Seat Upholstery

[StephenC]

I recently got myself a nice customised tank and new paintwork done. As SpikeC pointed out in <that thread>, I now need to do a better job on the seat. 
I'm fairly happy with the actual seat, just not the upholstery.  The vinyl that is currently on there is too slippery and the stitching doesn't quite line up with the cover (the guy who did it didn't have the cover to work with, it was being painted). 
I could just replace it with a grippier vinyl but am thinking that leather would be more classy.  What do people think?  One upholsterer I talked to felt the leather would require too much maintenance and recommended against stitching any sort of pattern in it, as water would pool in the divots.  However I quite like the idea of a diamond patter across the top - a bit like <this> one.  Does anybody have experience with leather bike seats and are there any issues I need to worry about?  All thoughts and comments welcome.

[koko64]

I would go fake leather for the mantenace reasons, waterproofing, etc. They have so many textures to choose from in vinyl nowdays. They even have fake suede and carbon look vinyl.

[itsamonster]

I've seen them covered in stingray skin before..... Must be waterproof! 

[koko64]

Yep and grippy. Ive patted one at Seaworld.

[SpikeC]

 I had leather on the seat of my R1100S and it held up really well with little maintenance. Not all leather is alike, either! Mine was done by Rick Meyer in California and was very easy to live with.

[StephenC]

I like this one:

[xcaptainxbloodx]

Mine, from here;

http://newchurchmoto.com/index.html

[StephenC]

Mine, from here;

http://newchurchmoto.com/index.html

That is beautiful. It's a pity they are not particularly local to me!  What material did you use?

[xcaptainxbloodx]

she sources the material herself, this one is a high quality outdoor safe vinyl.  I know shes worked with everything from waxed canvas and leather to nylon and rabbit fur.

[The ModFather]

This was done by MotoK Seats in Greece for $30 with another $20 for shipping.

http://www.motok-seats.com/store/default/ducati-products.html

Came out great and they have a wide variety of materials to choose from including leather. They were great to deal with. You really cant beat this price. They do other bikes in addition to Ducatis.

Untitled by ricknieto, on Flickr

[StephenC]

I've found a guy, around the corner from me, who is looking into materials and thinking whether he can match the stiching on the one I posted above.   Much as I like the ones you have posted mod father and captainblood, I'm not sure I'm willing to send my seat away and be without my bike while I wait for Auspost to deliver it. Still, those are still much better than any of the other seats I've looked at, so thank you.

[Raux]

I found a local boat seat maker that did the st2 seat mod. Cheap too. Custom work can be done by them and waterproof is their biz.

[The ModFather]

I've found a guy, around the corner from me, who is looking into materials and thinking whether he can match the stiching on the one I posted above.   Much as I like the ones you have posted mod father and captainblood, I'm not sure I'm willing to send my seat away and be without my bike while I wait for Auspost to deliver it. Still, those are still much better than any of the other seats I've looked at, so thank you.

You dont need to send your seat. You order the seat cover and then have a local upholsterer put it on for you ($50-$90) when it arrives.

I actually bought a used 2nd seat on ebay for $60 as my main seat is a DP Comfort Seat and I didnt want to change that one. Now I have the DP comfort seat and the new "cafe" seat. I keep the seat cowl on the cafe seat so when I have a passenger I dont need to deal with removing the seat cowl I just swap seats. Boom!

[koko64]

Same here. 
Low stocker with cowl for my daughter, built up custom with cowl for me and special custom with no cowl (wouldnt fit) for pillions. Seats are such an individual thing, be it fit or style.

[StephenC]

Unfortunately, none of their 695/795 (and I assume 1100) seat covers are anywhere near as nice as the one you have got. I've added them to my bookmarks, as I may end up having to compromise.  I really like the quilted look and haven't found any remade covers that do that, for my bike.