Seat Foamectomy, not just for Miatas

I got me a tall fat bastard of a bike recently. I rode it for 1000 miles to make sure the annoyances were real. One of them was... I had a bitch of a time reaching the ground on uneven terrain and was a little intimidated by slippery dirt/mud/etc due to the lean angle I needed with the "one cheek sneak" required to stop the bike anywhere. So... lots of aftermarket has a seat solution for $350 to $800. But... that is like... exactly $350 to $800 more than I am willing to spend on some foam, plastic and spandex faux leather. So - I have wood rasp. I have stapler. I can always just stand up all the time if this doesn't work out . Begin surgery.

Before:

During:

After:

I ended up lowering the entire thing by 1" and then narrowing and lowering the "swale" part even more. Instead of a really thick, high angular seat it's now a smooth, sculpted seat with a wide flat perch near the back and a swale to drop into to put both feet down. I can get the balls of both feet balls down on flat ground. 3-4 hrs in the saddle today w/o a break says "success". It's actually pretty comfortable to sit in the new swale part too (although I only did that to make it easy to slide forward to reach the ground). The removal of the sharp angles and repeated test fitting using "me" made it fit "me" pretty nicely.

All win.

Nice. I've done Porsche 914 seats as well.

Nice Work

I did my 2010 F350 too. No more pinched nerves in the leg.

The raptor doesn't even have a seat pad.....pansy.

I'm thinking of going the opposite direction and adding foam. I'd like to find another factory seat to do it on in case my upholstery skills turn out to be lacking. But even that is expensive.

Nice job BTW.

Being comfortable for 3 to 4 hours on a motorcycle sounds like a dream to me. And how could a guy with an R1200GS say he can't afford some $800 seat?

I'm with Nick, I really want to try re-doing the foam on my VFR's seat to add some height, but I'm nervous about how it might turn out.

pres589 wrote: And how could a guy with an R1200GS say he can't afford some $800 seat?

It's an 8yr old GS I just got and still paid too much? Who the hell pays $800 for a seat on a 8k bike? That is 10% of the total value fer cryin' out loud.

I was a little worried about how it would turn out too and removing is easier than adding. I did come across a few DIYs of guys fabricating the entire foam insert and making their own cover while I was looking for success stories on removing material but I didn't really pay attention to the how part. If I can find them again I'll post up links.

EDIT: Oh, on my VFR-750 I had a Corbin front section my wife got me for my (long ago) birthday. I don't know what it cost but it was really a huge improvement over stock.

Nice work.

How are the attachments on the bottom of the seat? Just stapled in place?

I'm with Nick and Pres589, I need to add a little foam to my seat. Mine has a slight downward angle to it which means I end up banging my junk on the tank. (Insert all junk jokes now). I'm kinda lucky though in my seat already has a small tear so it needs to be recovered. I was thinking about going by one of the boat upholstery places near by and getting some material and giving it a go.

I've got about 45k miles on a Sargent on my VFR and it's been great. What I don't like is that it actually drops the rider about 3/4th of an inch vs. stock... and with a 36" inseam that's the last thing I needed.

My next bike is going to have some kind of provision for highway pegs. Like an R1200R with case guards to bolt pegs to when I go on trips.

Nice job, rad bike.

Awesome, GPS!

Tip for you guys that might consider doing something to your own seats: If your seat doesn't already have it, source some plastic sheet, heavier than saran wrap, but not construction grade, to put over the foam, before you for the seat cover. That way, there's a water barrier between the rain and the giant sponge.

pres589 wrote: I've got about 45k miles on a Sargent on my VFR and it's been great. What I don't like is that it actually drops the rider about 3/4th of an inch vs. stock... and with a 36" inseam that's the last thing I needed. My next bike is going to have some kind of provision for highway pegs. Like an R1200R with case guards to bolt pegs to when I go on trips.

Ooof. Yeah... that would be a lot of sore knees for long legs on the stock seat never mind going lower. Anytime my knees are bent more than 90 degrees I have to stop and stretch every couple hours or I can't walk the next day. The big GS Adventure is more your size than mine for sure.

octavious wrote: Nice work. How are the attachments on the bottom of the seat? Just stapled in place?

Yeah - it has about 100 T-50 stainless steel 1/4 staples in it. The cover is stretchy so when it went back on I just pulled it tight, stapled, and slowly worked my way from one end the other going side to side.

Before you add material - look underneath. Some bikes have adjustable notches or cams to add/lower an inch or so. This bike has one at each end so I can raise them independently... but for my 31" inseam there was no low setting low enough.

GSP-Thanks I looked but no such luck on mine.

Minidriver-my seat has a hole in the cover and I can see the plastic underneath (still intact at the moment). Is there perforated material that might reduce swamp but during the warmer months or long rides?

Also I've read that a camping pad can be used to add height. Anyone confirm that? I ask because it would be a whole lot easier to find a camping mat to cut up, then it would be to find a piece of foam the size of my seat.

RE: Foam

http://www.aviationsupplyonline.com/category_browse.em?category_id=244006

Stolen from another thread somewhere on this site