Topic: seat foam

[hymodyne]

What have people used for seat cushioning for cafe conversions? Anyone have experience with the spray foam insulation?

[Bob Wessner]

Anyone have experience with the spray foam insulation?

Can't say about the commercial stuff they pump into walls, but from my experience with the kind in the can, it crushes and does not seem return to shape.

[gtyler5]

One of the best ideas I heard of was getting one of those mats they put under sleeping bags at Wal mart or somewhere else.

[cbjunkie]

i'll double bob's advice - although i have never used the "stuff" as a seat, i have plenty of remodeling experience and i don't think it would be a good idea as a seat...

[Tim.]

Third vote against expanding foam - not designed for it at all.  You might have seen posts about using it as a molding tool to form a shape for fibreglass work on a seat pan.

I built up my seat pan using sacrificial seat foam from another motorcycle seat.  I also used a layer of high density foam from those floor mats you can buy for workshops (it's what I had).  Then I topped it all with 1/2 inch foam from the fabric shop.

People also use yoga mats, but they're pricey when you look at the thicker ones.  Carpet underlay is another option - cheap too - any local carpet shop will likely give you as many bits as you want for nothing - next time I re-upholster my seat I'm going to go that route.

What kind of seat pan are you working with?  This is what I did - my first attempt at upholstery - will try another sometime over the winter for fun.

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=11302.0

[hymodyne]

nice work. I'm thinking along those lines. I recently finished seat cushions for my boat in an embossed vinyl, 1/4 inch closed cell foam pad with carpet under padding in layers on top. I found closed cell ground mats in camping  sectionsfor under $10.00.

hym

[babyfood1217]

A while back, someone posted that the mats found in gardening centers (used for kneeling on while you work) are a good option, and while they are much stiffer than the foam available at most craft stores, I discovered something wonderful a few weeks ago at a local bike shop.  Madison Motorsports in Madison, WI has on a shelf next to some other race prep goodies, a square piece (14" x 14", maybe 16" x 16") of 1/2" thick, super dense foam mat.  This is the stuff I have been looking for ever since I decided to do my seat, but could never find.  It is a dense foam, identical in composition to the stuff found on some boat seats (not the ones covered in vinyl, but rather rather the ones with just a thin foam pad on them.)  It is also the same seating foam used by many race teams for the butt pads on race bikes.  Low profile, water resistant, easy to attach (adhesive I would think), and relatively cheap (the piece I found was around $20.)  Although I didn't buy it (just shelled out a bunch on new tires and other parts), I figured that foam by itself, or maybe with a thin layer of less dense foam on top (then wrapped in vinyl/leather/etc...) would be the ideal seat pad.  I think maybe I'll just go buy some and try it, and then ride around to everyones location so they can sit on it, because with any luck, it would be comfortable enough for the long trip.  Just my 2 cents.

-Chris

[firecracker]

I can attest that yes, they are comfortable - 'cause I'm riding on one right now! 

First project for my bike is a new seat.  Since this is my first motorcycle (ever) I don't want to quit riding to work on... well, anything!

So... zip-tied a stadium cushion to the frame. If it didn't look so bad, I'd consider just leaving it.  A whole lot cheaper than the seat I'm planning on fabricating...

BTW, this is the really dense foam with a vinyl "dip" covering kind of stadium cushion.  Not the cheap promotional kind that is really soft (worthless) foam between two sheets of vinyl.  Hope that makes sense.  If not, let me know and I'll take a better picture of it.

[nickjtc]

So... zip-tied a stadium cushion to the frame. If it didn't look so bad, I'd consider just leaving it.  A whole lot cheaper than the seat I'm planning on fabricating...

Looks sort of interesting! I like the colour contrast; and ok if you're never going to carry a passenger.

Does anyone know what the correct name/type of the foam that Corbin use in their seats? I had one on the VFR and it transformed the bike into a really comfortable long distance machine. When I re-do the 650 seat I want to try and replicate the 'feel'. Would those mats that have been mentioned be the same kind of density?

[aptech77]

Astronaut foam! 

