custom seats or seat mods.

 I'm running a BMW R100GS with a slightly modified solo seat
and am considering possible seat improvements.

What I have now is a stock seat with a gel pad added and
some foam rubber cushioning between the seat pan and frame.
I'd modified the seat mount to allow a little bit of extra travel
as the pan moves up and down.

Right now, I'm good for 300-400 mile days but would like to
increase my comfort level and distance abilities.  It's also
very important to me to be able to get a foot down occasionally
for off-road riding, (29" inseam) so the seat has to remain
fairly narrow and low.

I think if I had my druthers, I'd start with a bare pan then build
it up and tear it down a few times using different materials
until I really got it right. Don't think I really have the time or
money for a project of this scope however, so it needs to
come out pretty good on the first try.

Anybody done any mods themselves, used any aftermarket
accessories such as Airhawk or had a custom seat made that
they're expecially happy with ?

Thanks for any thoughts on mods, shops or construction.

 Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:

I have a Russell Day-Long seat on my Concours.  It's pretty comfy
because it spreads the load out over a wider area.  The shape is what
makes it work, not the softness of the foam.

How much do you weigh?  Russell has a standard and a heavy-duty saddle,
the heavy-duty one is for folks over 225 lb IIRC, and has a built in
metal spring, whereas the standard saddle uses a plastic thingy to
maintain the shape.  I could be misremembering all this.

I do remember what I paid, it was roughly $600 all in, including
shipping.  Not cheap but when you're on a multi-thousand mile 10 day
trip you'd easily pay double that to make your butt-burn go away.

Anyway, what you need for ultimate comfort is something like an shaped
like an old-style tractor seat.

http://www.keynamics.com/images/Contoured-Tractor-Seat.jpg

Unfortunately that shape will work against you, with your short inside
leg measurement.

Lots of folks claim success having a local upholstery shop recover
their saddles for cheap, using better foam, presumably also carved to
shape.  According to one person on the SV mailing list an electric
carving knife is perfect for cutting seat foam.  I still have a couple
of large squares of very expensive Tempur-Foam that I bought for
re-doing my SV's saddle which I haven't yet gotten around to doing just
yet.  If you do want to do you own seat building, 3M spray adhesive was
recommended to bond the foam to the cover.

--
'01 SV650SK1  '99 EX250-F13  '98 ZG1000-A13
OMF #7

 wrote:


What can you do to lower the whole bike? A Dakar certainly would have
no exhaust pipe dragging problems.

I had Hang2 cut down my GS1100 seat, they got rid of the annoying
crotch pad and lowered the seat 2 inches, but that changed the
relationship between the seat and foot pegs, making my hip joints
ache.

Otherwise the flat seat was good for 300~400 mile days, even though
half the padding was gone.

 
The bike's already lowered as much as I'd ever want it to be.
Even with a bash plate, the underside takes more bashing than
I'd like it to. I want to be able to do stuff like creek crossings
and singletrack with it and still be able to exceed 300-400
mile days comfortably.

 


Dunno about Airhawk in particular, but I've tried various sorts of foam,
sheepskin, Etc, and so far the most comfortable long-distance seat I've sat
on has been an air-cushioned one. Can't remember where I got it or who made
it -and it's since died- but I've got a particularly bony backside and it
worked really well for me while it lasted.

One caveat: it allowed practically *no* air circulation and caused really
hot and sweaty conditions 'down under' on warmer days.

Some sort of cover that allowed air circulation between you and it would be
recommended.