Motorcycle seats: The quest for posterior bliss..

I don't know anyone over the age of 25 who thinks most stock motorcycle seats are comfortable for any length of time. So we make mods. We buy third party seats. We try fixes, covers, cushions, powders, underwear & magic lotions. But at the end of the day, our butts are still red & sore.

On my drz, I got the suzuki gel seat, first. It was a marginal improvement. The more i thought about it, the more i realized there was no way of improving things with the narrow seat. The gel seat is worse, because it is rounded.. so more pressure hits you in the middle. I can sit in a car for hours & not be as sore. I can watch tv for hours.. sit at the computer, etc. The main difference is the weight is spread out in the other chairs, but on the motorcycle seat it is concentrated in a small area.

I rode up to Utah the summer of 2008.. i was planning over 2k miles & a lot of sitting on the bike. I wanted a better seat. I had tried a bicycle gel seat cover, tying it over the back of the bike's seat. Again, marginal improvement. Then i got the idea of making my own sheepskin. I had a sheepskin seat cover that wasn't being used (well, it was on the car, but i pinched it for the bike). I snipped it up, put some fabric glue on the backing, glued a strap to the bottom & covered the strap with plastic tape. That over the gel bike seat cover was a little better, yet.





I rode that combination up to ogden, ut. A couple of long days of riding.. some dirt, some freeway.. It was better than what i had before.

In Utah, i planned a trip to montana & yellowstone. I knew there'd be more time in the saddle, so planned another mod. Then i stumbled upon this seat cover in walmart.. it's an ATV seat cover, with straps to tie it to the existing seat.



The foam was pretty thin, but it was wider. The problem was it just followed the contour of the suzuki seat. I found a political sign that was no longer needed. The election was over, & i don't know if the dude won or lost, but i cut part of the corrugated plastic sign up into 2 pieces, taped them together, then put it under the walmart seat cover.





This gave me added width, a little spring action from the plastic sign, & some length. I could slide back on the seat on longer hiway rides & get some support from my thighs.

For the grand finale, i put the sheepskin back on.





Now was the time for a test. How about riding 400 miles up into montana.. doing some single track.. some dirt roads.. but also lots of pavement. I rode for 3 days, camped in the forest, & tested the seat. It was a major improvement. The 'layers' helped dampen the vibration, another major factor in monkey butt. The added width spread out the weight, & the wool pile gave some added cushion & wicking action. The 3rd day i rode about 400 miles from montana back to ogden, ut.

I thought of improvements.. but short of more & thicker foam, nothing would add to it. More & thicker foam would also contribute too much to the height, & it was already about 1" taller.. but with the lower suzuki gel seat, it was still a little shorter than the stock.

So then i decided it was time to go home. It's about 600 miles from my Daughter's house in ogden to sedona, az. I left early in the morning & rode the freeway down past spanish fork.. about 100 miles. then i got on smaller highways, rode down to Bryce, then on some dirt toward Lake powell. I sat on that bike for almost 14 hrs.. clocked 560 miles, rode in rain for about 50 miles, & generally tested the seat in a variety of conditions.

It may not look pretty, but my butt thinks it's beautiful.

The walmart cover was about $17. I had the sheepskin cover, & had paid $15 or so for it, clearanced. there's still enough on it for a couple more covers. The plastic sign was free.. who says our politicians are good for nothing? I also bought a tube of liquid stitch.. too lazy to sew.. & the glue works great, anyway.

So this is my new adventure riding seat.. I take it off if i've got some gnarly dirt rides planned with local riding buddies.. but i've left it on for some of them.. as long as the added height isn't a problem, the seat is great.

Here it is on the wr: