can see that now. It's acts like an upholstery welt or a transitional line.
And if you had a seat rain cover, any leaked water could flow behind her seat.

.

LOL ....

..... well, I really meant when I'm tinkering on the trike and the seat is on. Next time I have the seat off I might look more at eliminating it all together because you make a good point about letting the rear seat "drain" that I hadn't considered.
I just noticed I neglected to say that when I moved the trunk backwards that 2-1/4" the brackets I made also raised it maybe 1/4 - 3/8" or so.

[racoon5266]

Great, thanks for all your advice.

will get Duplicolor and let you know how it went.

Dan

[FM-USA]

... Next time I have the seat off I might look more at eliminating it all together because you make a good point about letting the rear seat "drain" that I hadn't considered.
I just noticed I neglected to say that when I moved the trunk backwards that 2-1/4" the brackets I made also raised it maybe 1/4 - 3/8" or so.

OH no, didn't mean to remove that lip, I think it can work rather well.
The cavity created would hold a seat cover. When pulled up and over the whole seat that lip would help keep the cover off her seat. Water seems to like wicking where it rubs. If it's a sheet of plastic condensation grows and drips. That lip would hold the cover up off her seat.
Only bad point I see is if she squirms rearward, could eventually tear at the two outer edge seams.

[CrystalPistol]

Great, thanks for all your advice.

will get Duplicolor and let you know how it went.

Dan

You asked .....

is there some paint I could buy for leather seat that I could just spray the redish out

The Duplicolor is cheaper but it don't work well on leather.

OH no, didn't mean to remove that lip, I think it can work rather well.
The cavity created would hold a seat cover. When pulled up and over the whole seat that lip would help keep the cover off her seat. ... etc ...

Gotcha!