550 Seat refurb

[Murf]

Some exciting news today my seat has been refurbished and I should get it back early next week.

The seat on my 550K1 was it terrible condition, the base was rusted it had splits and cracks around the hinges and other cracks where it had rusted. The foam was totally shot, it had a tatty none standard cover and trim which were falling off.  Seat bases that were any better seemed to be very thin on the ground and very expensive. The aftermarket alternatives did not seem good and were pricey.
 I decided to send the seat to R K Leightons to get it refurbished.  After they had received it they gave me a call to say how bad the base was and that now the foam was  stripped  they could see that some poor fibre glass repairs had been made in the past.  Fortunately they felt they could successfully repair and save it.   So I am really looking forward to receiving it back and seeing what it is like, just hope it is good,  it will be the first bit of the bike that is restored and back as one piece. I will put some before and after photos on the forum and the costs.

[Mike_Berkshire]

I’ll look forward to seeing them. Fingers crossed it will be a good result.

[taysidedragon]

Leightons have a good reputation so I would expect it to be good. How much are they charging for all the work?

I might need to use them before too long.

[Murf]

The total cost inc return postage was £320, ok it’s a fair chunk of money but my cost was higher because of the bad condition of the seat base. If your base is in ok condition the price will be less. After weighing up the options I felt this was the best route for me. I wanted the seat to be good, I feel it’s a big part of how good a bike looks and as far as I could there doesn’t seem to be any good aftermarket seats available at the moment. Of course now I have spent my money there will be a fantastic one on eBay for £10 🫣😁.
Should get mine Monday or Tuesday, so it’s fingers crossed.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I assume this is the firm did you take the seat to them or do they offer a C&D service?

.https://www.rk-leighton.co.uk/

[Murf]

Yes that’s the one, I posted the seat to them and they have posted it back. They are in Walsall you can take a seat directly to them and pick it up when it’s done if you want.  I think postage to them was about £9 or £10 so cheaper that driving there for me. I will let you know what return postage was when I get it back, which should be soon as I have just had a text to say it will be delivered shortly.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Looking forward to the photographs of the seat refurbishment.

[TezzerTel]

Did you get the seat back? Can you share any photos please

[Murf]

Yes I did get the seat back, sorry to be so long getting around to letting you know how it is.  The refurb was generally pretty good, the seat base is really good, the foam is all new and feels good and the seat cover is good quality, correct pattern and looks very nice. Unfortunately there are a few bits that I am not totally happy with and the reason I didn’t post photos straight away. Thanks for giving me a dig to get on with it. It’s one of those sort of things you might put in a cupboard out of the way for a few months, if you know what I mean.

The problem bits are the silver trim around the bottom or maybe more precise some misshaping around the base where the trim fits. The problem areas are near the front on the right hand side and about the half way point on the left hand side. There is also some sharp feeling pointy bits under the cover in the problem area on the right hand side. I phoned to discuss the problems, the reply was that they were aware of the misshaping but that they had done very well to save the seat base and this was as good as they could get it.  As for the sharp bits under the cover said they won’t cut through the cover.   I think they might.

They did say I could send it back if I wanted but I got the impression they didn’t think they could do much to make it better.  My general feeling is that I won’t use it as it is and will have a go at making it better, I can live with the left side but will do something with the right side. I may of course totally       it up.  I will post some photos tomorrow and try to show the problem areas it will be very helpful to see what other peoples opinions of the seat are.

 I would say that in my opinion if you started with a good seat base you will get a very good result from them.
Maybe my base was too far gone and I should have made the effort to find a better one.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Sorry to read that the seat refurbishment has not given you the outcome you hoped for.

I would expect a good firm to have contacted you to say the seat base is too far gone for us to restore to our standard. Then it's your decision if you tell them to go ahead anyway.

Personally I would try to avoid doing anything to the seat myself until they have had a final look. A firms reputation is only as good as it's worst seat trimmer, how they handle a customer who is not happy is the benchmark of a good firm who truly cares about quality control.

[TezzerTel]

Thanks for the update

[Murf]

I have now managed to resize the Photos of areas I don’t like, so hope they post ok [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Murf]

Photos of seat Overall
As can be seen the seat cover looks nice and correct style, so a shame about the poor parts at the lower edges.  I just feel the rough bits could have been filed/ground a bit smoother or some filler or  thin padding put over them.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

That's a lot of imperfections for a professional upholsterer, I share your disappointment of the finished article from Leightons, for £320 I guess without the postage & packing it's closer to £290 I would have expected better.

If you had done it yourself I would say you have done a good job, I could live with it as my own work.
I was thinking of Leightons for my Superdream seat next year - that makes me think again.

[Murf]

Thanks for your thoughts on this which are very much the same as mine. My wife just thinks I am a fussy moaning old git 
 I just wonder why they didn’t run a grinder along the edges of the base to remove at least some of the bumps and take the sharp points off.  Then maybe some filler or padding in to smooth it off. 
I am not going to say I could have done the whole seat restoration better but I do think I could have finished off around the base better before it was reupholstered.  Some of the pointy bits on the right had side feel really sharp and will I am sure cut through in time if left.

 I have just had a go to see if the silver trim comes off easily and it seems like it will.  The seat cover is glued on to the base where it returns underneath and will peel off without too much force.  So my plan is to have a go at sorting out the worst bit which is  the front right hand side. Then if successful I might try the bad bit on the left.