How cut down your seat

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Bit of a short arse well if you'd rather cut down your motorcycle's seat than buy a new one, here are the details on the procedure.

Sometimes the simplest approach is best. If your bike is (or merely feels) too tall, you can shorten the suspension or go straight to the

source and slice precious inseam-snatching inches from the seat. Custom seat work isn't that hard, though if you don't want to experiment

with the stock item there are plenty of after market alternatives, some with custom features for shorter riders.

But you're the adventurous type, so chomping away at the stock seat sounds reasonable. You will need some basic tools: a good screwdriver,

a heavy-duty staple gun, 100-grit sandpaper and hacksaw blades. A note on the blades: Any good blade will cut seat foam, but the best are

medium-coarse pitch (18 teeth per inch) made from fully hardened material. These blades are more rigid than bi metal blades that have a

hardened cutting edge mated to a flexible body, and make the work easier. Better yet, if you have one and can sneak it out of the kitchen,

is an electric carving knife!

Remove the seat and invert it on your workbench to remove the staples

Place the screwdriver under the staples and pull them out; you may discard the staples.

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Carefully peel the seat cover back from the base

watching for sections that may be glued down or otherwise held in place; some seats have supplemental restraints in difficult corners, for

example.

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Determine how much you want to remove from the seat. As ever, take it a step at a time, considering how much material there is on the seat

and how much you want to lower the overall seat height. You can always perform the operation again to take more off next time. Place a

level or some other reference method across the top of the seat and measure the desired amount of the cut down the side of the foam

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Mark several points along the side of the seat from front to back and then connect the dots

to form your cutting line. Repeat this operation on the other side of the seat.

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Secure the seat to the bench so that you can see both sides.

Insert the blade at the front of the seat slightly above the cut line

and carefully edge down to it as you move back.

Slide the blade carefully left and right; don't ever force the work—allow the blades to do the cutting. If you tear the foam, you'll have

visible divots under the cover later. Continue working back, keeping the blade level and as flat as possible

Go slowly.

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For additional legroom, consider increasing the cutback or chine of the forward part of the seat

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such a move will normally not impair comfort but will allow you to more easily balance the bike at a stop. For a nicer finish, sand the

foam with 100-grit sandpaper until the saw marks are no longer visible.

Tightly stretch the old seat cover over the foam and staple in place

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Trim excess material and congratulate yourself on a job well done.