Seat modification questions

I finall found a pay it forward 6th gen seat so I can start modding my current stock seat. THANKS INFIDEL!! I've read all of the stuff on diymotorcycleseat.com. My questions are, has anyone done this already that could give me some pointers? Where are typical spots where you reshape / add material on the 6th gen seat. Also where is the best place to get a chunk of the perfect foam?

Well, since I didn't get any response I'll post my continued somewhat overboard (stupid?) custom seat ideas to get get your thoughts. I have a tendency to want to do things different with a preference for function. So here's what I'm thinking with my seat pan.

1.Cooling: I had a beaded seat until some squirrels thought it was acorns (die hairy devils die!) and I loved the airflow of it. I'm a self confessed sweaty bastard so airflow is important to me, especially in my tushie. My thought here was on the bottom side of the foam to groove out a few small 1/4" or so air channels with holes going up through the foam to channel air. This one is my big question and I'm not sure if it'll work but it's worth a shot.

2. Adding / Changing contour: I want to get some better foam and change the contour of the main seat. Questions here:
- to anyone that has done this, did you add padding to the front to create a flatter surface, did you remove part of the hump / transition to the pillion area?

3. Storage chest for pillion: If I can find a pillion cover I thought of cutting the foam out of the rear area and making a storage area. I actually wouldn't need a cover if I found some small storage box that looked decent. (This is the least likely mod)

Overboard? A lot of work for possibly a little reward? Youbetcha...

I the dyi mod myslef and something very similar to your request on my 3rd gen. Since you have 2 seats (I believe), just do the front one and put a cover over the rear and use this as a SMALL storage area. For anything bigger, get a rack.

On the recover, I did almost exactly as they showed on DIY. Used carpet pad for the base over my bare seat pan.and added a little on the rear side for butt support (usually poor seats put too much hard foam in bad spots) and dished it for each cheek as well as removed foam from the front so the boys could breathe. Sat on it, whittled/sanded, sat, etc, etc. Once happy with the base, I added more general foam as well as a back to keep me in the cup.. I wanted to end up with a lower seat that held me. I chicked out on the cover and took the faomed seat to an auto uphlostyery shop with my heavy duty vinyl. Told them no seams under the legs and where to put seams so the seat flowed towards the front. Also requested white stiching to accentuate the white bike. They sewed and stapled it to my final foam seat.

End result, lower softer seat that cradles me and the boys with a storage compartment in the rear. I keep an extra full stock seat for 2 up.

Questions? See my gallery for pics of the final product.

Larry
VFRrider

[image: View Post]danmurphymn, on 27 February 2011 - 11:04 PM, said:

Well, since I didn't get any response I'll post my continued somewhat overboard (stupid?) custom seat ideas to get get your thoughts. I have a tendency to want to do things different with a preference for function. So here's what I'm thinking with my seat pan.

1.Cooling: I had a beaded seat until some squirrels thought it was acorns (die hairy devils die!) and I loved the airflow of it. I'm a self confessed sweaty bastard so airflow is important to me, especially in my tushie. My thought here was on the bottom side of the foam to groove out a few small 1/4" or so air channels with holes going up through the foam to channel air. This one is my big question and I'm not sure if it'll work but it's worth a shot.

2. Adding / Changing contour: I want to get some better foam and change the contour of the main seat. Questions here:
- to anyone that has done this, did you add padding to the front to create a flatter surface, did you remove part of the hump / transition to the pillion area?

3. Storage chest for pillion: If I can find a pillion cover I thought of cutting the foam out of the rear area and making a storage area. I actually wouldn't need a cover if I found some small storage box that looked decent. (This is the least likely mod)

Overboard? A lot of work for possibly a little reward? Youbetcha...