[tmht]

I second the thought on the camping  bed-roll. What you are looking for is a high density open-cell foam. I happened across some on clearance from a company that makes wheelchair seats but the bed-roll should be readily available at your local sporting goods store for less than $20 and it should be enough to do two seats even if you double up the foam. Now if I were half as good as some others around here at laying glass... 

[Bob Wessner]

Astronaut foam! 

But that's probably $1000 per square inch. 

I noticed one reply recommended open cell vs. closed cell foam, why the distinction?

[theunrulychef]

I noticed one reply recommended open cell vs. closed cell foam, why the distinction?

Don't know how much you do or don't know about foam, so I hope this isn't too basic of info for you, Bob. 
Closed cell, when crushed over time, doesn't like to return to it's original shape quite as well as open cell.  Open cell tends to be made of a more elastic material where closed cell is usually a more "plasticy" material.  Also, as the names suggest, open cell by design is expanded by outside air, whereas closed cell has air pockets, closed to the outside world.  When those pockets of air pop, closed cell loses it's bounce.

I've been riding around on the garden pad for months now & it's not very soft, but it's much better than riding around on the flat hard plastic of the seat.  It also keeps my butt from sliding forward & back when I take off or stop quickly.  I used really crappy vinyl & never did a very good upholstery job, so I've gotten some seat foam & marine vinyl from the fabric shop that I'll use in addition to the garden pad when I get around to re-doing it. I'd love to be able to drop off a seat pan somewhere & pay to have it done, but I can't imagine that would be under $50, so it's up to me I guess. 

-Jay in Philly

[Bob Wessner]

Don't know how much you do or don't know about foam, so I hope this isn't too basic of info for you, Bob.

Not too basic at all, thanks for explaining. It makes sense.

[tmht]

I noticed one reply recommended open cell vs. closed cell foam, why the distinction?

Also closed cell foam doesn't absorb moisture. This sounds like a desirable trait at first but, when you are riding in the summer and you start to sweat...

[Bob Wessner]

I noticed one reply recommended open cell vs. closed cell foam, why the distinction?

Also closed cell foam doesn't absorb moisture. This sounds like a desirable trait at first but, when you are riding in the summer and you start to sweat...

Sounds like soggy seat vs. soggy BVD's.

[aptech77]

Astronaut foam! 

But that's probably $1000 per square inch. 

I have connections!!! 

2ftx2ft about $30, really. Only the BEST for my ASS!!! 

[paulages]

i realize some of you don't live in the city, but i just went to a "foam store" i found in the phonebook here in portland, or. i bought high density foam (the exact stuff sold at my local m.c. shop as "racing foam" for four times the price), and glued it down. it's waterproof until you cut and sand it, which it does easily for shaping. I'm not exaggerating at all when i say that my cafe seat is more comfortable than my stock 750 K3 seat. long rides on the K3 lead to a sore butt and gonad tingle (not good)...

[nickjtc]

i bought high density foam

Is that how the foam store labelled it, 'high density' foam?

[cbjunkie]

i never met a gonad tingle i didn't like...

[paulages]

i don't know about a "label"...there was just a huge pile of foam.  i told the guy what i wanted, and he said it was the one people use for motorcycle seats. i'm sure there are several types of high density foam, but this was 2" thick, black, and water-proof.

[FunJimmy]

I'm going to try using Minicel M200 foam, and will form it like this guy is doing on a Kayak seat

http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Wshophtm/kayakseat18b.htm

Looks really nice too.

FJ

[babyfood1217]

I never remembered to post that I tried out the garden mat idea.  I slip the vinyl cover and pulled the foam out.  Same density (as it appears) as that Mincel stuff, but I'll need more than a 8"x14"x1" piece.

[hymodyne]

The seat in my avatar has a combination of composite carpet underpadding and closed cell foam, cut from a 3/8 inch camping/sleeping mat of closed cell foam, in alternating layers. the seat cover is cowhide. I've left the bike in the rain a time or two, and the hide repels water fine. Long rides haven't been uncomfortable; The bike is torn down now for a rebuild and an inspection of the foam layers shows little compression of either type of cushioning that I used.

hym