Lazy boy leather seat.. continuing the quest for posterior bliss

Here's a follow up to my original seat post listed in the Feb. '10 archives.

I've been pondering how to make the seat on the wrx more comfortable.  One of the features of a better seat is a bit of cupping on the sides & back.  I also didn't want to make it too thick, & i wanted to have it go down in the front more so i could get lower in more technical riding conditions.

So here is my latest experiment.  I took apart the stock seat so i could use the seat pan.  Here are the rest of my materials list:

Kydex seat base..       $12
Gel seat pad...         $12
spray adhesive.         $15
leather coat..          $5
1/2" closed cell foam.  $0-$10

I found a gel seat pad at a department store.. it has the cross hatched gel insert in a seat shaped foam pad.  The leather coat i found at a thrift store.  I decided to make the seat leather.. i can put a waterproofing cover on it for rain, & i don't leave it out in the sun, much, & for $5 i can change it later if it breaks down.  I decided to go with kydex for the seat base, since it can be heated & shaped.. we'll see how it holds up.

I had replaced my seat with the spiral step seat, so i could do these mods without rendering the bike seatless.  I took the stock seat apart.. being careful to not ruin the cover or foam..  i just pulled the staples.

I cut a piece of closed cell foam from an old camping pad i had around.  I spray glued it to the seat pan, cutting out a couple of holes for some bumps in the pan.



I made the base out of kydex.  I heated it with a heat gun & slowly bent it into shape.. i just pushed on it on a cardboard box, smoothing out the bumps & doing the final shaping with my fingers.  I cut it to shape, using a 12" wide piece of kydex.  Then i just spray glued it to the foam.





The second picture shows the cupping on the sides & back of the seat.

I cut out the gel seat pad to the shape of the kydex base, then glued it up.  I also reglued the gel insert back into the foam indent.







I just used the cut offs from the seat cushion to fill in the rest of the seat.. spray glued them into place.. ready for the cover.





It's not pictured, but i also filled in the gap on the back of the seat, between the stock seat pan & the kydex.  I filled it with strips of the blue closed cell foam.. just for added suppport.

Now ready for covering.  I thought there should be a poly liner to keep the leather from rubbing on the foam & sticking, so i used the liner that came with the gel seat pad, cut it & glued it to the seat pan.





I trimmed the leather out in a rough shape of the seat.. this was a long coat, so there was plenty of room to trim.  I wasn't worried about the seams, but tried to minimize the seaming in the sitting area.



I used the spray glue to put the leather in place.  I started from the back, then pulled the sides tight & spot glued it.  I folded the leather where it went around the corners.. no cuts.  Because of the bends, there are some folds in the lower sitting area.  I would have had to cut & stitch the leather to take them out... too much work for my lazy boy seat.  I finished gluing the edges, then put some short screws around the perimeter as a better mechanical connection.





Here are my design criteria, & the factors i considered for the design.

1.  Cupped kydex seat base.  This adds support & spreads the weight & pressure points around the sitting area.  The sitting area is no longer on the 'sit bones'.  This is probably the most important part of the seat.  The kydex is easy to heat & shape, is pretty durable, & adds additional 'springyness' on the outside of the stock seat pan.

2.  Gel seat.  Thick foam is not necessary.. just a thin layer of foam with the gel should be adequate.  This keeps the height down.

3.  Seat toward the back.  When riding longer roads, it's easier to sit further back, so i wanted the bigger seat toward the back.  This also keeps the dirtable part of the seat functional.  It is even lower than the stock, now, so i can slide forward & down for more technical riding, or faster cornering.

4.  Leather seat.  This was mostly a choice of opportunity.. i saw the coat at the thrift store, & thought it would make a good seat cover.  I don't care for the gripper seat so much.. i like to slide up & back for changing riding conditions.  I also figure to put a leather conditioner that waterproofs it some, for those rare times i get caught in the rain.  It should also breathe a bit better than vinyl.. not as good a sheepskin, but better than vinyl.

5.  Closed cell foam pad.  This was for additional vibration dampening, better contact on the seating area, & a better base to attach the kydex seat pan.

Time will tell how it works.  I will follow up with additional comments as i test it on rides.