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.

post ride report, wrx adventure bike.

This was a posting on the wrforum, after the Utah ride in 10/09..


I'm back from the ride, & have to say, i think the x makes a great adventure bike. Here's why:

1. big knobbies on the front made the sand & mud riding easier.

2. twisties were much more fun.. i left my riding buddies way back.. even the bigger 650 hondas couldn't keep with me in the twisties.. & that with knobbies!

3. No problem with boulders, ruts, or any kind of gnarly terrain. I was planning to change out the wheels if they were a problem, but they weren't! If you're track racing on soft dirt, with lots of jumps, whoops, etc, maybe the 21" front would make a difference. But for multi terrain, dual sport adventure riding, the 17's were fine.

4. handling wasn't a problem.. twisties, deep sand, boulders.. i tweaked my suspension before i left, & am very happy with the result. I'm very soft on both compressions, & a few clicks softer than stock on the rebounds.

5. we got in to some fierce crosswinds in Utah.. they were puffing us all over the road between boulder & escalante. I stayed tucked down & the lower profile made the wind much easier. Wind is never fun, but the wrx handled it fine.

Compared to my faithful drz adventure bike:

1. wrx is lower & corners much better. I think i would have dropped the drz a time or 2 while stopped in the sand & getting going again.

2. marginally better fuel economy. I got between 50 & 60 mpgs with the drz, & have been right at 60 with the wrx.

3. long hill climbs on pavement.. drz could accelerate, wrx bogs down. But i realized i just need to shift more. The drz only had 5 speeds, & was already winding out at 60-70. downshift to 5th on the wr, bring up some rpms, & i could climb at speed. But the power definitely goes to the modded drz.

4. the wr feels much lighter & nimble. ..probably because the weight is lower, but it makes all the other handling characteristics seem lighter & more flickable.

5. Most of the other factors in my riding are a wash with both bikes.. luggage capacity, estart, reliability, etc.

6. general suspension. I was never really that happy with the drz's suspension.. i didn't spend any money on it, so i got what i paid for. But after a few minor tweaks on the wrx, the suspension is great.. especially after adding a few more pounds for gear & luggage. It soaked up the washboarding, flew through the sandy roads, & was surprisingly stable on the paved twisties. the drz always beat me up a bit on rough roads.

I'm not dissing the drz.. i think it is still a great bike, & a near perfect dual sport. But for me, the change has been positive. I don't miss the extra power, the height, or the weight. The stock suspension fits my size & weight, & i can carry everything i need.

So would i make a special point of buying an x over the r to make it an adventure bike? Probably not. But the pros & cons are really a wash, so whichever one you get will do the job. I got a good deal on my x, & thought i could swap out the wheels if it didn't perform. But with good knobbies, it performs admirably. The wrx makes a great adventure bike.

Another drz/wrx comparison.. first posted in advrider

This is a post i published in advrider soon after i got the wrx.. 


A comparison: wr250r/x and drz 400e

Many people have asked me to compare the wr to the drz, since i've had it for a couple of months, now, & have put a couple of thousand miles on it.

For 3 years i rode my faithful & reliable drz, covered many miles of various terrain, multiple states, & it started every time & never broke down or had to be towed or trucked away. So why would i change? Why break from such a good relationship?

As i'm getting older, i began to think i wanted something a little lighter, & a little lower. The drz is pretty tall.. i can only touch one toe at a time, & have dropped it many times on off camber ground or on high mounds or rocks. It also gets tiring picking up this heavy of a bike.

So i began to consider what i might get next.. i liked the husky's.. & thought the te250 would be adequate for me & my riding style. A buddy had one & i got to ride it. But i also liked the te610 for it's long distance worthiness. I began watching the threads on the yamaha wr250r, too, & was impressed with the technology & the reviews from owners. As i contemplated a more suitable ride for myself, i came to the conclusion that a 250 would be the way to go. It wouldn't have the power of the drz, but i could live with that.

I eliminated the bigger dual sports mostly for weight & height. I wanted to touch both feet at once.. i figured i would drop it less if i could touch both feet. I knew i might sacrifice some suspension clearance & fork travel, but that was the tradeoff i was willing to make.

I do day rides into various parts of arizona.. sometimes easy gravel roads, sometimes they can get rocky, rutted, muddy, steep or any & all combinations. I also like to do longer adventure rides.. cross state lines, explore known & unknown dirt roads, trails, & scenic places.

So i wanted something that would cruise the pavement at 60 for long sections, & even get up to 70 if necessary. I also wanted a lighter, more nimble bike for the majority of the riding i do during the week.

I also considered the klx250.. i knew someone who had that bike, & it seemed like a good balance of size & power, too.

So here are the results of my vigourous contemplations.. with the summary decision i ended up making.

