Friday, November 6, 2015

That F#*king seat?

Well if you'd been following my ass kicking ride to Phillip Island then you know that I have had a few issues so to speak touring on this R1. Yeah I hear you say it not a touring bike so why did you buy it. Well to start with I do very little touring these days more like one day or two day rides so the touring was a 17th consideration on the list when I purchased the bike. But I still need to tour on the thing, that is certain so how can I keep my track bike suitable for riding on the road and riding long distance. There's plenty of options out there like Taping some plastic bubble wrap to my seat(thanks Geoff James) or I could get an Airhawk seat cover, buy a comfort seat from Yamaha for $500 or get the seat re-upholstered.

Here is the offending item. This fucking little bastard has caused me no end of trouble on my MotoGP trip.


15mm of foam, sit on that and it's probably more like 5mm
Ah what to do what to do. Well one thing is for sure if I'm riding more than 2 days I can't ride on this little torture device. So it was ripped off the day after I got back from MotoGP and taken to a re-upholsterer so I can get a gel pad insert and some extra foam put in. Hopefully this will relieve the sore ass on the long distance rides. Only time will tell. I can always buy a seat from a wreckers to replace this one if needed but some how I don't think I need to torture myself any longer.



From the pictures above you can see how much extra padding is now in the seat. The padding is about 25-30mm thick in the centre which is double what it was. Only thing to do now is go and try it out. Hopefully this is the fix I've been waiting for. I'll soon report on how it goes.

15 comments:

  1. The true definition of getting butt hurt. Hope the seat is more comfy for you. Can't be worse right?

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    1. Er yes, I was butt hurt heh heh, your right can't be worse. It has to be better, dear god please make it be better....

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  2. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "hard arse "!

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  3. A better seat can make all the difference when touring. I had one custom made for my Sporty, and can sit in the saddle up to without any problems. Good luck!

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    1. Hopefully this will make all the difference Sonja.

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  4. well i hope that mod does a bit for relieving the butt pain steve

    its a terrible thing being uncomfortable on a ride like that

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  5. Nothing is worse than when the 'sit bones' are singing the song of agony. My old bike had the most butt compatible comfort, my new bike kills me after 2 hours of riding and it is the bike I am going to tour on, eitjer I need to get a new custom seat, gel seat or sheepskin pad because touring will not happen on my mechanized torture instrument. Hope your new padding makes a difference.

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    1. Yep the seat was killing me, I went out for a ride on saturday for about 4 hours and it seemed to be a lot better, but still thats not a long ride so its hard to tell yet. I've a ride coming up so we will see how it goes. I may still set it on fire yet!

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  6. The low seat BMW I rented in NZ had the hardest seat I've ever ridden on, like sitting on a brick! I was uncomfortable at leat half of every day to the extent that it detracted from my concentration.

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    1. We had the same bikes buts I'm not sure if it was the low seat or normal and I found it to be quite comfortable, but I'm comparing that to an R1 seat of course.

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  7. The shape of some seats seems to cause me discomfort more than the padding. The Bandit I rented in NZ had a thick seat but the angle shape made it apply pressure in a way that was unbearable. The FJR on other hand has a firm seat yet I can spend all day on it.

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    1. Hi Warren
      I hadn't actually thought about that at all, I guess its possible that could also be a problem. It's pretty hard to work out whats actually causing the issue but I'm sure some extra padding can't hurt.

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  8. I can relate to a bad seat. Yamaha isn't the only one to have bad seats. The Kawasaki had what was basically a piece of lumber with a vinyl cover. Making it worse was the seat was slanted forward, making the "boys" get crushed into the fuel tank with every bump. Thankfully, a comfy seat from a C-14 is a super easy swap. No more sore butt or crushed naughty bits... LOL

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