pilot's chair

[Dash Weeks]

Attachments :I also managed to finish my saddle yesterday. I'll make a chronicle of the process. First sit on Daryl's bike and find out just how big my a$$ really is. Whew that's a pretty big'un. Anyway then I removed the stock cover, then I drew my general imprint on the foam. What I wanted was to get a dish, but not one that would cause pressure points, not one that pressed me into the tank either. So I drew a prospective cut-out and went at it with an electric carving knife. Nice job... as I break my arm patting my back. Then I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics in Albuquerque to find a suitable cover. I found the most awesome perfect cover color that was meant to match my bike, in fact it is called Sandstone Khaki (how perfect). Not to mention that it was in a Scrap pile for like $2 a yard. I bought the whole chunk of it. Then I got some 1" thick low density foam; Seat Cushion foam. I went home and made a piece of the lower density foam to fit the dish perfectly, and it did. The I figured that I could make my dish even more pronounced and give Mrs. Dash a more cushy ride at the same time. So I cut a piece to fit on the passenger end of the seat and made a curved back to match the curvature of my backside. Actually I couldn't measure a radius that big with my ruler so I guessed, and it came out pretty good. Then, I got to thinking... How can I get a nice comfy ride with one of those dumb-fangled over-priced gel pads? HHMMM well my Mountain Bike USED to have one. Great fit and support and comfort in all the right spots. So I stick the gel pad under the 1" foam to check it out. Perfect. I don't have a hvy duty enough stapler so I was forced to bring it to an upholstery shop. GREAT MOVE! They glued all my stuff in place, then they put a 1/2" layer of really low density foam over everything to soften up the transition edges. Then they stapled it all together for me. That was @ B&M Upholstery in Santa Fe, NM. Not to mention that I dropped everything off at 3:30PM and picked it up completed at 4:25 PM. They charged me $30. Worth Every Single Lincoln. That seat came out so nice. I won't ever need a high dollar custom seat. But the proof is in the actual ride. I mounted it on Daryl's KLR and the first time my butt met that seat there love, real love. It was comfy, it supported my weight evenly, and perfectly. Best of all I don't slide all over that Old Hard Seat when getting aggressive in the dirt. I swear I have much, much better control of slides and the bumps are much easier to take. Daryl rode all day today and said that he wanted one just like it. Daryl's dad just bought a 2000 KLR ( am I an influence or what, naw these KLRs are just cool) and he rode with Daryl, noting that he wanted one too. The color doesn't match his bike so I'm safe from him confiscating it. NOPE I won't make one for you. But I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Here's some pics. I just got my new Pelican case for the rear. I just set it on Daryl's bike to see how it would look. I like it. The pics are a bit off in color and the transition and dish are hard to see but trust me, it is way nice. LaterZ Dash