KLX- good price, weight, little low on power, easy mods.

te250- great weight, trannie too close spaced, higher priced.

wr250- heavier, good power, wide range trannie, higher price range.

I leaned toward the yamaha.. mostly for the higher tech engine, the wide range transmission, & more power stock. The others didn't have all those combinations, so i decided to go with the wr. I had planned to begin looking for one early in 2010, & finish out the year on the drz. I was planning a trip to utah, & was considering the barstow to vegas ride, but the dates didn't work for me.

Then i saw a wrx on craigslist for a good price. It was an '08 with 220 miles! It was like new, & the guy wanted $3800 for it. I didn't hesitate, but bought it the day i looked at it.

The x is the sumo of the wr250's. It has 17" rims, a bigger front brake, & a black frame. I got 17" knobbies & set it up more for dirt. I've tweaked the suspension a few times, & this last ride i was very pleased with how it is set up. I've ridden it a few times on day rides, a 4 day adventure ride, & in various types of terrain.. deep sand, mud, boulders, loose gravel, & of course, pavement.

So how does it compare with the drz?

Power. No contest. The drz wins hands down. My E had the fcr carb, hot cams, a muzzy ti pipe, & could accelerate up the steepest grade. The wr will bog down in higher gears, but if you downshift & keep your rpm's up, it will climb the same hills at speed.

Weight. The specs on the bikes lists them very close.. the wr is listed wet, the drz e dry. But the weight on the wr is much lower, & it feels lighter & more nimble. It is lighter to pick up.. probably because of the lower center of gravity.

suspension. At first i was not happy with the suspension for the wr. But i think it wasn't broken in, with only 220 miles on it. Now that it is ~2k, & i have tweaked it a bit, it is much better. I could never get the drz dialed in for my weight & riding style. It was stiff. It cornered well in gravel, & hooked up in just about everything, but it beat me up in anything bumpy or washboarded. I just got back from a long ride on the wr in sandy, washboarded reservation roads. It was a dream! I looked down & could see the front tire bobbing up & down, while the handlebars remained steady. The suspension was really doing it's job. This isn't really a negative for the drz, it just didn't come set up for my weight & riding style. I could have spent some time & money & gotten it dialed in better for me, but i didn't. The wr i was able to tweak the clickers & get it to work.

Height. I had kouba links on the drz, & put the yamalink on the wr. I can touch both balls of my feet to the ground on the wr. There have been several times riding on the wr i think i would have dropped the drz.. in some deep, wallowy sand, hopping on boulders, & stopping on a ridge. I have been able to catch the wr, & because it doesn't feel as top heavy, i'm able to hold it up. My main problem is now my bike stand won't slide under the wr.

Controls. Even. The seat also.. i made up my own seat cover & transferred it to the wr.. i'm keeping that baby..

Maintenance. Even. the drz holds 2 qts of oil, the wr 1.4 qts. Air filters, spark plugs, tires, sprockets, chains are about the same.

Economy. I got mostly in the 50's on my drz.. 60mpg max on 50-60 mph long easy pavement. The wr gets about 10 mpg better in the same situations. I've gotten in the low 70's a couple of times, but mostly am in the 60's. Either of those is very acceptable.

Transmission. Wr gets the nod, here. That wide range trannie is very nice. If the drz had that, it might be the perfect dirt worthy adventure bike.

Reliability. Remains to be seen. Yamahas also have a good rep for reliability. They have some big tires to fill to be compared to the drz.

Price. I've got about the same in mods & initial costs on both bikes. I don't have any performance mods on the wr, yet. I might consider getting a FI programmer, pipe & muffler. But stock it is adequate for my needs.

Conclusion. For me, it has been a good change. If i was 25 instead of 55, or if i was 6'5" instead of 5'8", or if i weight 255 instead of 155, the drz might be better for me. But i haven't missed the power (ok.. a little). & the other factors outweighed it.

I'm not going to badmouth the drz. It is a phenomenal bike. It took me everywhere without a problem, & very economically. It has a tremendous fun factor.. it can accelerate very fast, & go faster than i want to go on knobbies. It is a little heavy in tight, technical terrain, but not overly so. It is easy to mod, maintain, & cheap to own.

I have found the stock wr to be adequate powerwise for my needs. Sure, you can always appreciate more power. But i also like the quiet of the stock wr muffler.. much quieter than the ti muzzy on the drz.. the stock drz muffler is pretty quiet, too.

Would i do it again? Yes. If i hadn't found the x, i would probably have gotten an R, since it is better set up for dirt with the stock rims. But my knobbies on the 17's have been surprisingly capable.. even better in sand & mud than the narrower 21's on the front. But i have no remorse over the change, & am still getting to know the capabilities of the little wr. I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a long adventure ride across the country, or to some single track in the mountains. I wanted a single, do it all bike, & this one has fit the bill for me.

