Motorcycle Seat Upholstery Restyled Easily and Economically

The appearance of motorcycle seat upholstery has a big impact. A seat in great condition, or a custom styled seat can make a bike look terrific. Replacing the seat can be costly however restyling motorcycle seat upholstery can be done easily and economically using paint designed for leather and vinyl.

Dave Moneysmith chose to use ColorBond LVP Refinisher to restyle the seat of his 2013 Harley-Davidson Softail Slim FLS. He wanted it to carry the black and red colors of his motorcycle club however he didn’t want to reupholster it as it was so comfortable. Plus, the cost to reupholster the seat with leather was going to be expensive.

Dave found ColorBond LVP Refinisher motorcycle seat upholstery paint online and decided to try it. He said he could not be more pleased with the results. Dave explained it is very important to take time to do the job right and that prep work is extremely important.  After cleaning the seat with a 70/30% mix of alcohol and water he masked it with green Frog Tape. Then he carefully scuffed the areas to be painted with 1000 grit sandpaper. Finally, the seat was wiped down with ColorBond Prep Cleaner to remove the dust and prepare the surface for painting.

Using LVP Refinisher in #098 Vette Red Dave applied extremely thin coats, waiting ten minutes between each, and built the color up in layers. After letting the seat dry for 24 hours, he put it back on the bike. To test how well the paint adhered to the motorcycle seat upholstery, Dave took a clean white cloth and rubbed the seat vigorously. He found no sign of paint on the cloth. Dave said to reupholster the seat would have cost $350, and new seats of lesser quality ran about $120 – $400. However, his total cost was only about $50 for one can of LVP Refinisher, Prep Cleaner, and the Frog Tape.

“I could not be happier with ColorBond products and there were no challenges using them. The seat is as soft and pliable as it ever was. I am looking forward to seeing how the color holds up after I put some miles on it. But I suspect it’s going to hold up well.” Concludes Dave.

ColorBond customer Paul Allbritton decided to change the color of his Danny Gray Airhawk seat to since he felt the blue alligator skin inlay didn’t properly match the motorcycle’s new gray paint. “I was a bit skeptical re-dying this seat, as I had previously used motorcycle seat upholstery dye, and it was a bad experience – it came off on my jeans,” said Paul. Then he came across ColorBond LVP Refinisher online. Having previously used ColorBond Pro Tech Black Tail Lite Color with good results he decided to give the LVP Refinisher a chance.

For preparation before painting Paul scrubbed the seat with a solution made up of a small amount of Dawn detergent mixed with water. This was followed by ColorBond Prep Cleaner. Next, he roughed up the alligator skin inlay with 1200 grit sandpaper, and lightly sanded the rest of the seat. Finally, he wiped the seat off with a tack cloth.

Paul says he used only one coat of LVP Refinisher and that it dried fast and turned out great. “The dye I used in the past was too thick, which reduced the surface texture. With Colorbond, the grain patterns of the leather and alligator skin remained well defined.”   

Thanks to Dave and Paul for demonstrating motorcycle seat upholstery can be restyled easily and economically with ColorBond LVP Refinisher. Of note, LVP Refinisher is available in OEM correct Harley Davidson Black.