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I carefully removed the staples with a small screw driver and needle-nose pliers. |
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Once the seat cover was off, I found the cushion covered in a "shower cap"-like plastic bag. It had holes in it , as did the stitching under my cover. (more on that later) Consider
replacing the cover material with marine vinyl. I will if I do this again. |
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The cushion comes right off the plastic seat pan. |
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This cushion was SOAKED like a sponge. What's upsetting is that the bike hadn't been washed in a month and the water was just sitting in there. (You might want to check your cushion
for dampness, even if you don't plan on trimming the cushion) |
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The I put the seat on the bike and drew my marks. I wanted a flatter seat so I could sit back farther. The rear slid me down and that gave me sort of a wedgie over time in the
saddle. Plus I thought I could lower the height for more of a chopper look. Plus, I thought my solo seat looked odd very high in the rear of the seat. This was going to
be great... |
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I used an old hacksaw and began to slice. If the rest of the trimming were this easy, I would have been happier. (I'd definitely use a new saw blade next time; and I did
stumble across 5 new blades after this was all over!) |
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I should have let the thing dry out before I sliced. It was like slicing a damp sponge. I would put it on and sit on it every so often to see how I liked it. (Yes, my
ass got wet during these trials) |
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Next I sanded it with minimal shaping effect. Again, I somewhat attribute this to the cushion being damp. This was the final shape I came up with. |
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Once my "hack job" was done, I rebagged it in a trash bag, shower-capped it, and kept the bag opening out the rear of the seat (trimmed it later when covering. not sure if this will keep
it dry under there or not) Note: I air and blow drier dried the cushion as best I could before recovering. |
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Next, I covered these bolts with cardboard to protect the plastic bag from getting holes which leads to the sponge effect. |
 
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When I re-stapled the cover on, I noticed it was crooked and bunched up in a spot. I pulled out the staples on one side and re-aligned it okay. The cover isn't as form-fitting as I
hoped, but it passes. |
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Due to my impatience, wet cushion, dull hacksaw, etc., you can see that the right rear side is higher than the left. This looks somewhat odd, but is so high in the seat that it
doesn't pitch me sideways when sitting on it. There's always next time! |
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Here's a side shot. It does look slimmer. (It would look more slim in this shot if I did slice more off the top right rear) |
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UPDATE PHOTO: Two rows up I mention that I trimmed unevenly. Not sure if that's true, but I was able to tighten the pull and staple the right rear of the seat to compress it so
that the seat looks even now! |
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Another look. |