Early review & comparison to the drz.

Here's a review i made of the wrx soon after i got it.. that way the comparison to the drz is still pretty fresh.


I bought the bike in july of '09.  It's an '08 wr250x with 220 miles! Here are some of my first impressions & observations. I've been riding an '06 drz for the last 3 years but wanted something smaller, lighter, & more high tech. I was very happy with the drz & still think it is a great bike. Anyway, here's my review.

Riding home from flagstaff. I rode about 50 miles after buying it. I came down oak creek canyon, which is full of paved twisties. I didn't really push it hard, since it is new to me, but i did go into the turns faster than i ever did on the drz. However, the drz was an E with full knobbies, while the new x is an sm. But the bike never had any problems & acted like i was going way too slow. The x is bone stock. The PO just removed the mirrors, everything else was as it was from the factory.

The next few days i was too busy working to go riding, but i did tinker with the bike some. I took off my acerbis rally pros from the drz, painted them black, & put them on the x. I removed the kickstand & clutch safety switch. I did the 'airbox flapper mod'. I set all the suspension settings to minimum, & backed off the preload. I changed out the handlebar with a higher one, & aired the tires to recommended pressure. I ordered some knobbies & a skid plate. I also raised the forks about 1/4", lowering the front for better handling.

I did go out for a short night ride to see how the lighting is. Very bright. The halogen headlight lights up the night very well. The dash guage is also nicely lighted.. doesn't blind you, but the backlit lcd is very visible.

On Friday i did a run to rimrock & took a back road on dirt. This road is graded, but is usually very washboarded & has some rocks & bumps. It's pretty twisty, too. I was very surprised that i was able to go nearly as fast on the x as i usually do on the drz. I thought the smoother tires would be less stable on the gravel & loose rock, but they hooked up pretty well.. as well as gravel can be. The bike soaked up the bumps very well.

This bike doesn't have the low end torque the drz has. If i'm in a higher gear, you can twist the throttle on the drz & it will start pulling. The x needs to down shift. But the wr has a true 6th gear! It isn't even practical to use unless you're doing 60. 1st is very low, too. On the drz you have to compromise on your gearing, getting low too high for better highway riding, or getting high too low for slower off road riding. The wr is a true wide range trannie. Low is very low, & high is very high. I don't see any reason to change it from stock.. it's already much wider than i'm used to. This is one of the major 'upgrades' from the drz. I'm already surprised how much of a difference it makes having the wider range in the transmission.

Yesterday i called wrtom (from TT) & he wanted to see the new bike. I wanted to ride it some more, so about 3:30 i rode out to Prescott. I took the freeway for about 30 miles to see how it did there. I had a pretty stiff headwind, & the big test: the climb at copper canyon. It accelerated fine & merged with the freeway traffic. I passed a few cars, then when the traffic cleared, i opened it up to see what it could do. The speedo measures high (they all do.. why?), & i got it up to 92 wot. Next time i'll take my gps & check real speed.

I started the copper canyon climb going about 75. The bike had no problems holding that speed, & it could accelerate in all but the steepest sections. I only had to downshift when i came upon another car passing a truck. I had to slow to about 60 & downshifted to 5th. But once the lane opened, i accelerated back up to 70 & up shifted to 6th. It is more powerful than i expected. Now on the drz, i can accelerate up the hill & go 80.. but remember it is geared much lower, & of course has a few more horses. But i'm happy with the power of the wrx. Perhaps on steep hill climbs off road, or deep sand i might miss the power of the drz..

Coming home from Tom's, it was dark & i went through Jerome & all the twisties on 89a. I pushed it a little harder, & was very impressed with the handling. Each curve i pushed a little more, until i just couldn't bring myself to go faster. The bike hugged the road & i never felt the tires lose any traction. I'm sure it will be much different when i put on the knobbies, but those sm tires are nice on paved twisties!

This coming week i'll be getting my knobbies & a skid plate, then i can take it off road & see how it does. But the power & handling are superb. ..much better than i expected. The suspension is softer, too. My drz was always a little stiff, even when i set it to the minimum.

The vibration is also very minimal.. less than the drz, which is famous for low vibration. Of course, we'll see if that increases when the knobbies are on. But on smooth pavement there is very little vibration.

The stock seat is bearable.. better than the stock drz, but still too narrow & hard. I will probably get another seat or mod this one. I like it a little lower toward the front for tight technical terrain, & wider on the back for cruising.

Brakes are tremendous! The x has a bigger front brake than the r, & it will stop! They felt very smooth & controlled.

The throttle response is very smooth. The drz with the fcr carb is a little smoother from idle to slow acceleration. There's a bit of a jump from idle to throttle on the wr.. probably the way the FI works. It's really only noticeable in the lower gears at slower speeds.