How do you guys make your seats more comfortable

[andysadd]

After a nice 150mile trip on the FZ6 Fazer my rear is aching from probably the most uncomfortable seat ever! how do you guys improve the seats?

Andy

 

[Geoff]

After a nice 150mile trip on the FZ6 Fazer my rear is aching from probably the most uncomfortable seat ever! how do you guys improve the seats?

Andy

Corbin makes a great seat. Try finding a used one they are well worth it.

 

[trougnouf]

Are the Top Saddlery seat covers any good? I noticed it while looking for a seat (about 500$, I will never be able to afford that!), it was only 60euros but I couldn't find any information on them, they could only be decorations for all I know.

 

[RJ2112]

After a nice 150mile trip on the FZ6 Fazer my rear is aching from probably the most uncomfortable seat ever! how do you guys improve the seats?

Andy

The cheapest fix I know, is to have the seat foam replaced. If you have an '05, that foam is 5 years old. Find an auto upholstery shop, and price out a big enough piece of foam to replace what is on your current seat pan. If you're feeling adventurous, all you need to do is pull the staples from the underside of your OEM seat to remove the vinyl cover, and the foam will fall right out in your hands.

Use that foam for the model for the new, replacement foam. You can easily cut seat foam with a bread knife.

Once you shape it to suit you, you can then staple the cover back over the new foam onto your old seat pan.

If you want the shop to do it for you, you will of course pay them for their labor and experience. Plus materials. The end result will be just as comfortable as what you can spend with Corbin, or Top Saddlery.... but it's likely to be shaped very nearly the same as the OEM seat, due to re-using the OEM seat cover.

They could price out a custom cover for your seat, as an option, which would of course raise the price. Then, they could reshape the seating area any which way you can think of.

A local guy to you, who you can work with over the course of a day will do far better getting it just right than doing it all by mail order.....

 

[lonesoldier84]

I usually only keep half by butt on the seat at a time.

 

[yamahaha]

when i bought my bike the guy said the seat was an aftermarket yamaha gel seat which i hated...luckily he included the oem one which i find very confortable even two up.

 

[ANLR21]

Bought a spare on fleaBay for $30, carved it to better fit my bony butt. Rather easy to pop the staples about 1/2 way on the seat, fold the seat cover back, just trial and error after that. It was a pain finding a staple-gun strong enough to re-shoot the staples into the seat base, but it was definitely worth the trouble.

I ended up taking a fair amount out of the seat area, which lowered it somewhat, and narrowed it quite a bit from the middle forward. A LOT more comfortable for me, others FZ6-ers that have tried it all approve. I've done 300-400 mile runs with no complaints, at least about the seat. A cheap solution, and it's worked well for me.

Good luck.

 

[SANGER_A2]

After a nice 150mile trip on the FZ6 Fazer my rear is aching from probably the most uncomfortable seat ever! how do you guys improve the seats?

Andy

I have a thread stickied above this detailing how I shaved mine to let me sit lower and then further back. I then used a gel numnah off Ebay on top of it (this bit is not shown in the thread). It would have been better if I had cut a recess for it to sit in in the foam as it has moved a bit to the side in a year. Still really comfy though. I've basically got about 3cm of stock foam and then 3cm of very soft gel to sit on and it is great. I'd like it to be a teeny bit lower TBH. I may look into getting JUST gel on there for the rider's seat!

 

[interactive3]

On long rides cycling liner shorts with padding worn under pants do a great job.
Something like this:
Pearl Izumi Elite Versa Liner Short at Price Point

 

[andysadd]

Thanks everyone some great suggestions there, Need to ride 270 miles in two weeks to get my bike from home in England to my workplace in Northern Ireland so will have to get a soloution pretty quick!, Now dare i unpick those staples?

Andy :thumbup:

 

[RJ2112]

Thanks everyone some great suggestions there, Need to ride 270 miles in two weeks to get my bike from home in England to my workplace in Northern Ireland so will have to get a soloution pretty quick!, Now dare i unpick those staples?

Andy :thumbup:

Needle nose pliers..... you'll never go back.

 

[neos]

I never felt the need to make them more comfortable. I have a factory standard seat and did a 5000km return journey last month without feeling too uncomfortable.

 

[clunk]

If you haven't torn apart your seat yet (and don't want to), you might try an Airhawk seat pad as an alternative. The cruiser medium size fits the front part of our seat quite well and has been very comfy.

 

[markustyson]

After tampering with my stock seat for 2 years, I finally gave in and got a used corbin. Best thing ever. Takes a while to break in but after adding, removing and shaving foam for the stock seat, I have come to the conclusion that FIRM and SHAPE is better than soft; hence the corbin.
Memory foam sucked for me. I think the best would be to add gel, as it keeps its form.

The most comfortable that I had the seat was by shaving it and adding firmer foam to it; the kind that you use as carpeting underlay.

Hope that helps.

 

[DefyInertia]

wear padded bicycle shorts under your leathers.

 

[RJ2112]

After tampering with my stock seat for 2 years, I finally gave in and got a used corbin. Best thing ever. Takes a while to break in but after adding, removing and shaving foam for the stock seat, I have come to the conclusion that FIRM and SHAPE is better than soft; hence the corbin.
Memory foam sucked for me. I think the best would be to add gel, as it keeps its form.

The most comfortable that I had the seat was by shaving it and adding firmer foam to it; the kind that you use as carpeting underlay.

Hope that helps.

I'm in agreement about the foam.... softer will just trap your posterior in one position, and kill circulation. Firm is much better so you can shift around and change the pressure points.

 

[600rider]

you might try an Airhawk seat pad as an alternative.

You should give airhawk a try. It is excellent for long distance hwy runs (i.e. 1000km+) where your body remains relatively static, but not so great on the twisties when you slide your butt from side to side.

 

[pedge1]

I had Frank at this site http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php to rework my seat, best $75.00 I ever spent on the bike. Get the Supracore material. I also ordered an Alaska Butt Pad. With the mod and pad, I can now ride all day with very little discomfort!!!