Seat Upholstering aka putting a new seat cover on

[The ModFather]

I just ordered a new seat for my Monster 620. Placed a couple calls to some local upholstery shops and all seem to want about $75 to $125 to replace the seat cover. That seems a little steep to me for pulling out some staples stretching material over a seat and then stapling it in. $50 or less seemed fair to me but you cant name your own price. So I'm wondering has anyone done this themselves that can provide any insight? Some things are trickier than they seem not sure if this is one of them. I do have a nice staple gun and there are a few YouTube videos showing you how to do it. Is there a trick to it I should know? Does anyone recommend just paying the money getting it professionally done cause they tried and botched it up? I'm not looking to ruin my new seat cover. Any insight would be appreciated. It just appears to damn easy to pay $100 for this. Thoughts?

[Dirty Duc]

You really need one of those air staplers.  I have used an electric one, but I always ended up having to finish driving the staples in with pliers.

Their prices seem right if they are making a new cover and have the old one for a pattern.

[The ModFather]

I can get a Pneumatic Stapler. Also the price they are asking is not to make the new cover I already have that... it's just to put the new cover on the seat.

[Dirty Duc]

It's really pretty self explanatory. I've done it a few times.

It should take maybe an hour or two depending on how stubborn the old staples are.

[NAKID]

It's really pretty self explanatory. I've done it a few times.

It should take maybe an hour or two depending on how stubborn the old staples are.

Well, if it's an hour or two worth of labor, then the price is right on, no?

[SpikeC]

 I have pulled covers and reshaped foam and replaced covers and it is not difficult. I used a hand stapler and finished driving the staples with a small hammer. There is a web site devoted to rebuilding seats, a web search will bring it up. If it takes 2 hours you are drinking too much!

[He Man]

Well, if it's an hour or two worth of labor, then the price is right on, no?

^This.

Its not about the cost of what you value it, its the cost of time.

For a skilled person, its about an hours labor to remove and reinstall. $50 an hour for a shop that makes its money making big ticket items is not enough to keep the lights on.

DIY... The only difference is skill. your labor and time is free. gotta pay to play.

[Dirty Duc]

^This.

Its not about the cost of what you value it, its the cost of time.

For a skilled person, its about an hours labor to remove and reinstall. $50 an hour for a shop that makes its money making big ticket items is not enough to keep the lights on.

DIY... The only difference is skill. your labor and time is free. gotta pay to play.

Yes, but the cost of labor is highly dependent on location.  I am sure it costs better than $100 an hour to keep the lights on in NYC.  For me... shop labor for that kind of stuff is much more affordable.

Cost of living and all.

Your own labor isn't really free... you have to balance time learning to do a task, end state, reward when complete, etc. against whatever else you really want to be doing.  You just don't have to convert all that into money before you weigh the balance

[The ModFather]

Having moved from Chicago I can tell you with certainty that where I live now (farm land burbs) and where these shops are located in these farm land burbs (industrial strip) the costs of keeping the lights on dont compare to a typical storefront or urban location. I think $50 per hour is a fair price for this type of work even $60 would be reasonable but $100 to $125 per hour seems a bit steep for removing staples, stretching a material and stapling it in. My Duc Shop charges $50/HR for service and I'm pretty sure those guys are skilled laborers and that shop has some serious overhead in comparison to a small upholstery shop.

[Xanthoria]

I've done it.  Removed cover, modded seat, made a new cover and put it on.

1. pneumatic staple gun all the way - I got an electric one thinking it's do the job and well, it didn't. The staples are all janky and needed hammering and it wasn't a nicely finished job. The staples stick out and scratched the tank underneath. Boo.
2. $100 for this? totally worth it.

Here's mine:

[He Man]

all valid comments, the older i get, the less i want to wrench and more i want to just ride, and although im not losing money when im doing tech work on my bikes, im losing invaluable time NOT riding.

[JPlip]

I ended up paying about $120.00 to have my seat foam replaced and shaped by Spencer at www.agreatdaytoride.com.  Really cool guy, great service and I couldn't be happier with the result.  I sent him the seat and new cover, and I had it back in 6 days.  That figure includes shipping too!  I did a snowmobile seat myself once, and while it turned out OK, it was a pain to get the staples right, even with an air nailer.  Just sayin.

[oldndumb]

Wot he said ^

I used Spender a few years back on another bike and was very happy with the seat after he reworked the foam and installed a new cover.

Currently, no problem with my 1100evo seat, but if it needed reworking he is who I would use.

[StephenC]

This is what my upholsterer did:

It's a little bit boring, with hindsight I should have asked for some sort of stitching across the main seat panel.  Hopefully it will look better once my pillion cover comes back from the painter's.

[oldndumb]

Not so boring. ^

There is something to be said for coherent design and clean lines.