5th Gen. 98' VFR800 w/ stock OEM seat.. painful to ride.

I think my stock seat is keeping me from riding.. unless it's the shape of the fuel tank on the back end. 😒

I can't get comfortable,as I just keep pressed-against/sliding into the tank when I'm on the bike and it's putting alot of pressure on my sensitive areas.

I'm 6' 1" and 225lbs.

I love everything else about the bike,although the seating position is:not good. 😑

The PO told me he was looking for a better seat,at one time;I think his Wife had been working on him for years:keeping him from riding this 'Very Dangerous Bike' .. so he never dealt with the seat,imo.

He owned it for 13 years;bought it with 7000 miles from the orig. owner,and it has less than 20,000 miles presently.

Help me out with some advice please.

I don't know if it's the shape of the rearmost part of the tank,or.. 🤔 but I'm strongly considering selling it because of this problem.

Hi.

Feel your pain bro.

My 99's vastly modified but I still take strong painkillers to make a ride bearable, my hips aren't the best these days.

I've owned umpteen different bikes over the last 40 odd yrs, Honda defo got the riding position way wrong when these bikes were designed, bars far too low, pegs too high, no way can a 5th Gen be considered a touring riding position without some major mods, 5th Gens are near as dammit the same riding position as CBR600F2 & 3's from the same era, which are considered a sports bike of sorts, owned an F3 for 10yrs so I know from experience.

For more comfort, many have junked the OEM clip on bars & fitted a top yoke mounted higher rise conventional bar setup of some type, this alone will sit you more upright, if you choose this route, do you're research, as many bar & mount combo's won't work within the fairing/cockpit area without bar to fairing contact.

I found a great combo that works well & looks factory fitted & not silly money either, if you want details of my setup, PM me & i'll share my findings & take some pics.

I no longer get the crushed Crown jewels syndrome due to being sat several degrees more upright, stomp grip or similar on tank sides helps massively under braking, grip tank with inner knee area, you should be using your legs to grip the tank cornering & under braking, unless you're going a t it Moto GP style with inside leg flailing around, WTF is that all aboot? maybe you're not used to gripping the tank under braking? but it's the recommended way apparently, read up on it, plenty vids around explaining pros /cons all about it if of interest?

Grippier seat cover might help restrict sliding forward,  I prefer to take a smallish tank bag, hence I have a padded Bagster cover setup for tank bag to clip onto, gives some padding for comfort & protects tanks paintwork.

Not a great deal you can do with peg position, Sebspeed used to make some trick looking adaptor plates, which kinda mimic the better 6th Gen style, not cheap but they might suit? or fit some fugly peg lowering adaptor mounts, these are a bit crap at best, they screw up the foot to lever position push the feet out away from the bike somewhat, making it difficult to use the foot levers, bike's not designed with much usable lever adjustment range, OEM 5th Gen peg mounts plates are a complete cock up IMHO, 6th Gen is a way better idea, wtf were Honda thinkin, cleary thought every rider will be be built like a 5ft 3" 9st cowboy test rider .... most of us are around 200lb ish & 15-18st, shock spring is piss poor too, you need a 1200lb spring minimum if you're 200lb plus. 👍

My 8th gen got uncomfortable after 15k miles, I had it redone in non slip cover and the seat height raised by an inch, different foam inside as well, it transformed the ride

If you no longer carry a passenger I’d be looking at getting a spare seat and having that redone just to suit you, I saw a beautiful job someone had done where the passenger seat was slowly raised to form a nice hump to push your ass against, no photo tho

Sargent seats are a good alternative.  I tried the Corbin and it was incredibly uncomfortable.  The Sargent is very comfortable and supportive and, along with the tank pads keeps me from suffering when braking hard.  This video was taken for the audio but you can see the seat as well.  And the tank pads.  

1 hour ago, interceptor69

Sargent seats are a good alternative.  I tried the Corbin and it was incredibly uncomfortable.  The Sargent is very comfortable and supportive and, along with the tank pads keeps me from suffering when braking hard.  This video was taken for the audio but you can see the seat as well.  And the tank pads.  

20230708_083305.mp4 186.02 MB · 0 downloads

I had a Sargent's OEM modified seat on my 86' 1st Gen. VFR750F back in the late 90's and it helped very much.

I like the look of your Sargent's seat;looks like they gave you plenty of neutral/flat area to pull back into.

3 hours ago, Gaz66

Hi.

Feel your pain bro.

My 99's vastly modified but I still take strong painkillers to make a ride bearable, my hips aren't the best these days.

I've owned umpteen different bikes over the last 40 odd yrs, Honda defo got the riding position way wrong when these bikes were designed, bars far too low, pegs too high, no way can a 5th Gen be considered a touring riding position without some major mods, 5th Gens are near as dammit the same riding position as CBR600F2 & 3's from the same era, which are considered a sports bike of sorts, owned an F3 for 10yrs so I know from experience.