1. I guess I don't understand what you mean. Wouldn't a 1/4" channel through foam simply compress?

2. I've found it's easier to add more foam and use an electric knife (turkey knife) to cut it down rather than try to add more foam. As far as seat shape goes, is there anyway you can try out a few different shaped aftermarket saddles? It's such a matter of preference. I could take a picture of my seat that I really like, which kind of slopes towards the tank, but then you might not like it.

3. I don't see why you can't do this. The seat has a hard pan for the bottom, but to find a box that looks nice would be difficult unless you can make your own.

I was in need of a reshaped seat as well after I cut the rear section off the seat so I used the diy pointers.
1st glued down stock foam, then cut away most of it.
2nd glued on layers of 1/2" carpet padding as I couldn't find any hard foam in town
3rd shaped carpet padding into Russel type comfort seat with wings big enough to support a wide butt for long distance riding.( used angle grinder with flapper disk to shape)
4th added some softer 3/4" foam to soften the curves and rough edges \
5th found a local upholstery shop to take it from here, they are adding a few layers of thin closed cell foam, then making a new cover.
Hope to have the seat back next week. For now I have another cut down stocker.
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Since this is subjective, I'd want a rise in the front so I'm not sliding foward under braking or down hills. I'd want the sides closer to the front to be narrow so as not to put pressure on my inner thighs.

In order to have channels would require the seat to be hard for it to work(like a bicycle seat), and the holes idea is looking for water problems(foam rot).

Joshvfr, do you happen to have pictures of what you did? I am thinking of doing something the same as what each of you are talking about. Hopefully widen the butt area a bit to make it more cushey but also so it doesn't rub on my legs and possibly raise the front a bit. I did think about having a groove in the middle of the seat, 1. to take pressure off of my tailbone and 2. for a possible channel for air to flow through. We'll see if I can get to this project this summer but I am excited to try...

[image: View Post]danmurphymn, on 22 March 2011 - 06:10 PM, said:

Joshvfr, do you happen to have pictures of what you did? I am thinking of doing something the same as what each of you are talking about. Hopefully widen the butt area a bit to make it more cushey but also so it doesn't rub on my legs and possibly raise the front a bit. I did think about having a groove in the middle of the seat, 1. to take pressure off of my tailbone and 2. for a possible channel for air to flow through. We'll see if I can get to this project this summer but I am excited to try...

I didn't think to take pics while I was working on it, I looked at alot of Russel and Mayer seats at LD events for the last couple years so I knew the shape I wanted. I started by removing all of the staples from the cover and removed it hoping I could salvage it( it is much too narrow to reuse), then I glued down the stock foam so it wouldn't move around, then I cut the stock foam down to be as close to flat as I could get in the butt. Then I layered 1/2" carpet underlayment ( this sucks to cut and shape because of the mesh backing) along the sides to build them out to form wings like the LD seats glueing strip by strip to build out along the sides of the butt portion. I was not concerned with the shape of this since I would later be shaping. Once the sides were built out I added a few layers of the carpet underlayment across the entire front of the seat as wanted a firm base and needed to build back up what I had cut away from the stock foam. I wraped the top couple layers over the side wings. All of this gets spray glue between layers and time to stick good. If you miss anyplace with glue you will find it during shaping when it come loose ( this sucks as big chunks can be ripped out when loose). Once everything was dry I mounted the seat on the bike and used a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a flapper grinding disk intended for stainless( this is what I had so I used it), a smaller grinder or sander with a smaller abrasive disk would have been more controllable. Once on the bike I started shaping the seat and checked the fit as I went. As recommended on the seat diy site, pulling the grinder towards works pretty good, there is nearly no control to depth if you push the grinder away from you. Once I had a shape that I liked I stopped with the grinder then added a 3/4" softer foam over everything to smooth the rough edges. The grey foam in the picture was glued on to see if it was heavy enough(it isn't) to add a few layers under the cover to soften but not crush. The seat foam is still not as soft as I wanted so I am having the upholstery shop that is making a cover add a few layers of 1/4 or 3/8 closed cell foam over everything to soften the edges and build up another inch or so. They recommended pleating the cover with 1/2" backing foam to add a little more softness ontop of the new shape. I haven't seen the finished seat yet, but I will post a pic and thoughts once I get it back. The notch in the rear was so I could get to the mounting bolt, but that has since been changed to a stud with nut access from below. I have a stock seat cut down to fit with the fuel cell and I hate it. I pushes me forward into the tank and after riding on a Sargent for the last couple years I was more used to the seat being closer to flat so that is what I went towards, although much wider with more dish in the rear. If I had to do it over again I would leave more of the stock foam on the seat base, only cut it down to start flat, then use underlayment without the backing or other foam that would be thicker but just as stiff to build up the seat shape. I had problems when shaping with the mesh on the back of the foam layers and I didn't do the best of getting even distribution of the 3m spray adhesive I used so as I was shaping I had a few places(edges) that as I ground away foam it would try to pull away from the layer below it and caused a few chunks to come out where I didn't want. I would also use a smaller grinder/sander with a smaller wheel to have better control.

