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[sandmanred]

I have a chance to do a motorcycle seat cover of alacantara. The alacantara will be sourced for me and is unlined. The seat foam is to be neoprene so fairly firm. The shape will require several seam. At this point there is no discussion about any quilting or folds so let's assume for now it's just a fitted cover on an aluminum seat pan.

This is a picture of the section under the upholstery, I have yet to make the seat pan. I plan to hold back the edge of the seat pan 3/32 to an 1/8 of an inch or so to allow for the upholstery and keep the upholstery fitted to the tail section as there is a slight radius on the edge of the tail section. The foam will be roughly 1.5 inches thick and will taper somewhat to the edges and back with a radius on the edge that roughly matches the radius on the rest of the tail section.

Here come the questions. On something this fitted would you use sew foam or back the alacantara with anything? I would usually bond the cover to the pan with contact cement but I'm worried about getting any on the alacantara in an area it might show, can it be cleaned without damaging the alacantara? I can also use rivets but the alacantara is pretty thin. I have some material on hand that is very similar so I can practice any suggestions before diving into the alacantara.

[John]

Why are you using unbaked alcantera for the motorcycle seat? Its not going to hold up to the abuse. I recommend using the backed alcantera. That will also help with glue bleading through.

[sandmanred]

Why are you using unbaked alcantera for the motorcycle seat? Its not going to hold up to the abuse. I recommend using the backed alcantera. That will also help with glue bleading through.

Thanks for the info! Only because he said he'd supply the alacantara and the sample he sent was unbacked. I'll ask him about getting it with backing. I'll only be using 1/2 yard or so, can I laminate myself or should I insist on him getting it with a backer?

[sandmanred]

So I'm looking at alcantara alternatives. I see Unisuede and Synergy II. Both are advertised and man made suede. I can't tell if the Unisuede is lined but the Synergy II is offered both line and unlined. I'd go for the lined version. Anyone have experience with either of these as an alcantara alternative?

[John]

I have used both. They are nice but not as nice as alcantara. I would 100% insist on getting backed suede unless he planed on just looking at the bike and not riding it.
There is a brand of suede that Keyston Bros sells called Street Suede. Its really nice and reasonably priced.

[sandmanred]

Here's the final result. I ended up using Unisuede with 1/4 inch pink sew foam. I tried a variety of things for sew foam and finally ended up back with the commonly available 1/4 inch pink foam. I had some old headliner that matched the density of the pink foam but about 2/3 as thick. It would have been perfect if I'd had enough. I bought some modern headliner and it was too soft and would make the Unisuede buckle and wrinkle because the foam had no body. I also did a test with 2mm neoprene wetsuit material as sew foam but it was so firm the stitches would open in the seams in an unsightly way because my presser foot wouldn't fully compress the foam when the pieces were sewn together. The top stitch pass looked great but the seam next to the stitch not so much.

[Revv Up]

Looks great

[John]

That came out beautiful! I love suede