Now that the warmer (and drier) weather is starting to peek around here in the East Bay, I thought it was time to give Donna a gift, and do something to protect her seat. Thanks to Rafa and Suzy at Cheeky Seats, I was able to get a perfectly-fitting seat cover!
Not-so-shameless-plug, if you are in the market for a scooter seat cover, you can’t go wrong with the Cheeky Seats covers. Quality covers, a nice selection and styles available, and very communicative about the entire process!
Before we get into the seat cover, let’s look at why Donna needed one.
As you can see, the seat is looking a little rough – cracks all through the seat, and starting to get down to the foam underneath. The worst parts are where the seat hits the handlebars/control covers when the seat is raised. The right side is particularly bad, with the leather having split. The buckles are also pretty rusty. Let’s do what we can to fix all of that!
Once payday hit, I went to Cheeky Seats, and had difficulty choosing between the Premium Matte Black seat cover and the Distressed Whiskey seat cover. After a few painstaking minutes of bouncing back and forth (…and a coin flip), I ended up with the Premium Matte Black (it fits the scooter better anyway I guess.). So, I ordered it.
…Minutes went by before I received an e-mail from Suzy at Cheeky Seats, with all sorts of fun questions related to thread color – something I hadn’t even considered! She sent recommendations (a variety of grey and blue), after verifying which specific Stella I had (though me saying “…she’s Donna colored” probably didn’t help). The stitching would be prominent along the edges and the seat strap. I opted for the “Light Gray” to pop against the black cover, but still remain classy.
(I won’t share the images that were exchanged via email, since I didn’t ask for permission 😉 ).
With the colors decided, the seat order was finalized. I received it roughly a week later.
The seat cover on the way, I went about the exciting tasks of refinishing the seat strap buckles, as I would need to re-use them. A quick search of the internet showed how difficult it was to find new ones to purchase (though I never contacted any shops or online stores…figured if I couldn’t find a part number, or it on the various websites, I wasn’t going to dig further).
The buckles were in rough shape:
So, off to the hardware store I went, to get sandpaper (various grits), some primer, and some metallic paint (not pictured).
The sandpaper took a lot of rust off:
The next few days saw the “Paint and Wait” cycle. Spray, let it dry, sand, spray, let it dry, sand, and so on. I was probably not as patient as I should have been (especially taking the cool weather into consideration), but overall, I was happy with the job. The timing was pretty good, too, as the seat and strap arrived shortly after I finished the painting!
So, on to reassembly!
After clamping the buckles back on the seat strap, I was ready to get the cover on Donna, and get back to riding!
Seat strap assembled, it was time to put it all together on Donna.
The seat cover is a tight fit (intentionally), and I was informed that any wrinkles would “smooth out in the sun and as you ride.” So far, so good.
Looks really good! Since the pictures were taken, the wrinkles have ironed themselves out, as promised!.
What better way to celebrate the new seat cover (and a tune up, courtesy of the San Francisco Scooter Centre, who are always amazed at a Stella with now over 18,000 miles on the odometer)? Why, a ride through some gorgeous roads!
So a few days later, I took Donna to work, and Pinehurst road over the hills on my way home. The road did not disappoint!
With better weather on the horizon, look for more entries!