Seat shape ?

[slimwilly]

I am in the process of making an over seat sponge,foam cover,vinyl covered.


It is for comfort ,touring,distance, and on my Gen2 1000 .


So what , where is the biuld up,shape needed, and also not,,middle,forward,width ?


any ideas of anyone who bought new seats,covers,,what made it better,more comfortable?

[JoeRock]

This isn't specific for the 1000, but in general for a touring seat you want quite firm foam, and you want it nice and flat, so the whole of your butt shares the load rather than there being one wedge that cuts in.

I think I'd be likely to go for a 2, or perhaps 3 layer seat - thin gel cushion on the top (you can even buy heating elements now if you wanted a heated gel seat for the winter?), a lighter foam next and then a firmer foam on the bottom.


From what I can remember of the FZ1 seat, the reason it's just not that comfy is because it's just thin and hard!

[slimwilly]

Seems like sense,try to flatten a bigger area for my bum,


the FZ1s seat narrows lots at the front, i do find myself moving forward on it.

[slimwilly]

First i have cut a piece of rubber backed door mat to sit on the original seat.


Then i will build up the foam onto this



So i purchased some firm base foam and raised the front and widened it a little.

Details seat foam1

seat foam1

Then stick a nice lump of rubber foam onto that,making the pad a bit bigger (just a little)

Details seat foam2

seat foam2

[slimwilly]

Details seat foam3

seat foam3

Details seat foam 3a

seat foam 3a

Details seat foam4

seat foam4

[slimwilly]

Details seat foam 5

seat foam 5

Details seat foam 6

seat foam 6

Details seat foam 7

seat foam 7

[slimwilly]

So now the seat is level and wil slope slightly back to to bum bases

[red98]

hey slim.....you use a chain saw to cut the chip foam    .....best tool for that is swmbo`s electric carving knife   

[Skippernick]

Liking this slim, very interested in how it works out.

[slimwilly]

yes, just a first try for now,,but i can tell you it is a huge improvement, may look heath robinson buti will be sat on it

Details seat1

seat1

Details seat2

seat2

Details seat3

seat3

Now when i am riding my inner thighs are level and make good contact with the seat,taking some of the weight,


The front now is about 2" higher than before and the rear of the seat about 1/2 to 3/4" higher,squarer too.


The polythene is cut out after sticking the vinyl to the pad so the rubber mat sits on the original seat ,the firm foad sits right to the tank ,so no forward movement.


And the vinyl complete pad secures itself to the seat and can be removed easily.

[slimwilly]

The finished seat cover

Details finished2

finished2

Handily hooks onto the seat support pads.

Details finished3

finished3

Details finished4

finished4

Details finished5

finished5

Details finished6

finished6

Details finshed7

finshed7

As you can see it is alot higher at the front now

[ogri48]

Nice one bill. Me and the missus use airwolfs on a long run, same principle I guess but a lot more cost. There good though, and you can swap them from bike to bike

[slimwilly]

Yes,swapping them bike to bike,,,good idea,once you have a pattern,it gets easier

[slimwilly]

Did about 140 miles on it today,,much better for my boney bum

[flesh]

I originally thought about doing what you have done and making my own seat but realised I was totally inept.
Eventually invested in a custom seat made by Tony Archer which I acquired for a small fee from another Foccer.
Fantastic seat which is about 4cm taller than the stock unit but once your arse sinks into it you do not notice the difference in height.

[Davidjw]

I think these things like screens are personal , we are all built differently , because I used to do a lot of push bike riding , on a hard seat , I find my standard seat very comfy even for 600 miles in a day , always interesting to see how others get round things and then try a few things see what works

[slimwilly]

I tried Nicks Gen 1 seat last week , it feels good, the shape is much more even,flatter,more bench than narrowing ,we do need a bit more to sit on.


I may pop back to the upholsterer who i got some foam off and ask him if he could fabricate a cover from vinyl,,it is easy to make the basr to the desired shape, just need a tidy cover.