:agree: It's vinyl. The nicest vinyl you'll come across, but still, vinyl.
As for its weatherproofing... I use the rain cover for anything above an immediate shower or misting. I've actually gotten lazy enough during rainy season to keep the cover on the bike all the time-- since I also have the Ultimate backrests, I just "roll up" the front half of the cover off the driver's seat and wrap/tuck it behind the driver's backrest, then fold the passenger backrest (I have an RS) forward to hold the cover in place. When I need the cover in a hurry, it's right there, just roll it on. Does it look stylish? Heck no. But it works. :thumbup:
That said, I've gotten the bare seat wet plenty of times, and it always wipes dry. Like the folks above said, you need to REALLY soak the seat to get it wet. That's the upside-- the downside is, if/once the water soaks through into the cushioning, I imagine you'll never get it dry again. Thus why I still keep the cover handy.
BTW, here's a tip for the rain cover, at least on my bike: if you have a Beadrider or Airhawk cushion, put them *over* the raincover. Otherwise, you'll never get a good fit on the seat (you *can* put the cover over a Beadrider or Airhawk, but the edges of the cover won't come all the way down over the seat; not really a problem as you'd have to be in a *monsoon* to get enough water under the cover in that circumstance, but still not ideal).
But yeah, I wish Ultimate would come up with a *slightly* "roomier" cover. As it stands now, it barely fits on the seat, and I'm sure you can tear it if you're not careful (I've been fortunate not to).
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