I wrote about this on a forum that I belong to, too, so if this looks familiar, that’s why.

I had an extra ET seat, so I decided to try cutting down the seat using guidance from a Motorcyclist Online article. Here’s the finished product:

I’m not an upholsterer by any stretch of the imagination, but I knew I’d be covering it up with a seat cover, so it was worth a try.

If you read the Motorcyclist Online article, you’ll see the steps I followed. This next photo shows Dwayne sanding the foam. Judging by the amount of time it took to smooth out the foam with an orbital sander, it would probably take a couple weeks to sand by hand. One thing not mentioned in the article is how messy this process is: do it outside if you can!

This next photo shows the “distressed” vinyl I used. The article says “Tightly stretch the old seat cover over the foam and staple in place.” The ET cover just simply doesn’t work if you cut off a couple inches off the top. I’m not used to working with vinyl, so I crossed my fingers and said a couple prayers, then made a cover out of some vinyl I had sitting around, as if I were making a regular scooter seat cover, but stapled it on to the seat pan rather than making it removable, like my fabric covers.

It’s by no means is as good as a professional would do, but since I had the extra seat and had nothing to lose (well, except for a seat) I figured I’d give it a try. Plus, I have a short scooter friend coming to visit, and in order for her to ride, I needed another short seat, so this got me motivated to give it a shot. After I finished, I made a custom leopard print seat cover for it.

It’s a bit harder than before (which makes sense since it has less foam) but still comfortable. One thing I might change is to make the corners rounder near the front, for easier reach when at a stop. I was able to keep the front hook on the seat, which I’m really happy about. I kept the passenger part of the seat its original height.

I don’t think I would have been as daring if I didn’t have the extra seat around. These things are expensive to replace! So if you think you want to try it, keep that in mind. You may want to practice using a hack saw and sander on scraps of foam before you dive right in and tear your seat apart.