Why is my seat melting?

[mstevens]

No, it's got nothing to do with burritos...

The vinyl of my seat is becoming soft and sticky up near the tank. It's sticky enough that if I ride in jeans, fibers will remain stuck there. That area is also more dull and grey than the rest of the seat. Over time this seems gradually to be getting worse.

It's not hot here. Lately it's mostly been in the 70's fahrenheit. The bike lives in the cool barn when it's not at work. I don't think I've spilled anything sticky on the seat and have never parked under trees (there are none in the lot at work or in the barn). In any event, I've cleaned it a few times with S100 which seems to make no difference. I've never spilled fuel there, but I bought the bike with almost 600 miles on it, so I suppose the original owner might have. In any event, I'd expect a motorcycle seat to be a little gasoline-resistant.

Has anyone else seen this? Any ideas what to do other than buy a new seat? I'm perfectly happy with the seat apart from this.

[mitt]

Never heard of this one before.

Sure you didn't get something on it, like oil or brake fluid?

mitt

[herm]

sounds like glue of some sort coming up through the vinyl

[Adamm0621]

The previous owner might have spilled some gas on it, or it could be the glue coming through the seat. 

[Rameses]

Does it have any kind of smell to it?

[Porsche Monkey]

It sounds like it may be reacting to a cleaning agent or wax that you are using.

[mstevens]

Does it have any kind of smell to it?

Nope.

[mstevens]

It sounds like it may be reacting to a cleaning agent or wax that you are using.

I'm sure others have used S100 on a Monster seat. That's the only cleaning agent I've put on it. I've never used wax.

[Rameses]

Nope.

What about taste?  Does it taste like anything?

[Delmar]

Hey!  I had exactly the same problem with my Monster 750.  I bought it brand new from GP Motorcycles in San Diego (I lived in San Diego for three years).  Anyway, I asked around and no one had an answer for my problem.  I never washed the bike with water, I used only Plexus on the whole bike.  I told Paul Lima (the owner of GP) and he told me they used Plexus to clean all their bikes at the shop and had never encountered any problems.  

Eventually I had to replace the seat because it would always make my jeans stick to the seat.  I never found an answer as to why the OEM seat melted.  I kept using Plexus on the new seat and nothing ever happened.  

However, the seat of my 999 seems to have developed some issues as well.  I have only used S100 to clean the bike and the seat looks different from other bikes' seats I've seen around (i'll post some pictures of the seat).  The seat is not melting this time but I think that some chemicals might have some effect on some parts of only some bikes.  

Anyway, if you need to replace your seat and live in San Diego, let me know.  The guy who did my seat was pretty good and not that expensive.

Delmar

[stopintime]

I'm guessing, just guessing that the plastic film under the seat cover is loose and misplaced, allowing glue through the cover.
Cheaper and quicker to get a new/used than to fix it?

[mstevens]

What about taste?  Does it taste like anything?

I'll leave determination of that up to someone else.

[Rameses]

I'll leave determination of that up to someone else.

Damn.  It was worth a try anyway.

[IZ]

My bike has been in AZ, FL and now TX.  Never had any issues with a melting seat in the extreme temps but it does have a shiny-like appearence to it now.  Not sure if the heat did that or the amount of time spent on the saddle?! 

[55Spy]

MAybe you just get REALLLY excited when you ride and leave a bit O the ole DNA behind after every ride.