Seadoo Sportster vinyl repair and refastening

[KevinLab010]

Hey all, just wanna share this;

I have a 2004 Sportster that needs some minor repairs to the seat vinyl. Being fall, I wanted to remove them to allow me to work on them in the house. The dart anchor design is very very poor. Ensuring I removed them as instructed in the manual, they still did not come out easy at all. I thought I was going to damage it for sure. I plan to re-fasten them using heavy velcro- more than enough to hold these seats in place.
Anyways- enough rant on the crappy darts. The vinyl repair will start with a kit that I bought from a local hardware store. I should be able to match the color well and will post the progress. As a back up, I know a seamstress that could easily replace the vinyl, but at a price$$.

oh yeah- BTW it is just the off white inside portion that needs replacing...

 

[KevinLab010]

I tried the vinyl repair and the paint. Here is the result.

looks ok, but after testing using pressure, the repair began to be more noticable. As a result, I have decided to have the center cushion portion repaired. The next photos are of the removal of the center piece. Notice the rivets, these needed to be removed by taking a drill and 3/8" drill bit and drilling out the head of each rivet. The pieces could then be separated.

I have gotten a quote from a great local seamstess, who can replace the vinyl for 25$ each seat+ material.
I will post more pics once they are recovered. I would rather do it right the first time, rather that repair them, paint them and have the issue again in a year or two.