Jay
Serious Thumper
Offline
SuzukiSavage.com Rocks!
Posts: 1445
Fort Worth, Texas
Gender:
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Ok, first off disclaimer: There are no pics with my post. Why will be evident soon enough. Short story: LOVE the mod; and I definately need work on my reupholstery skills.
I have been admiring Diamond Jim's seat mod for some time now, and finally decided to go for it, and do my own version. I have the one piece seat on my '08. Using an electric knife, I sliced off a generous portion of the seat foam up to the pillion. I decided not to do any mod to the pillion portion, as I was not going to move the rectifier. This left me with a foam ring with the center piece missing for the riders portion of the seat. To this I attached, using Elmer's spray adhesive, some high density foam, shaped to fit the left over foam ring. This high density foam was in the form of a sleeping bag mat, found in the camping section at Wal-Mart. Cost, about 5 bucks. I didn't use any of the expanding foam on the seat pan. Just the leftover original foam and the sleeping bag mat, cut to fit the ring. After about 20 minutes to allow the adhesive to set a little, I put two layers of batting over the revised portion; and began the process of recovering the seat. This is where I screwed up, and the reason why I haven't posted any pics. I made the mistake of starting at the rear of the seat, and working up both sides toward the front. My (il)logic here being that the rear of the seat hadn't been touched, the seat cover was already formed for that portion of the seat, and I could work the cover over the changed areas as I went. WRONG!! I should've started at the front and worked my way back. About the only thing I did do right in regards to recovering, was to invest $30 in an electric staple gun. The plan for now is to ride it this way for a few miles, and redo the recover on my next couple of days off.
The result? I can definately relate to Diamond Jim's statement about being "in" the bike as opposed to "on" the bike. I probably lowered my seat height about 2 inches. There is definately more of a saddle shape to it. There also much more of the spooning effect (couldn't we all use a little more spooning?) than there was before. I was only able to take about a 10 mile ride, but I definately like the position. I think DJ is right; you don't need more padding on the bike, you need less! Leaving the pillion as is made for better lower back support, as the leading edge of the pillion now hits me right about the middle of my low back. I may have to revise my seat lift mod. Not sure yet, but there may be, ahem, a little too much spooning on certain parts of the old anatomy. Some lowering in the front may fix that. I plan to ride it for a while as is, to get a feel for what else may need to be done. If it all settles in, then I won't change a thing. If I start singing a few octaves higher, then I'll lower the front of the seat.
The plan. Well, I will redo the recover the next time I get two days off in row, and can do the job without being rushed. I'll also take my wife up on her offer to help. I'll also be examining the bottom of my new seat to see if I do indeed need to put expanding foam on the seat pan. If it looks like it would bebefit from it, fine; if not, it stays as is. If that job looks better, then I'll post pics. For now, thanks Diamond Jim. The seat mod was a definate comfort success, if not an asthetic one.
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