So when I bought my bike, almost a year ago, it came complete with a rip in the seat fabric. It never really bothered me that much, as I couldn’t see it when I was riding. It was mostly hidden by a piece of black gaffer tape, which would fray - adding to the look of disrepair.
I like to
keep my eyes open, however, for little tidbits.
Sometimes I find things that catch my eye and I cannot resist. I saw an advert for a seat cover for the CG
125, and the price was very reasonable – less than £20. So I thought Id give it a whirl.
First
off, the side panels are removed for access.
Next, amazingly, the seat has to come off. This is fairly easy – there are only two
bolts holding the seat on. The only
difficulty I encountered doing this was that on one of the bolts the head was
obscured by plastic molding, which made it difficult to get a socket on it.
Once the
two bolts were free (surprisingly, they weren’t rusted in place!), the seat
came off by lifting at the back and pulling it towards the rear of the
bike. This exposed the frame in all its
dirty glory.
I put the
cover on the seat, as a loose fit, to see what it would look like. It came with stitching at the front to form
it, so it would wrap around the fuel tank easily.
The next
step, crucially, I didn’t take any photos of!
Basically, starting with the fuel tank end, I sprayed the surface of the
existing seat cover with spray adhesive. I would press the new cover in place, holding
it for a minute to let the adhesive settle, then spray the next section.
When I
got about half way, I started stapling the cover into position, securing
it. I used lots of staples, sometimes
overlapping; I didn’t want it to break loose with the pressures of my bottom on
it shifting around. Yes, I said
shifting.
This took
about twenty five minutes to complete.
As the cover is essentially flat, it was a bit of a chore to get the
fabric to sit smoothly on the edges. In
the end, it didn’t sit perfectly, but its pretty close.
Putting
the seat on was easy enough, however I think because of the added thickness of
the seat, it doesn’t quite sit properly in its spot – the gap between the edge
of the seat and the rear trim seems greater.
I didn’t measure it before, so I’m not sure if its true; it just looks
that way to me.
In the
end, it looks a lot better than it did before.
It won’t be easily mistaken for an OEM seat cover; however it does
properly cover up that rip.
As an added bonus, I also spotted a windscreen for the Honda! I wanted to see if a screen would make much difference to the way the bike handled at speed - my commute does include a brief stint at 50mph.
I ordered it and it was delivered to my work. Instead of carting it home, I decided I'd try and fit it before I headed home.
It was easy to do - it was a matter of undoing the two bolts holding the headlamp assembly in place and lining the screen up with the existing holes. All told, about ten minutes. I think it looks pretty good; it alters the look of the bike a fair bit.
As for affecting the aerodynamics at speed? I didn't really notice that much of a difference. Maybe I'm too slow....
As an added bonus, I also spotted a windscreen for the Honda! I wanted to see if a screen would make much difference to the way the bike handled at speed - my commute does include a brief stint at 50mph.
I ordered it and it was delivered to my work. Instead of carting it home, I decided I'd try and fit it before I headed home.
It was easy to do - it was a matter of undoing the two bolts holding the headlamp assembly in place and lining the screen up with the existing holes. All told, about ten minutes. I think it looks pretty good; it alters the look of the bike a fair bit.
As for affecting the aerodynamics at speed? I didn't really notice that much of a difference. Maybe I'm too slow....
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