--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Crandell" wrote:
>
> You bring up an interesting question: Has anyone built their own
> seat? If so, what works and what doesn't? I saw Dr. Gregory's
> custom seat in the latest MCN, and I thought.. "Yeah, no why don't
I
> do something like that?" I have a dipped Corbin that I like, and
> would use on any off-road rides, but would like to make a touring
> saddle like a Russel, but without the $$ involved. Can I just find
> some good foam, and then have an upholster make a cover??
>
> Just fishin' for ideas, winter up here is WAY too long..
>
> Ron in MN
I JUST got done doing this to my seat, but have been waiting to ride
it up to Oregon for a full report on how comfortable it is. As a
matter of fact, I pick it up in a couple of hours. But here is what
I have learned thus far.
My first idea was to go the cheaper and better way (if you ask me)
and just MAKE my own damn seat. I wanted the same stock shape, with
a few mods. I wanted it a bit taller in front, where you sit most of
the time, I wanted it a bit wider, just a touch as to not mess up the
off road narrowness of the stocker, and I wanted it firmer for sure.
The seat, on long trips, is the ONLY thing holding me back from doing
longer days. The best that I have done was 800 miles, and that was
after riding for 600-700 miles the last 3 days prior. My arse just
could not go on anymore.
So what I did was study foams online, and decided to settle on some
expensive "memory" foam that is used in pilots seats, hospitable
beds, wheelchairs and the like. Using the info from Eldon's sight
and others, where they talked about using triple density foam, (three
seperate layers, three different foam density's) I spent $45 on a
bunch of great foam...........I thought, and $25 on a square yard of
really nice new marine grade vinyl. I took my old vinyl off, bought
a $12 electric knife, cut down my stock foam to within a 1/4 inch of
the seat pan, and then got frustrated with all the many little
details of how to cut, mold, glue, and build up my new seat. So I
took the seat and new foam and new vinyl to a local upholsterer
that's been doing this stuff for decades, dropped it off, and
explained what I wanted.
A few days later when I called him to see how it was going, he said
that a customer happened to come buy to drop off a bunch of KTM seats
to be covered. This guy just by chance is in the business of having
guys send him dozens and dozens of seats every month to his house
where he completely tears them down and rebuilds them for about
$400. He just does the hard part and then brings the seats to the
upholsterer to have him cover and staple them. He is a perfectionist
like me and does very nice custom work. Anyway, he saw my seat
sitting there, and the foam that I had selected, and told the owner
of the shop to have me call him. He knew what I wanted, and knew
that the foam that I bought would not work, and wanted to save me a
headache dealing with it. (he said that the foam although really nice
at first, would compress down till very hard and would feel like the
pan again after many miles)
I called this guy and talked to him for an hour on the phone, then
went to his house for another hour and talked about nothing but bike
seats. I let him take over the job of my seat, explained what I
wanted and basically let him just make the decisions of what to do.
He put in some new foam, not much firmer than stock, (I don't know
why) then a really nice and expensive gel pad, then covered it all up
with a layer of neoprene, then my new purple marine grade vinyl. The
cost was another $300. (he cut me some slack)
I got the seat back and tested it on the ESR II trip which was about
500 miles of highway riding and about 100 off-road miles. It was
better, but only by about 5%. I wasn't impressed.
He said at the very beginning of this project that we may have to do
this a few times to get it perfect and that he didn't mind spending
the extra time to do so. We figured that others could benifit from
the formula later. I gave him the seat back and months later, after
my hand surgery's, his knee surgery, my vasectomy, and blah blah
blah, I finally needed to get my seat back for my 6 week Oregon trip
that I am leaving for on Saturday.
Now during all of this off time, I got to thinking about what I
really needed and wanted in a seat. I realized that as long as I was
around my neck-o-the-woods, which is the majority of my riding, and
off-road riding too, around here or not, that the stock seat for the
most part was just fine for me. It was just too soft. I also
realized that for long hauls or big mileage days, which I seem to be
addicted too at times, that the stock seat was a big let down.
During high mile days, I wouldn't mind the stock seat being taller,
wider, and more comfortable, both firm and plush. I realized the
pluses of having 2 seats to switch back and forth from like Pat does,
but I didn't want to do that. For the ultimate, I wanted 2 different
seats, and I wanted them both with me at all times. So how do I do
that?
What I decided to do was to have my seat built up to what I
originally wanted, but with the right foam, and no gel. I stopped by
the guys house last week just to see how it was going, and he ended
up building my seat while I was there, and I got to ride his KTM 640
too. He built up my seat with a thick layer of very firm foam ontop
of the thin layer of stock foam that I had left on it to keep the
holes, valleys, and voids of the seat pan filled. Ontop of that he
put two layers of softer foam to build height mainly in the area that
comes up to the tank, and then trimmed and shaped it to the same
basic stock seat demensions that I had with me on the bike. Then he
wrapped one big piece of foam that was even softer over the whole
thing. He then just placed a big piece of neoprene over the seat,
then a piece of vinyl, and we put the seat on my bike so that I could
sit on it and see how it felt. I had him do this and that, making
little adjustments here and there till we had what I originally
wanted. It felt sweet. It was just a tad taller only in the area
where you sit mostly, just a tad wider there too, and much firmer.
The rest of the seat looks basically stock, like the rear meeting up
with the rack, and the horn in the front that meets the tank. The
edges are even pretty close to stock too which I like, getting wider
as your go back on the seat.
For the highway, I also purchased a super sweet deluxe piece of
sheepskin from Alaska Leathers that covers the whole horn on the
front of the seat, and goes back to within 1 or 2 inches of the rear
of the seat. This cover once mounted on in a few seconds, will make
the seat even taller, and wider, super plush, while being warmer in
the winter and cooler in the summer. When I get to where I am going
on the highway, I will just pop off the sheepskin and use my revamped
seat that is under the sheepskin. Presto chango, I now have 2 seats
that I can carry with me, and I also now have the softest pillow for
when I'm camping too.
I'll keep you all updated on how it goes during my trip.
MrMoose
A8 (Barbie and Ken special)