Understanding Your Vehicle

Posted on: 30 May 2018

Motorbikes may be thrilling to ride but they hardly the most comfortable form of transport around, and a good motorbike seat is vital if you want to ride more than a few miles without ending up walking like a penguin. A damaged motorbike seat cover can be particularly uncomfortable to ride on, but you don't have to go to the trouble and expense of replacing the whole seat, as motorbike seat repair specialists can replace your damaged seat cover with a brand new one, and fit it so professionally that it looks like it came straight off the factory floor.

However, if you need to have the cover of your motorbike seat replaced, you will have to decide what material the new cover should be made from. Most motorbike seats are made from either leather or synthetic plastics, and each of these materials has its own advantages and drawbacks that you should be aware of:

What are the pros and cons of choosing a leather replacement seat cover?

For the more traditionally minded biker, leather is really the only option for a seat cover. Soft, luxuriant and distinctive, leather seat covers are unmatched when it comes to looks due to their distinctive grains and patterns, and look particularly good when fitted to classic bikes or chromed-out hogs. They also tend to be more comfortable than most varieties of synthetic seat cover after they have been worn in; while leather tends to get softer and more supple with age, vinyl seats get harder and less comfortable, especially if they are routinely exposed to harsh sunlight.

However, a new leather seat cover will cost you significantly more than most synthetic replacements (although high-end, breathable synthetic covers can be comparable in price). They are also more high-maintenance than synthetic seat covers, as they need to be cleaned with leather cleaning compounds and conditioners to prevent the leather from becoming cracked and faded. 

What are the pros and cons of choosing a synthetic replacement seat cover?

Synthetic seat covers might not be as desirable or attractive as a good-quality leather seat cover, but they are generally far more practical; they are waterproof, allowing them to be used in all weathers without a protective cover, and tend to be far more durable over the long term, often surviving falls and scrapes with nothing more than superficial damage.. They are also very low maintenance, and can be cleaned off with nothing more than a damp rag.

Crucially, having a new synthetic cover fitted to your damaged motorbike seat is likely to be considerably cheaper than having a leather seat fitted. This is especially true if your motorbike seat is a non-standard design that requires a specially-shaped cover to be made for it.

However, synthetic seat covers usually aren't quite as comfortable as high-quality leather covers. They also create more friction when you sit on them; this helps prevent you from sliding around in your seat during wet weather, but if you already tend to shift in your seat a lot as you ride, the increased friction can create a lot of heat and make the seat cover uncomfrotably hot.