Bill, I just got back from another test ride and that was my conclusion. I also decided that the pad will need to be inset into the original foam. It will be hard to cut out the area for it, but if done right, I could later swap in a gel pad for the rubber foam. I also think lowering me back down a notch will be better for my back.

I'm busy tonight, but I'll be tearing it down tomorrow...

Thanks Babyhog. Yeah, I originally tried shaping with a sanding disc pad on my drill. That was really hard to control, except on edges. Couldn't scoop with it or anything. The hand shaping is slow, but it does the trick!

I recently did this mod to my one piece, too.  Wanted to get more of a low profile curve in the rider seat pan and get it really low profile in the passenger seat since I never really ride two-up (wife's expecting).

I went through exactly what you were thinking about.  Used a serrated blade to remove a bulk of the material, then fine tuned with fine sandpaper (220 I think).

Thought about an older two-piece from a Savage, should bolt right on to the stock side tabs no?  Didn't get pics of the process for this one, but here's the before and after.




It works for now -- temporary anyway until I get a bobber type solo seat to put on 'er after paint.

Cheers!

Cavie wrote on 02/14/12 at 16:56:24:


Rear seat is Honda. Too big to suit me

AlphaBarney wrote on 02/14/12 at 15:50:05:


Actually, the front does but not the back.  Don't want to threadjack so posting new thread about old seat mods to fit on new generation Savage.

This is mostly a "me too", but perhaps useful to members thinking about modifying their OEM saddles.

I spent a few hours yesterday reshaping my (one-piece) saddle per mmosel, using a coarse Scotch Brite scouring pad as he suggests. It was a little slow, I suppose, but easy work, and easy to see what & where progress was being made. When I was satisfied with the reshaping part, I cut a piece of 3/8" carpet padding to place under the stock foam, to regain some of the height lost to scouring. I'm still working out the extra padding part - thinking about carving up a retired mouse pad to place under the stock foam behind the back part to push me forward. Passenger portion was left untouched.

But a fifty-mile ride yesterday afternoon confirmed a VAST improvement in comfort. Like most, I had no experience in doing this kind of thing, but it was very easy and even more effective than the seat lift mod I'd done previously. Laughably cost-effective and neophyte-friendly. mmosel is absolutely correct that getting some curve into the back of the seat is key, but reshaping the bottom as he did also contributes a lot.

I re-attached the cover using duct tape, which will be replaced with Gorilla tape (thanks gerald.hughes!) when I'm satisfied with the padding. BTW, it isn't necessary to completely remove the cover to do this mod; I left the staples in place at the rear of the passenger portion in order to ease reinstallation of the cover & keep things in alignment.

'Though I'm just a shade over 5'7", I'd still like to find a way to increase my personal ride height. A low saddle, with feet relatively forward, places too much weight on one's butt. Still, this mod produces a striking  improvement in comfort and I enthusiastically recommend it.

If you have one of those Surform..."cheese grater " type wood files,... they work foam pretty good...
...(messy though,.. do it outside)...