Got my seat back from the Upholstery shop, I wasn't expecting pleating, but the general softness of the top of the seat is good. The forward slope is gone, the rear is plenty wide to move around on, and somehow the seat feels narrower at the front. The shape was all me, and the finished cover shows some of my shaping flaws as it isn't symmetric from side to side, but it should be better than the stocker. I will still play around with the foam shape to fit me better as I pile on some miles. Hopefully by the end of May I can have 5k miles or so on the seat and have an idea if it will work for me before the big rides of the summer start.

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Looks nice. I'd really like to do something like that. Do you min me asking how much it cost to cover it? Also do you think the width reduces the sport part of sport tourer? I don't hang off of my bike but do move around and try to use my body I'n the corners.

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The recovering cost me $139. The dish is deep enough and the seat is now wide enough that sliding your crack to the edge will be weird, and take more effort than the stocker or a sargent. For me the dishing and width make sense for long rides, I have a cut down stocker that I would mount for distance twisty rides, and will find another stock seat to use when the fuel cell is off the bike.

On my 6th gen I took my seat to an Upholstery shop and had them put in a gel pack it cost under 200 looks stock and makes the long rides more enjoyable.

[image: View Post]scottdash, on 26 March 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

On my 6th gen I took my seat to an Upholstery shop and had them put in a gel pack it cost under 200 looks stock and makes the long rides more enjoyable.


I had a gel seat for my yzf1000 and found that when it sat in the sun it got really hot and in winter was harder than foam, when the temp was decent that seat was awesome. I had thought about(and still might) adding a gel layer on top of everything in part of the seat but was concerned about temp issues. Have you noticed anything about the gel when it sits in the sun or during winter? Thanks, Josh

I made my own seat because the stock foam from my fourth gen was in bad shape, plus the corbin is way to hard(even after having it for over a year).
I used minicell foam both 2 and 3lbs because it was cheap, weatherproof, and really supportive without being too firm.
When I get it back from the upholstery shop I will make a thread about it. I shaped mine over the course of a month shaping it in between sessions and I love it.

Gel inserts if done right work great in all temperatures, it really depends on how its installed and what its made from. Some of them have a real oily feel to them
and can be a bit on the cheap side, those ones cause weird stains in the seats. The real viscous feeling ones are great and aren't affected my temp as much
because they are similar to memory foam but much more dense. Plus when they install it if they put foam over it then a piece of that headliner foam they use to
stick the seat cover onto it does a good job of keeping it from getting real hot. I got that done for my father on his Vstar and he can now ride all day without any
problems. Even in the cold his seat never got real hard, nor does it get hotter than normal in the Arizona sun.


The hump in the front of my corbin is too pronounced because I feel it takes some room away from the boys. I made one where it came up a little bit on my seat to make
a flatter over all pitch and that made more of a different for not sliding in the tank.