Last month we installed a DIY Insta Pan seat kit by Stampede on our project Softail. The Insta Pan kit was very reasonably priced at $149, so we wanted to show you how to also keep the price to a minimum when covering it.
The first thing we needed to cover the seat was some low-priced cover material and a piece of good quality foam.
After searching for a suitable cover material, we looked through our stack of old T-shirts for something good, but ended up employing a small Mexican blanket. In the past it was used as a bedroll until a section of it got caught in the rear wheel and tore it in half. The remaining part of the blanket fit the bill and was free, so we had that going for us.
Once the cover material was sourced, we headed over to Bon-A-Rue's Auto Upholstery in Orange, California, and scored a small piece of 2-inch-thick medium-firm foam. This foam is both the right density and thickness for a motorcycle seat.
Once we had all the needed parts back at the HOT BIKE mechanic's lair, we fine-tuned the size of the foam, cut and glued it to the pan, wrapped it with our material, and secured it to the pan with screws for one clean and cheap mototcycle seat.
The Lowdown
Man Hours: 6.5
Difficulty: Easy
Aftermarket Parts Used: Mexican Blanket, Foam, Screws, Washers, 3M Spray Glue
Total Cost: $16.66
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01.
The Insta Pan kit needed a bit of cleaning up where it met the sides of the bike frame, so we used an electric sander to smooth out the edges.
01.
The Insta Pan kit needed a bit of cleaning up where it met the sides of the bike fram
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02.
Once the Pan was smoothed out, we used the seat pan as a template to measure the foam.
02.
Once the Pan was smoothed out, we used the seat pan as a template to measure the foam
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03.
After the foam for the seating surface was correctly measured, we cut it out with a razor blade.
03.
After the foam for the seating surface was correctly measured, we cut it out with a r