For more comfort, many have junked the OEM clip on bars & fitted a top yoke mounted higher rise conventional bar setup of some type, this alone will sit you more upright, if you choose this route, do you're research, as many bar & mount combo's won't work within the fairing/cockpit area without bar to fairing contact.

I found a great combo that works well & looks factory fitted & not silly money either, if you want details of my setup, PM me & i'll share my findings & take some pics.

I no longer get the crushed Crown jewels syndrome due to being sat several degrees more upright, stomp grip or similar on tank sides helps massively under braking, grip tank with inner knee area, you should be using your legs to grip the tank cornering & under braking, unless you're going a t it Moto GP style with inside leg flailing around, WTF is that all aboot? maybe you're not used to gripping the tank under braking? but it's the recommended way apparently, read up on it, plenty vids around explaining pros /cons all about it if of interest?

Grippier seat cover might help restrict sliding forward,  I prefer to take a smallish tank bag, hence I have a padded Bagster cover setup for tank bag to clip onto, gives some padding for comfort & protects tanks paintwork.

Not a great deal you can do with peg position, Sebspeed used to make some trick looking adaptor plates, which kinda mimic the better 6th Gen style, not cheap but they might suit? or fit some fugly peg lowering adaptor mounts, these are a bit crap at best, they screw up the foot to lever position push the feet out away from the bike somewhat, making it difficult to use the foot levers, bike's not designed with much usable lever adjustment range, OEM 5th Gen peg mounts plates are a complete cock up IMHO, 6th Gen is a way better idea, wtf were Honda thinkin, cleary thought every rider will be be built like a 5ft 3" 9st cowboy test rider .... most of us are around 200lb ish & 15-18st, shock spring is piss poor too, you need a 1200lb spring minimum if you're 200lb plus. 👍

Yes, I can relate to the poor position of the footpegs..

Sargent and Corbin are popular aftermarket seats. I have a Corbin that I like. Cant comment on Sargent, never owned one. 

As with windscreens, grips, pegs and yes, seats, They are personal taste items. I may like one, but the same for another guy will hate it. 

Just an example... lots of touring type guys swear by RDL seats. I got a brief ride on one and hated it. 

As a general rule, Corbins are harder/firmer and put the rider toward the back of the seating area. Sargents are softer and flatter. Seems to me that skinny guys like the latter and guys with a gut like the Corbin. 

I had the stock seat on my original 5th gen, and I tried higher bars but that caused me to slide forwards as the OP posted. The stock seat/bars were much better for my (and I'm 5' 7"). I'm guessing the OP being much taller has his torso more upright and that exagerates the forward slope of the seat. My current 5th gen has the Sargeant and I can confirm this is much flatter and does not push forward like the stock seat. It works much better in conjunction with the higher bars for me so will probably suit a taller rider with stock bars. [image: IMG_6933.thumb.JPG.b5d08541b60ac9399107820d682e8131.JPG]

11 hours ago, Terry

I had the stock seat on my original 5th gen, and I tried higher bars but that caused me to slide forwards as the OP posted. The stock seat/bars were much better for my (and I'm 5' 7"). I'm guessing the OP being much taller has his torso more upright and that exagerates the forward slope of the seat. My current 5th gen has the Sargeant and I can confirm this is much flatter and does not push forward like the stock seat. It works much better in conjunction with the higher bars for me so will probably suit a taller rider with stock bars. [image: IMG_6933.thumb.JPG.b5d08541b60ac9399107820d682e8131.JPG]

That's a smart looking seat Tez, jealous, well my arse is ...lol

12 hours ago, Terry

I had the stock seat on my original 5th gen, and I tried higher bars but that caused me to slide forwards as the OP posted. The stock seat/bars were much better for my (and I'm 5' 7"). I'm guessing the OP being much taller has his torso more upright and that exagerates the forward slope of the seat. My current 5th gen has the Sargeant and I can confirm this is much flatter and does not push forward like the stock seat. It works much better in conjunction with the higher bars for me so will probably suit a taller rider with stock bars. [image: IMG_6933.thumb.JPG.b5d08541b60ac9399107820d682e8131.JPG]

At 5'7" also I find I prefer the stock seats over Corbins on my VFR's. My 4th Gen came with a Corbin and I ended up giving it away as I was sliding around on it in the corners.

That said, I would be very interested in trying a Sargent after seeing what one looks like on a Fifth Gen.

6', and I'm OK with the stock seat. Hate Corbins they feel like they are made of ABS. When I bought my last bike with the Sargent I rode it up from San Diego 2 hrs, and thought I'd made a mistake. Took the peg lowering blocks off, and that was the ticket.

I hated the original seat as much as the OP, constantly sliding in to the tank. Replaced quickly with a Corbin and put 100K on it before I sent it back to them to be re-foamed and re-covered. Also have a Sargent on my Ducati that works really well.

Corbin is in Hollister, a short trip for you and I believe they do drop-in, one-day set up/customizations if you arrange it ahead of time.